The article has 1518 words in it (thanks, Microsoft Word, for the count). I didn’t “Get Serious” until after word 900.

I think you all are taking me way too seriously. Not that I retract what I wrote here, which was based on the material a Toy Soldier pointed me toward, the only material I had available. A man has to take responsibility for his ideas, and that applies to both Dr. Steel and me. If Dr. Steel’s army thinks his ideas have nothing to do with anything else, well, I find that rather loose thinking. I stand by that.

Still, I just want you all to take note that I wrote this with a smile and a sense of humor. I stand by that, too.

We Toy Soldiers support each other with fun and positivity, helping to encourage each person to be their best.

No offense, Sir or Ma’am, but your way hasn’t worked. The governments’ ways haven’t worked, and the world is extremely miserable on many levels. If you doubt this, turn on any news program…

Through the good Doctor, we TS’s not only enjoy some groovalicious music, but also get to meet one another and have a fun outlet. Creativity and diversity are celebrated, not castrated, as with many religions. Fun and happiness, and a sense of both self and community are promoted, not bashed because someone doesn’t do things in a manner someone else doesn’t agree with.

We have people from all walks of life, all religions, all sexual orientations, creeds, races, members of both genders, happy people, sad people, and wonderfully nutty people. We do not war, we accept and help others strive to achieve their goals, even if we do not personally share in those goals.

This is who TS’s are, this is what we do.

More pointedly Sir or Ma’am, do you really think a man (albeit a rather striking one) in a lab coat and goggles is really going to take over the world?

If so, the Kiss Army is long over due for their invasion.

You have picked apart many parts of the good Doctors speeches, keeping only those things that supports your statements and your views…

Tell me Sir or Ma’am, can you PROVE your deity exists? Can you prove that the god you worship is the only god, or has authority over all other gods?

No Sir, you can not…

Unlike Doctor Steel, your views cause harm, you seek to force people to conform. We seek to embrace people as they are, and to perhaps show them a better way– one where they can accept and love themselves for who and what they are.

I ask you Sir (or Ma’am) who is right?

As for me, I will follow Doctor Steel. Seeing your way here, your half truths and partially stated facts…, at least he admits to being insane up front.

Hail Steel! (And a huge jello to all the other TS’s here! *huge glomping wave*)

Stop questioning everything in life and just let it happen, lifes to short to constantly worry whats going to happen next.

“MAKE LOVE_ NOT WAR”

Indeed, how do you or I know anything at all? Speaking for myself, I perceive with my senses, I apply rational thought, I compare competing interpretations of evidences and inferences, and I form opinions/conclusions according to the weight and the quality of the evidence and logic.

I apologize, sir, but how do you know that his “track” is wrong? How do we know what or who created us? Of course, sir, there is the Bible, but then again, there is the Torah, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, etc, and they, too, believe that they have the right track. Who is correct? Try to be unbiased, my friend, instead of ignorant.

Sincerely,
Dr. J.M. Renfield, Loyal Toy Soldier

A farmer buys a plot of land from an auction. He spends 8 months clearing out the trees and brush, tilling the land, sewing the seeds, and finally has his crops planted and growing. A nearby preacher walking down the road smiles at the farmer as he walks by. “What a wonderful job you and the lord have done, my good son!”, he says cheerfully. The farmer retorts” Yes, but you should have seen it when he had it all to himself!”

My point here, is regardless of what you believe in, the work you put into it is what matters. We do not try to make peoples’ lives better because a higher power wishes it. We do it because we THINK that’s how it should be. We, as toy soldiers, recreate our world in order to strike out the ugliness of yours, and continue our endeavor in hopes that you will eventually see things our way. We do not require you to join us; just see our point of view: that nothing should be taken without some humor!!

Who really wants their lives to be stressful?

Christians want the world to be a better place, but we look to the One who can make it better by changing people on the inside, not just on the outside. There is tons of evidence that Christianity has indeed made the world a better place.

I agree, Christianity has indeed made this world a better place. And it’s more than good that you look to see a positive change on the inside and the outside for people. I too want to see this world be a better place. Which is why I do the things that I do. Yeah, I cannot change everyone for the better, and no, anything I say will not rid this world of hate, war, fear, and disease. I do, however, want to see the little changes I can make.

