Liberation and Ascension

From: jacques@news.gate.net (Jacques Treatment)
Newsgroups: alt.apocalypse,alt.slack
Date: 14 Sep 1995

The Exhibitionist scrawls in foam from his mouth:
>Listen, pal. J.C. already takes enough bad mouthing without nihilists
>and atheists getting in the way depressing matters. Sure, he may be a
>composite figure. Sure, he may be a love-child. Sure, he may be a stage
>magician. SO WHAT?? If he makes people think, he could be a cross breed
>of a goat and a debutante!!!

That's the *thing*--he DOESN'T make people think. MINDS make people think, Christ is an effigy used to turn people into one sort of *DRONE* or another--or still *worse*... into EVANGELISTS.

>I don't care about that!!! And you don't
>understand the purpose of religion... It's partly to counter the
>depression caused by realizing that logic indicates that on a global
>scale, YOU SUCK, and partly to assume that in some way, you can control
>your destiny.

Feh. From the beginning, religion was a *tool* to extort people into TOWING
THE PARTY LINE--it's only "value" is to make people blissfully *ignorant* of
their own natural *FREEDOM*. Also, you have it *reversed*--it is RELIGION that tells you that YOU SUCK MIGHTILY, YOU TINY INSIGNIFICANT SCAB ON THE PLANET!

No matter *what* you do, the Giant Fist of the Great Deity Fill-In-The-Blank
can always render your actions NULL AND VOID.

On the other hand, LOGIC reveals the following:

1) Either you can change the Big Picture or you can't.

2) If you *can* change the Big Picture, that's really great because you have
complete control over your destiny.

3) If you *can't* change anything, you're just along for the ride, and can thus
do ANYTHING YOU WANT WITH COMPLETE IMPUNITY! After all, it was all
*destined* from the beginning, and so you can ENJOY, to the FULLEST, what-ever comes your way, good or ill.

So either way, you WIN *BIG*.

>This is what pisses most people off about science... All
>the worthless crap that happens being controlled by a mindless tendency
>that can't be appealed to, can't be reasoned with, and generally leads to
>one's own physical decay...

Actually, what science teaches is that everything happens with complete
*uncertainty* and that the Rules of the Universe run FAST AND LOOSE! Live for the moment, and make EVERY second count. Remember, in a godless universe, nobody's keeping score but *you*, and that makes you a winner EVERY TIME! Who needs to appeal to a Divine Referee? Call a do-over and keep playing!

>People don't need to hear that the sun is
>going to burn out, swell up, zorch us, and die.

Why not? It adds to the miracle of the LIVING MOMENT. After all, you could have been born FIVE MINUTES BEFORE ARMAGEDDON, and then you'd have never had the unutterable *ECSTASY* of eating a pastrami sandwich!

Yeah, there are much more INTERESTING joys to appreciate, but that's only because we're ALIVE NOW.

Dig?

>You catch more flies with
>honey than with vinegar, and if religion is honey, people's actions are
>flies, then science is a pretty strong vinegar... 'Nuff said...

Which brings to mind two important points:

1) Vinegar makes MUCH better salad dressing on salad than does honey.
2) WHY THE *HELL* DO YOU WANT *FLIES*?

>"You can motivate more people by cheering them up than by depressing
> them.."

And you can motivate them to just about *anything* if you make them ANGRY enough. (Come to think of it, RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM proves *that* one pretty well...)

Jacques Treatment | Michael Aaron Marcus | (407) 852-7721 | jacques@gate.net
Writer | Inventor | Macho Surreal Maniac | (407) 487-1291 |
No excuse but me

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: foojang@teleport.com (No Eraser Head)

organism <janmar@gate.net> wrote:
>wbest@aludra.usc.edu (The Exhibitionist) wrote:
>no,you suck!
> you suck!
>you suck more!
>etc.

So, is this newsgroup gonna be abput the crazed and hysterical moanings
of a society increasingly convinced it is swishing faster and faster down
the big skanky toilet bowl of the universe? A forum for Gordon Michael
Scallion fanatics, food hoarders and Peter LaLonde Bahble Prophesy?

Well I hope so. There is nothing quite like the warm feeling you get when
you huddle in the basement with the transistor radio, waiting for the
tornado sirens to stop. Society seems to be headed in the direction of
constant apocalyptic crisis, after having had an alluring taste of this
medicine from CNN in the Gulf War. Hunkering down in the living room,
waiting for Wolf Blitzer to appear at the doorstep, yes indeed, that's
entertainment.

Let it begin here, I say. Let this newsgroup be the spawning grounds for
some of the most fear-inducing rumors and global legends designed to
produce apoplectic, babbling and naked repenters lining the streets from
one end of the country to another by 1999!

Have a nice day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No Eraser Head
foojang@teleport.com
Portland, OR

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