For once, that English expression of astonishment seems entirely appropriate. Via my blogbuddy Strings, we learn of the (purported) existence of 'Lucifer's Testicles'.
Are Your Children Playing With Lucifer's Testicles? is a Bible based book for Christian parents who by lack of faith can't afford to send their children to a decent Christian school. Their precious youngsters are infected by the secular filth and lies being taught by unsaved teachers in America's public school system. The book teaches parents how to easily explain to their children that Easter (as it is celebrated by the Unsaved) has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus Christ but is actually a holiday celebrating lewd and sexually explicit pagan rituals of fertility.
There's more at the link.
Fortunately, after my initial astonished wonder whether or not this might, in fact, be the work of some truly wacko fundamentalist nut-job, I read the site's 'Terms Of Service Agreement'. If you follow its instructions to 'mouse over' hidden text at the end, you find this reassurance:
The Landover Baptist Church is a complete work of fiction. It is a satire/parody.
Having met more than a few of the most frenetic of fundamentalists in my time, I have to admit that for a few mind-boggled moments, they almost had me going!
Peter
8 comments:
You might want to call them non-thinking or non-reasoning fundamentalists. It seems that fundamentalist has somehow become synonymous with ignorant, unchangeable dogma where as should we lose the fundamentalism in Christianity, it leads to watered down intellectually contaminated faith that ends up being little or no faith at all.
I can never forget one Lutheran pastor who during his sermon almost equated the God we are supposed to worship to just an interesting idea...
Poe's Law strikes again: "Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing."
In defense of that notion, On a Wing and a Whim, most people can recognize satire and parody. The problem arises when a) their ox is the one being gored; or b) they've met someone that actually espouses those beliefs and wasn't kidding.
You have to admit that Pope Gregory did in fact co-opt a number of traditional pagan observances and turn them into Christian holidays.
Easter did in fact originate as a pagan celebration of Spring, and Christmas did in fact originate as an observance of Mid-Winter.
Just sayin'.
Yeah, reading that brought back memories of the little booklets that a friend who had begun going to one of the local churches left on my desk. They were designed to convince me that taking the rite of eucharist and other Catholic/Episcopalian rites were what was leading down the path to hell.
He quit doing it when I started listing out the myriad other ways that I had earned my place in perdition, a few of which he had participated when we were stupid 19 year olds.
Landover is an extremely good Poe, among the best at walking the line between giving themselves away as kidding giving their best impression of someone everyone knows who IS just that crazy in just exactly that kind of way. They keep a collection of horrfied hate mail from believers and nonbelievers alike who've fallen for them. A sort of trophy wall, I suppose.
Christwire is nearly as skilled, but usually not so flamboyant.
Peter, Peter, Peter
Just read and laugh. Landover is so wacky that I read it for comic relief at times.
Can one image what would happen if someone made a M*slim version of that site...it would probably be End Times for the Internet...
Honestly I can't fault Strings for falling for Poe's law here, I mean there are wackier ones out there that are real. Chick tracts anyone?
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