I like to see the look people give me when I clean up sidewalks of litter.
I like the feeling I have when I help an elderly woman bring her groceries from her car to her home.
I like the sound of laughter, and people having fun.
I like the idea that although I cannot stop all the evils in this world, that I did my minor part.

Sure, I can’t change everything. But I can approach anything with whatever attitude I chose. When Doctor Steel says that “Fun is the top priority”, perhaps he just wants to see a world where everyone approaches their problems with a better attitude?

To me, Doctor Steel is entertainment. He’s fun, and his music is rather happening.

Whether he believes what he says or not, it’s all the same to me. I learned a lot from Doctor Steel. I’m accepting of what anyone believes in, and I feel I can walk away from anyone with something positive. The soldiers in his army helped me through a lot of problems I was having, and can never thank them enough.

When I read

Don’t be a Toy Soldier. Live for what’s real. Live in the light of what is true. Live in the light of the Light personified: God revealed in Jesus Christ.

I am a little hurt.
These toy soldiers are among the people who helped me better myself as a person. They helped me through a lot of problems, and I feel that it is unfair that you say such harsh things about them.
Yes, this world takes turns that make it rather ugly.
A lot of the problems in this world should not be.
But what the world needs right now is more acceptance of one another.

Thank you for posting an article on this.
Have a beautiful day.
Ry Ry

Tis true I am the one who contacted Tom! I stumbled upon his site after searching “The Human Condition” It shed plenty of light to my questions. I began to question more, just like Steels says reveal who is really pulling the strings behind the curtain.

Now that being said Tom did a wonderful job with his blog I do believe and in there no where do I read he has it out for Dr. Steel. Acutely we all know his brilliant marketing plan is working! The gig is awesome!

However as a Christian I have learned not to lose myself to Dr. Steel, he is not a god nor does he claim to, but we must not in my opinion make him the center of our eternal life, that is the most important question. Those christian Dr. Steel fans out there do not stray away form the truth.

That all I have to say

Instead, I am just going to say one thing:
“That’s my encouragement to you: don’t stay on the surface of reality but follow the greatest teacher in all of human history, Jesus Christ, into the greatest depths.”

But never follow blindly. Question your teachers. It’s the only way to truly learn, and to separate the teachers who teach the truth, and those that teach their own agenda.

And follow, because your heart tells you to.

(And Teddybear, I did show tact. I brought my points out in polite and non confrontational means. My point on that post was not that we shouldn’t engage in discussions with those who ‘oppose’ Steel, but that we shouldn’t go off half cocked and rant and flame.)

Here’s what I’ve learned from your comments:

1. Dr. Steel really is devoted to fun, and clean fun at that. I’m glad you’re all having fun with him.

2. A person can be a Toy Soldier and a Christian at the same time. I offer my apologies to Toy Soldier Legally Insane. (That is not a concession that Dr. Steel’s philosophy agrees with Christian teaching, however. More on that at the end of this comment.)

3. There is still some unrealistic idealism there:

Doctor Steel is, in my opinion, paving the way to a better tomorrow through whatever means necessary. Lets look at some of history’s great peacemakers.
Ramses the second. famed for making a peace treaty with the Hittite empire. know what he was famous for before that? his bloodthirsty military conquests. he is a prime example of people who may have had violent pasts, like Dr Steel, but went on to do great peace works.

And then there is the dispute about beliefs. This is the very interesting part. Let me open it with a quote from Toy Soldier Leviathan:

Yes, Doctor Steel has beliefs that may not really coincide with everyone else’s beliefs, but nowhere does he state that you also must believe them.

(Toy Soldier Legally Insane said the same sort of thing at greater length.)
He would have a hard time saying that even if he wanted to, since he doesn’t have much power to ensure it happens. But I’m confident he doesn’t want to, so don’t take that wrong. The same is actually true for me. I’m not insisting you believe what I believe, either. Jesus Christ didn’t either. Look at how he let the crowds just walk away in John 6, and was willing even to see his closest followers walk off with them.

