The Church of the Holy Nutters

[Paolo]

I hope he tries to run.

Would be interesting to see who brings him in!

[george2u2 (imported)]

I tried to read the first installment about five times before I finally looked up and read "Masturbation is a Sin" and got the courage to finish it. I didn't like the knife and blood part, and didn't want to read any further.

Read the comments, and thanks to Paolo, (Our gracious, over worked editor in chief) I clicked the link and found myself reading part II.

Raised as I was, in a rural mormon farm town in Utah, I was aware of slaughter, and castration at a very early age. I started the "Sin of Masturbation" about the same time. I remember the HUMILIATION of a "Priesthood interview" as a child.

Sander's character (I skimmed two chapters and couldn't find a name) finds himself in a hell, that I sort of pieced together by my imagination as a kid.

I'm vocal against organized religion. Christ himself would be thrown out of any CHRISTIAN school.

If you read and believe in the "Big Black Book of Lies" aka "the Holy Bible"

You will read in the "New Testament" about a man who slept with 12 boyfriends, (we know this because they had to wake him when the boat was rocking) held his beloved on his breast, ungirded himself and washed feet.

Sander just understands that HOLY people are wholly insane, They tell you about their imaginary friends (Sky pilot aka, Santa Claus, and the holy spook). Not only that, but they "have FAITH" that you are supposed to obey their imaginary friends.

Regarding a recent "equality" election I had to remind a Republican that this is a republic based on fairness and liberty. Instead of a Democracy based on MOB rule.

Religious freedom starts with Freedom From Religion, so you can practice religion according to the dictates of your own conscience.

The question still remains. HOW DO YOU STOP THE HOLY NUTTERS?

Does faith take precedent over provable reality? Are Jews, Christians and Muslims all deluded?

[Paolo]

I'm vocal against organized religion. Christ himself would be thrown out of any CHRISTIAN school.

Of course he would. He hung out with hookers and the like, gave out free food, preached love and tolerance, loved kids, turned water into wine and partied at weddings...and the list goes on. Talk about a hell-raiser...

[curious_guy (imported)]

The question still remains. HOW DO YOU STOP THE HOLY NUTTERS?

I fantasize about having god-like powers and sending them all to an alternative universe. This would leave this universe to us rational people.

[JesusA (imported)]

Sander has produced an excellent story, though the plot is moving a bit too fast for it all to seem as “real” as it could be. While it may seem far-fetched, there are certainly many elements that could happen (and have happened) in history. Think of the “prophets” David Koresh and Jim Jones and their ready manipulation of true believers into a world, though on a smaller scale, not that far from what the Reverend Gillis has accomplished in mind control. Somehow mass castration seems less improbable to me than mass suicide.

When I was in college, I attended a church service by Jim Jones. He was incredibly charismatic and provided nearly compelling reasons for belief. My Buddhism probably saved me from following a “Christian” prophet. I can understand why so many people believed and followed him. (I still have some of the church handouts from that visit.)

Could such events happen in the “modern” world. Yes, they certainly could. Harold Camping (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping), a radio minister broadcast on radio stations across the U.S. and around the world, has proclaimed that the world will end on May 21, 2011. I recently read a series of interviews with some of his followers who are convinced of his accuracy. They are active members of his group, and had been when he had predicted the world would end in 1994. I expect that they will gather and prepare for the coming of Jesus on the appointed day., as they did in 1994. And as have the believers in other millennial faiths on many occasions. I can remember the last time the Jehovah’s Witnesses prepared for the end. Not only did they firmly believe, but most of them maintained their belief when it failed to happen. “God was testing our faith!”

An impressive new movie on the power of faith is Michael Haneke’s White Ribbon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149362/) which has just been released in the U.S. Its original German title is Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte. “Chilling” barely covers what it tells us about the power of faith.

Could a religion call for the castration of believers and still maintain followers? Could it happen in Christianity? The Russian prophet Kondratii Selivanov taught that the only Christian males who would enter Heaven would be those who had been castrated. It’s estimated that over 144,000 of his followers (including a great many young boys) were castrated over the next two centuries. (The 144,000 is important because it is the figure in Revelation 14:4, which was one of the central Bible verses for the faith.) The Mormons would like to pretend that some early church history did not exist, but there were early Mormon bishops in Utah who had young men castrated to remove them from the marriage market. (Quotations and bibliographic sources are on other threads on the Archive.)

Sander’s story is less fantastic than most rational folk would like to believe….

[Paolo]

Sell those handouts on Ebay!

[Slammr (imported)]

I agree with Jesus: the story is moving a little too quickly to be plausible. I doubt such a cult could have accomplished so much is so short a time, but perhaps, if we were fifteen years into a deep Depression, anything could happen. Already, things are a little weird in this country.

Years ago, I spent better than two weeks a captive of Rev Moon's Moonies. They didn't physically hold me captive, eventually even kicked me out, but I couldn't bring myself to leave (I was at their farm in Boonville, CA). It wasn't the doctrine that kept me; it was the people, the ties I'd made to them. They kicked me out because I questioned the doctrine. If they hadn't, I don't know when I would have left.

Don't question that such cults can have power over you, unless you've been there. I was older, a college graduate, and I found it difficult to leave. The young kids, 18 - 20, they targeted had no chance. Once in their clutches, few escaped.

[george2u2 (imported)]

Why didn't "Heavens Gate" come up? This is the archive after all.

Is "Redemption, SC" going to be lifted to heaven as the "city of Enoch" (or was that eunuch?) or blown to hell with a comet?

[Paolo]

I'm waiting on the next installment!

[JesusA (imported)]

Chapter 6 makes a very sharp, and totally unexpected, turn. Great job. I'm anxious to see where this all leads.