Hee hee hee

[pyat]

From the Slacktivist's ongoing review of the Left Behind series:

Bruce isn't sure what to make of the deal with the U.S., "because as much as I study I don't see America playing a role during this period of history." That's an almost verbatim quote from Tim LaHaye's stock answer whenever he is asked about the role of America in the End Times. He seems genuinely perplexed by this mystery. "As much as I study," he says, he can't seem to find any mention of America in Revelation, or Daniel, or Ezekiel.

It's eerie. It's almost as though the authors of those books didn't even know this hemisphere existed.

Comments

[pyat.livejournal.com]

In my experience, it doesn't usually help. People rarely change a belief they're invested in when faced with any kind of attack, whether its mockery or logic. A challenge just causes them to shore it up.

Unchallenged beliefs are the ones that sort of vanish and fall away, generally speaking.

A few months ago, all of a sudden, it seemed as if my whole mind had changed. Everything that I'd believed in till then--everything--seemed suddenly meaningless and almost silly. God--what I'd meant by God--immortal life, Heaven and Hell--everything. It had all gone.

And it wasn't that I'd reasoned it out; it just happened to me. It was like when you're a child, and one day, for no particular reason, you stop believing in fairies. I just couldn't go on believing in it any longer.'

Of course, mileage varies!

[sixteenbynine.livejournal.com]

Mileage definitely varies. I don't think there's any one-size-fits-all approach to this stuff, either on a personal or a confrontatory level. I know that in my case I can't say I ever felt completely convinced that such things deserved my belief; I could quote you just as many counter-examples.

I guess what matters most is that people become made aware, as early on as possible, with all the myriad ways their brains work from the inside out to find meaning where there might not be any -- and how that is both our salvation and our biggest pain in the ass.

[kisekileia.livejournal.com]

Where do the italicized paragraphs come from?

[pyat.livejournal.com]

They're from A Clergyman's Daughter, perhaps George Orwell's least read book. And with good reason, it's sort of choppy. But it has good bits!