What Jesus did was teach the truth, and explain what would happen if you rejected it (for example, Matthew 7:24-27). That’s the example I’m trying to follow, with the huge difference being that while Jesus taught on his own authority, I’m pointing toward him as my source.

Zolgar wrote,

We Toy Soldiers DO live for what is real. We only have one world, and we are trying to make that a better place, where we can all exist in harmony.
Isn’t that what Christians want, too? The problem is, no one religion will ever manage that, because religions tend to be mutually exclusive. Or even if they’re not, people feel they are.

Christians want the world to be a better place, but we look to the One who can make it better by changing people on the inside, not just on the outside. There is tons of evidence that Christianity has indeed made the world a better place. Reaching a final Utopian destination is not within our power, however, nor is it in anyone else’s on earth.

Finally, back to whether Dr. Steel’s teaching agrees with Christian teaching: on some points, it doesn’t. I’ve already said that, and I don’t think you all disagree. So then, does it matter that some of what he teaches is out of sync with Christian teaching?

Even in a fun world you have to decide what you think is real and what is not. If Dr. Steel’s philosophy defines reality for you, and that definition misses the truth about reality, then it seems you would want to go deeper and higher and get to the real thing. Make no mistake: the Christian life is about joy, too–joy that does not contradict fun, but goes deeper into the heart, and sustains even when life’s circumstances seem truly rotten. That’s my encouragement to you: don’t stay on the surface of reality but follow the greatest teacher in all of human history, Jesus Christ, into the greatest depths.

Now, I myself am a thinking person, and even though I used to be christian, (baptized at birth as Catholic) I never felt obligated or faithful towards God. I mean, I never could wrap my head around there being an all supreme being. It just Never worked very well.

I apologize right there for all I might have offended, but I’m coming to my point soon.

Naturally, I’ve always kept an open mind, and Paganism, Atheism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and even Christianity all have an equal point in my book.
Hinduism and Buddhism (as well as Taoism, forgot that one) are all philosophies, and from what I hear, Druism (act of being a druid [?]) are all (at least partially) more philosophies than religions. They’re all about being a better person, so to speak.
Now, of course, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are the same way, just broken into a more specific branch of Monotheism, and more “technicalities” are involved.
Paganism is the closest religion/ philosophy that I’ve ever heard of to Environmentalism, and I love it for that (though I am not one)
Finally, I find Atheism very immature (You arguing Christians can take this logic to the bank). For one, they claim no belief in deities. Okay, I’ll grant you that, but when one argues they have no beliefs in religion at all, I have to doubt them; don’t they believe that the ground beneath their feet is real?

My point being, is that for some time, I didn’t. The way everything was drawn tight, the world seemed more like a soap opera than something to be valued at all. Something completely cold, that had nothing in it for anyone but to spit you right back in the face for every triumph you ever made.

It’s the way the doctor revealed his performance to me, whether he knew of me or not, that I found myself with a kindred spirit. The way his performance continued after the show, with the imagery and the character, with the blatant materialistic advertising, and the purely insane rantings (yet extremely logical) of Alien Intelligent Design (though his source is already well researched; Zacharia Sitchen (spelling?)).
This was a man who brilliantly orchestrated an image, music, performance, marketing scheme, and even threw in several sub-cultures, underground/ new-wave themes, and philosophy to boot.

In my eyes, whether his ideals are earnest or not, he has a point. Whether he truly means what he’s saying, even through the almost under handed sales pitch, His theories are sound. Whether he truly is an insane ex-toy maker turned world emperor hopeful, he’s having fun.

Now all one has to do to join us (whether officially or not is up to you) is ask yourself, “why am I not having fun, and what’s stopping everyone else from doing the same?”
That is what we toy soldiers are about. Through Doctor Steel, we found an overly acceptable group of individuals who’s intent is to have fun, and be happy, no matter what happens to them.

It’s more precise for me to say, My faith lays in people. Not a supreme being. Not the world in of itself. But that for some reason, people want to be with one another and to have fun. And Doctor Steel’s “army” of toy soldiers is all about having fun, no matter what “madness” or “terrifying” setting your world might be on. (thus reality engineering)

(apologies for the drawn out conclusion, I really didn’t think it felt complete)