this is not a journal title

I've decided I hate preachy religious books that masquerade as fiction. "Left Behind" and "Summer's Path" are two examples.

"Left Behind" I read a year or two ago because I felt it was an important cultural work, and might help me understand the mind of the evangelist. The premise is that one day half of the world's population disappears suddenly, leaving behind their clothing and all worldly goods, and the remaining people slowly come to the realization that they have missed the Rapture. While I do feel that witnessing something like this would be compelling, the manner in which the main characters become converted is unrealistic. Right after the rapture happens the main character and his college-aged daughter are skeptical and confused about the disappearance of the mother and baby brother. Then the father attends a sermon and suddenly sees the light. He takes his daughter to the priest and she suddenly sees the light as well. Mere exposure to The Holy Word is all it takes for them to suddenly become utterly converted.

"Summer's Path" I am reading the audiobook b/c Audible.com gave it away for free and I thought it was fantasy. I was deceived - it's New Age pseudo-Christian evangelism. The main character is dying of terminal cancer and contemplating suicide (this book is not for the triggery) when he meets a non-denominational angel who offers to take over his body for him. The main character only passingly wonders if the angel is an alien body snatcher, and never wonders whether it's a devil instead because the angel tells him to "trust his feelings". The book is now devolving into preaching about how all physical ills are caused by not being in touch with your emotions, and depression is caused by suppressing your physical sensations. No that doesn't make any sense to me either. The main character (now in the body of a dog) is currently sitting in a car with some New Age hippies (who keep calling the angel now in the main character's body a hippie, ironically) who are guiding him in connecting with his inner energy source, and of course he believes it as soon as he hears about it and is able to do it on the first try.

Yeah, if religion really worked that way - all you needed was to be exposed to the One True Religion to suddenly convert - then just about everyone in the world would have come to the same One True Religion by now.

kadath has a better rant about it, but the House decided to pass a resolution (no real actions, just a statement) stating that Christianity rocks. 372 Representatives passed it, 9 against, 10 abstentions, and 40 didn't vote. Mine was one of the ones voting for - find and write to your Rep here, and look up how they voted here, and ( modify this 'no thanks for voting' letter. )

Thanks to galbinus_caeli for the head's up, a German Islamic woman separated from her husband after he beat her. He then threatened to kill her with a knife, and she is sueing for a speedy divorce (less than 1 year of separation). The judge turned down the speedy divorce request saying that since they are of Morroccan Muslim origin, and the Koran states that a husband may discipline his wife as he sees fit, therefore beatings and death threats do NOT qualify as the "hardship" required for a speedy divorce under German Law.

I'm particularly interested to see what sammka and q10 have to say - you both always have interesting insights into how law and culture intersect.

A 21-year old Mormon woman in Utah wanted to marry a man her parents disagreed with, so they did what any good Mormon parents should do. Under the guise of taking her shopping for the Garments, they kidnapped her and started driving her towards Colorado. The article isn't clear on how she escaped, but she's now pressed kidnapping charges apparently.

Oh, and she did get married to the guy in August, and is due in May, exactly 9 months later.

A gov't sponsored study says that only 1% of the internet is porn. Huh, go figure!

In other news, Toys for Tots rejected Jesus dolls.

Michael La Roe, director of business development for [the manufacturer/donating company], said the charity's decision left him "surprised and disappointed."

"The idea was for them to be three-dimensional teaching tools for kids," La Roe said. "I believe as a churchgoing person, anyone can benefit from hearing the words of the Bible."

According to the company's Web site, the button-activated, bearded Jesus, dressed in hand-sewn cloth outfits and sandals, recites Scripture such as "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." It has a $20 retail value.

[Bill] Grein [VP of the Marine Toys for Tots program] questioned whether children would welcome a gift designed for religious instruction.

"Kids want a gift for the holiday season that is fun," he said.

I'd bet you that most Americans would think that this death penalty was wrong (or at least distasteful), while most (vocal) Americans feel that this one would be just, or at least understandable. Why? Where do we draw the line?

It seems one of the Papal runner-ups is an extreme liberal radical. Cardinal Martini (of Italy) has said that condoms can be used by married couples in which one partner has AIDS. Shocking! Maybe next year they'll admit that bicycles are permissible!

Stumbled upon as the first hit to 1 Kings reference, my new fascination is The Skeptic's Annotated Bible - and Koran, and Book of Mormon. These editions are the full text of the KJV edition (and I presume other appropriately authoritative editions of the others), with margin annotations on where things are self-contradictory, plagiarized, sexist, scientifically inaccurate, funny, or downright mean. A number of the annotations are more personal interpretations of the webmaster than scholarly comments, but still interesting. I'm looking through the Koran version, as I've read sections of both the Bible and Books of Mormon.