I was up bright and early this morning, my mobile phone that acts as alarm had died on me battery wise yet my body clock told me it was time to rise. On retiring in the early hours I suspected a restless night because of the heat but had slept soundly for a few hours and was only 20 minutes later getting out of bed after the alarm was set for. The reason I wanted to be up fairly early was to catch the post, usually the postman comes between 9am and 11am, rings the intercom but doesn't generally hang around so you have to be nimble.
Having ordered a book online a few days ago entitled 'The Portable Atheist' by Christopher Hitchens I was eager to get my hands on it and have some quality reading time. Come 9:45am the buzzer on the intercom startles me into action, I'm sat at the PC with a cup of Twinnings tea and trot along to answer the intercom before descending the stairs to collect my book, however it doesn't turn out to be the postman!
A polite female voice answers my greeting with 'I have some leaflets I'd like you to read regarding how mankind is destroying the planet'. Well as Mankind is allegedly created by god, then by default I'd say god is culpable to a fair degree.
I pause and think to myself, is this the Green party or is it as my gut feeling is telling me - something far more sinister.
Following the brief pause she adds 'The leaflets detail a meeting next week in Nottingham to discuss how we can look to god to save us from all of this'.
At this point there's a a chagrin expression on my face as I really wanted the postman to be at the other end and not some religious fanatic. My mind at this point splits into two post disappointment thoughts. The first is to invite her in, debate with her and get my own back for it not being the posty. The second is I'm glad I have an intercom because should I feel so inclined, I don't have to engage in verbal battle. I decide to take a polite route and tell her to post the stuff through the letterbox and pretty much close the conversation at that.
Later I venture downstairs and my hunch is proved very much correct as I note the literature, it was the Jehovah's Witnesses, it was either them or the towns Methodists but the latter stick to rhetoric on the market place whilst the Witnesses of course have no qualms on doorstep brain washing. Their sienna shaded leaflets all look the same really, artwork of a perfect family walking in a Utopian world with biblical quotes. I cast my eyes over the text 'Gods kingdom will come and we will show you how it will be transformed into paradise - and how you can qualify to live there'.
Notice the catch right at the end of the sentence? The bit where you have to qualify? This of course seems odd as all the Jehovah's Witnesses allocation slots to gods big holiday camp in the alleged afterlife (or after-lie?) have been in the past touted as a first come-first served basis with strictly limited numbers (144,000 and as there are a reported 7 million or so members worldwide its not going to be easy for a ticket!).
So, ironically no 'Portable Atheist' book today but a visit from a cultist, oh well!
Having ordered a book online a few days ago entitled 'The Portable Atheist' by Christopher Hitchens I was eager to get my hands on it and have some quality reading time. Come 9:45am the buzzer on the intercom startles me into action, I'm sat at the PC with a cup of Twinnings tea and trot along to answer the intercom before descending the stairs to collect my book, however it doesn't turn out to be the postman!
A polite female voice answers my greeting with 'I have some leaflets I'd like you to read regarding how mankind is destroying the planet'. Well as Mankind is allegedly created by god, then by default I'd say god is culpable to a fair degree.
I pause and think to myself, is this the Green party or is it as my gut feeling is telling me - something far more sinister.
Following the brief pause she adds 'The leaflets detail a meeting next week in Nottingham to discuss how we can look to god to save us from all of this'.
At this point there's a a chagrin expression on my face as I really wanted the postman to be at the other end and not some religious fanatic. My mind at this point splits into two post disappointment thoughts. The first is to invite her in, debate with her and get my own back for it not being the posty. The second is I'm glad I have an intercom because should I feel so inclined, I don't have to engage in verbal battle. I decide to take a polite route and tell her to post the stuff through the letterbox and pretty much close the conversation at that.
Later I venture downstairs and my hunch is proved very much correct as I note the literature, it was the Jehovah's Witnesses, it was either them or the towns Methodists but the latter stick to rhetoric on the market place whilst the Witnesses of course have no qualms on doorstep brain washing. Their sienna shaded leaflets all look the same really, artwork of a perfect family walking in a Utopian world with biblical quotes. I cast my eyes over the text 'Gods kingdom will come and we will show you how it will be transformed into paradise - and how you can qualify to live there'.
Notice the catch right at the end of the sentence? The bit where you have to qualify? This of course seems odd as all the Jehovah's Witnesses allocation slots to gods big holiday camp in the alleged afterlife (or after-lie?) have been in the past touted as a first come-first served basis with strictly limited numbers (144,000 and as there are a reported 7 million or so members worldwide its not going to be easy for a ticket!).
So, ironically no 'Portable Atheist' book today but a visit from a cultist, oh well!
3 comments:
On the other hand...
the notion of humankind ruining the earth hardly seems one to blow off hastily. When I was a kid, only one scenario could be imagined by which that might happen: nuclear holocaust. Before WWII, no scenarios could be imagined. Now, myriad possibilities present themselves, so that any possible solution ought not be dismissed out of hand.
http://tinyurl.com/7avz68
Tom, thanks for your comment. Just had a look at your blog and it's very well presented and written. However, as you'll probably know from reading this blog I am totally anti organised religion. My view is simple, given time, mankind will destroy the earth or ravage it of natural resources. I think it would be too smug that despite scientific progress we can buy or invent our way out of a future demise. The other possibility is the sun may die on us, we may be hit by an asteroid, we may nuke ourselves, aliens could invade etc etc. What I do think is whatever endgame happens to play out it will not involve god because to be blunt tom, he isn't there and never was. Hoepfully when disaster does strike it'll be pragmatic atheists that try and pick up any pieces and hopefully move us into a secular, common sense, god free future.
Oh, did I tell you that we're the one good religion, and the others are not so hot? You won't buy it, of course, but it's our line, nonetheless.
Sigh....we're not the only ones to have that stand. but there's not many. the reason I don't read too much atheist literature is that I agree with much of it.
http://tinyurl.com/5jqshf
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