a-ha-ha-ha! we all tumble out of iraq smiling and holding hands.
circled: a young michael nesmith. artist unknown.
I was sitting moving my bowels and perusing "Is There a Creator Who Cares About You ?", copyright of the Watchtower Bible and Tract society of Pennsylvania, 1998.
The tract entered my house unbidden. At least to my knowledge. I believe it was suggested that my wife leave it lying around in the faint hope that I - or our children, god forbid - might stumble upon it in a rainy hour and somehow lurch towards salvation.
And indeed, I did. And so it has been granted a wholly temporary reprieve.
So. I am sitting there killing an idle moment, and I chance on the intriguing chapter : "Can You Find Him ?"
I glance over my shoulder. No, no sign. So far.
Allegedly, "The enemy who led the first human couple into rebellion is designated in the Bible as Satan the Devil, which means "Resister" and "Slanderer"."
Lucifer, to you and me. A tad more formally.
"God said:" it says on page 119, ""I shall put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel." (Genesis 3:15)"
By page 120, "The Creator Reveals Himself - To Our Benefit!"
I am missing something here, clearly. No doubt at my peril.
7 comments:
Alright, I had to google this to make sure we were talking about a Jehovah's Witness publication.
Taken in parts and pieces the Bible can be "made" or construed to say anything you want it to.
That part of the Bible (says to me) that God will put things between us and Satan. But it isn't a free ride.
I stick to the King James Bible, because it is the closest translation I can afford to have in my home.
Some of it, I have to read over and over, but it all says something to me.... I think that is the mystery, that it sometimes speaks differently to different people.
I have to admit I have a hard on for the Jehovah's Witnesses. I saw some things go on at a hospital once that I never quite got over. And just for general information, I was told that at the meetings they take turns reading their Watchtower pamplets... with guards at the door and NO WINDOWS in the entire builds (Kingdom Hall) so that the devil can't peek in.
I had to give up deep reading in the john, I read till my legs fell asleep...then what...thank God no one has ever video taped that little cluster xxxx!
Oh. The biblical quotes are fine.
I especially liked that line, "He will will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel."
Good poetry. I have no problem with that; or the teasing out of meaning.
But, yes, the actual tract really ticks me off. Not least because of its reliance on random supporting scientific facts and anecdotal evidence which lead absolutely nowhere. It is infuriating and most of the time unintentionally amusing.
Like a government commissioned edict peppered with statistics for cloak and dagger credibility.
Snake Oil salesmen. It kind of reminds me of when the preacher comes calling in 'Poltergeist'; and Bob Mitchum in 'Night of the Hunter'.
I'm sure that wasn't what that hymn writer intended when he (she ?) wrote: "...And I'll lead you all in the dance said He."
It was -10°C here last night, -20°C in the far north of Scotland. Stupidly, I left the kitchen window open a crack and forgot to close it before going to bed. It was iced over this morning. Hard, rivuleted black ice that one might find in the dip on the corner of a road. I couldn't shut it of course. Or take a knife to it for fear of breaking the glass.
We sleep just off the kitchen. Surprisingly, I was padding about in there this morning quite comfortable in just a t-shirt and boxer shorts. The cold air slipping in between frame and sill was unbearable, though.
I might just use that tract to pad out the gaps. If it doesn't thaw any.
they come a-knockin' on my door every few months. always well dressed and smiling. usually I'm in a state of ill mood and worse attire. I say "no thanks and have a nice day". by being polite, i figure i am doing my religious good deed for the year. so, i guess they ARE effective.
Do you have a hair dryer? Maybe if you started out very gently you could melt it without breaking the glass.
That's the thing though, Nazz. I get the impression they don't give so much as a flying fuck about good deeds and polite behaviour.
Normally, I just employ the same tactic you do. Conceal my ire and remind myself not to just slam the fucking door.
The thing is. In their eyes I have not been saved. In fact, it is all too obvious that I have no intention of being saved. If it means turning Stepford Wife I have absolutely no intention. Or even the slightest notion of listening to their ridiculous crap.
Let's not beat about the bush(el). They are out to peddle salvation and I'm not buying.
@eloh:
Yes! That's eventually what I did. I borrowed my wife's hair dryer and melted the shit out of it. Some pretty huge icicles, mind you. I still had to pry them loose with a bread-knife, but I eventually got the damn thing shut.
The temperature in some parts of Scotland actually fell to -22°C last night it seems. Right on a par with the Antarctic. They expect it to plummet as low as -28 or 30 later in the week.
Incredible.
True story. I knew a degenerate fuck who lived in some kind of weird apartment in a barn. His favorite thing to do was jerk off to really nasty looped porn tapes while drinking and drugging himself unconscious. One morning he was awakened by a knock at the door. He found that he was stuck to the floor because the various body fluids on his clothes had dried, forming a sort of adhesive. He peeled himself off the floor and answered the door. There were three Jehovah's Witnesses standing there, one of them a young woman. The porn loop was still playing in the background. He gazed, blearily, at the Witnesses for a minute and then said, "I don't care about that shit, but you can leave the girl here." He was never troubled by Jehovah's Witnesses again. That guy was pretty creepy really.
Creepy, but a good line nonetheless. I don't think I could pull it off.
Without the ambience and body fluids.
Even I could, and those Jehovah's Witnesses stayed clear as a result, I would never escape the long arm of Social Services and the law.
Creepy, alright. And hugely entertaining. I have been laughing out loud all day. Maybe I have cabin fever.
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