Wow!

Yet another cliffhanger. What a masterful chapter ending!

I think we're in for a long and fascinating ride with this one. A note at the end of Part 7 indicates that Chapter 2 begins with the next section!

I can almost put quotation marks around some of the lines. They are very close to writings of some important Christian theologians of the early years of Christianity. A lot of historical/theological knowledge, as well as a great deal of writing skill, is going into this one.

Boy, am I ever glad I checked out this thread! The story series is fantastic.

It's doing an excellent job of distracting me from the lack of chapter 17 of TNNB, both because of the equally-careful writing -- correct spelling, punctuation, etc. with only the occasional typo -- and the unfolding mystery plot. Some of the themes are even similar, in that the society of boy-collarers in TNNB has definite cultish features, and the "Holy Nutters" are absolutely depicted as a cult.

(Okay, I can feel the ghost of my faculty advisor glaring at me, so I'll clarify that technically, since the Church of the Redeemer as portrayed in the "Holy Nutters" series is based on a Christian belief system and exists predominantly in areas where Christianity is the majority religion, it would properly be referred to as a sect, rather than a cult. A Christian-based group with cultish features in a predominantly non-Christian country could be a cult, just as a group basing its belief system on non-Christian religious scripture or practices but operating in a majority-Christian country could be a cult. For example, the Hare Krishnas are often considered a cult outside India, since their belief system derives from Hinduism, while the Unification Church is considered a cult in Korea where it was founded because Christianity is a minority religion there. Ask a scholar of religion, and we'll tell you that a religious group that bases at least some of their belief system on whatever the dominant religion of their geographic area is, is technically a sect rather than a cult. To the layperson, they're all cults... or all except the One True Faith are.)

The two series also both feature frank examinations of adolescent curiosity about and exploration of sexuality, and SPOILERfeature castration and/or penectomy/SPOILER of boys ranging in age from infancy to post-puberty.

Having had theological training, I'm especially impressed with the way Sander is depicting the Church of the Redeemer/Holy Nutters in his story. The hypocrisy of the inner-circle leadership, the numerous illegitimate offspring of the leader, the self-proclamation of Messiahship, the belligerent attitude of those who identify with the sect/cult towards those perceived to be "heretic nonbelievers" -- even, or perhaps I mean especially, the development of a splinter group within the "Church" wanting to strip away the hypocrisies and outright alterations of what they see as the core principles of their One True Faith: all of these are traits of real sectarian groups, and they are portrayed consistently with the way sects and cultists actually behave in the real world.

As far as the general "realism" of the story, in terms of laws being passed allowing or requiring castration of teens, certainly it seems implausible, even inconceivable, to us that such a thing could happen within our own lifetimes, to say nothing of within a few short years. And we're right that it's quite unlikely, in this story as much as in any number of other stories on the archive set in a near future sometime in the next 10-100 years when laws have been changed to either permit or require castration... but this is after all the Eunuch Archive, and the stories labeled fiction. With stories like these, I think the particular future date given isn't necessarily a statement on the author's part that "this could happen by this time!" so much as a convenient shorthand for "what if...?"

One of the most infamous dystopian-future novels of our time, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, doesn't give a specific date for the events of handmaid Offred's life -- which is a good thing as, since it was published in the mid-1980s, any year or even decade Atwood might have chosen probably would have seemed hopelessly unrealistic to us now. Heck, we're living in a year that is itself the title of a science fiction novel (this happened before in 1984 and 2001) which hardly turned out to accurately predict what life in its titular year would be like... but to call that a failing of such books would be to miss the point. Speculative fiction has a long history of operating more as parable than prophecy.

The speed with which an intolerant religious group can effectively take over an area, however, is I think only slightly exaggerated in the "Holy Nutters" series. I grew up in the American Northeast, that bastion of liberal blah blah blah. (I believed my hometown to be far more tolerant as a kid than I later discovered it truly was; turns out it's pretty easy to convince yourself and others that you're tolerant when there's scarcely anyone different from you around whom you'd have to tolerate. But I digress.) I believed that the "American" values I grew up with were universal among Americans.

But I attended university -- at first, anyway -- right where the Midwest, the Bible Belt and Appalachia all lap over each other. It was eye-opening and disturbing to have a self-proclaimed Christian who also professed to be my friend calmly state that, should the area be taken over by a conservative militia or even just through a "stealth candidates" campaign, he would do nothing to help me if I were rounded up into a concentration camp for sinners and/or unbelievers, and didn't believe there would be anything immoral or otherwise objectionable about establishing such camps. And honestly, it's not that far a leap from radical fundamentalists taking over school boards for the purpose of replacing science lessons with mandated prayer -- which has been happening all over the U.S. for decades -- and the same tactics being used to fill positions like judge, sheriff, state legislator or even military officer.

History abounds with tales of unimaginable atrocities inflicted by some humans against others. If you get your news online rather than from TV broadcasts, the present abounds with atrocities, some even equivalent to large-scale castration of American teens. (The easy examples are of course FGM practices, mainly in Africa, and the mass-circumcision clinics provided by NGOs or even governments in countries such as Turkey. An argument could be made that the kathoey/ladyboy industry in Thailand falls in this category as well, as they are rarely adults when they begin hormones and many have surgery well before turning 18.) So, while I agree that it's extremely unlikely that Sander's Holy-Nutters future might come to pass -- though I don't think he meant to suggest that was remotely likely anyway -- that doesn't really detract from the truths about human nature which the series depicts.

Some famous author once said something to the effect that good fiction is 'a made-up story that's true.' (If anyone recognizes that quote and can correct my wording or remembers who said it, please remind me and I'll edit it in here.) By that definition, this series is very good fiction.

Paolo wrote: Mon Jan 04, 2010 4:56 pm http://www.eunuch.org/Alpha/H/ea_

225051the_holy.htm

The next chapter is up, and wow!

Can you say 'megalomania' boys and girls?

Too late!

Excellent read!

really enjoying these stories

to Sander - are there any more parts to come?

bella (imported) wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2010 3:24 am really enjoying these stories

to Sander - are there any more parts to come?

He's posted a new one off story, but he mentions getting back to the "Nutters" story.

http://www.eunuch.org/Alpha/C/ea_132011cherubs.htm

Ok, It has been almost a month since the last installment. Bribery is working.. I have enjoyed this beginning series as well as your past stories. What will it take to get more. Please Continue.

I fear that the PC comments on several of the other stories may have slowed down some of the writing or at least the posting. In real life I am firmly against abusing anyone(well except maybe myself). I also have found that many of my fantasies are better left as that. But I do enjoy the ones I have and the ones I have the priviledge of reading and exploring on sites such as this. Sander I do hope either you continue your posts or let us know how else to obtain your work. Thanks again to you for your work. Bow scrape.. hold out the elastrator.. Pax

I do not wish to be a pain,

But I want to read more Holy Nutters;

Its stuck like glue upon in my brain,

Like its coated with good peanut butters.

Fun story, looking forward to more!

(I'd rhyme this, but I won't be a bore) :p

I do too!

please Sander

It looks like Sander has responded:

Paolo wrote: Mon Jan 04, 2010 4:56 pm http://www.eunuch.org/Alpha/H/ea_1

84112the_holy.htm