Friday, January 30, 2009
Did you receive this strange book in the mail?
Posted by admin on Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 11:55 PM
While America's publishing industry packs up shop and says goodbye to the world, some authors are flush enough to pay postage to send you their work for free. Even when you don't want it.
Many in New Orleans recently received in our mailboxes, a free copy (in my case two!) of the 94-page book National Sunday Law. It's a well-printed enough little tome, almost as thick as Catcher in the Rye, with a black and white and red matte cardstock cover. Nice enough that you have to at least open it -- before you see the words "Revelations," "Jesus," "Christianity," or the phrase, "homosexuals and drug addicts share AIDS with the innocent," (p.5) and immediately know whether or not you're interested. Tossing the bigoted crap away is inevitably the right thing to do. Except then you're to blame for 94 pages (or 188, in my case) of brand new newsprint paper plus the cover entering a landfill. This I couldn't take.
National Sunday Law's nutjob sentence and paragraph structure will also give you vertigo -- yes, I did try to literally read the thing. But only after calling the publisher and asking, "May I speak with whoever’s in charge of distributing National Sunday Law via mail?"
"Well, the author is not here," said a nice sounding old lady whom I nonetheless knew I would question until she hung up on me. I never stop and haggle with the cross-huggers on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras, and I knew that all those repressed arguments would unfold now. Or maybe I was just jealous that I can't get another book published.
"The author mails them out himself?" I asked, surprised, since the sticker said 'to: resident.'
"Yes, and the author's gone for a while," she said, in a more shystee tone. "Won't be back for a good few weeks."
"Well then who else can I complain to, about how wasteful it is sending this book to people without asking them. If God made this planet like you think he did, then you are spitting in His face by forcing people to throw away a 90 page book!"
"No one's forcing anyone to throw it away."
"Well, if I am not religious –- and many people aren't these days -- what else would I do with it? Do you hand a pound of beef to a vegetarian and then blame them for throwing it away?"
"They could give it to one of their meat-eating friends."
"Well what if they're too smart to…I don't have any religious friends to give this to! Giving this book to people who haven't asked for it is simply wasteful."
"Well, there are a lot more people wasting more than we are."
"Are you actually telling me that it's ok for you to waste all this paper because other people do worse?"
"You just need to look at the bigger picture."
"I am! You aren't! Wasting resources and creating garbage is going to bring about the end of the world way sooner than homosexuals will."
"Well, there are things more important than the death of the environment. Once they pass this law – and they will, believe me, we have extensive documentation that proves…"
"Wait, law? What law?"
"The law that says everyone must attend church every Sunday."
“No way.” I looked again at the book's cover, and couldn't help laughing: "Is that what National Sunday Law means? I didn't read it! Is that what it's hypothesizing, that the government will…?"
"Oh it's not hypothesis, it's fact! And you are really in for it if you don't believe…"
"That the government is going to pass a law forcing us to go to church? Even though our entire country was based on freedom of religion? I…I…"
"Yes, and this is far worse than any environmental…"
"Wrong! No way. It's even more ridiculous that y’all would waste so much paper discussing something that has even less chance of happening than The Reckoning! That would never happen in America in a million years, especially since human beings are evolving farther and farther away from religion every year!" I have no idea if that's true. Seems true.
We volleyed for a good while more because, I could tell, she or her company had a 'don't hang up' policy. Making her hang up was harder than expected. Between her finally hanging up and me finally trying to actually read the book though, I asked the lady to remove my address from any future mailing lists. If you would like to do the same (the book's inside cover says they've distributed tens of millions of them! That’s an environmental disaster, one whole landfill unto itself), call: Amazing Truth Publications, 618-627-2357
Comments (15)
Showing 1-15 of 15
Presuming it's labeled with their return address, just write Return to Sender on it and drop it back in the mailbox. Make them pay the return postage. Of course, that will just increase their carbon footprint...
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I got this while my roommate was out of town, and left it on the counter for him to see because I found it so hilarious. Turns out he's actually reading it! Gah, I need to move out.
I also got two, and immediately assumed it was about the laws different states and counties have about how you can buy booze on Sundays. Ahem.
I wonder how they established their mailing list? Certain zip codes? What is the common denominator....I did not receive one in the 70125 area.
I'm angry about this on two fronts, that they're wasting paper and also that it would lead others to create assumptions about people that identify with a religion.I'm "religious," whatever that means, but I hope not everybody will think that following a religion is unintelligent or backwards. Many of my "religious" friends have helped rebuild New Orleans in so many ways that I find a book like this offensive to everybody. But dear blogger, please avoid the stereotypes of those of us that do believe in God, or that to move away from religion is some sort of evolution. Thank you.
Well, I guess it's impossible to write about religion from the POV of a nonbeliever and still seem objective. But I can say I tried. I am not anti-religion. I think everyone should do what they want if it makes them happy and doesn't hurt anyone. I think the problem with most religious people is that they aren't actually religious enough. It's the hypocrisy I don't like. People who don't know what Christianity means. I definitely have religious friends. And also gay friends, and friends that are in Iraq, etc. I don't need to feel the same as someone to respect them. So sorry if I offended you.
I got one. I was warned before I even opened my mail box that it would be there by the collection started atop the compartment that holds half of my building's mailboxes. Sure enough, there it was. I flipped through it and saw some of the parts you pointed out here and added it to the growing library of unwanted books there outside my building. It found refuge with its printed comrades cast aside. Now that I look back, I should have kept it and reused it for something like lining a litter box or ransom notes. Now I feel wasteful.
I received it in 70115. It was good for a laugh. btw Jose, I can empathize with the author. I consider myself a Christian but love the Ghandi quote, "I love your Christ. The problem is your Christians are very unlike your Christ." They are good people in the worst sense of the word.
I got 2 of them in 70115. I'm pretty sure that the postmen hate these guys. Tossed it in the bin before I walked back into the house, along with the 10 millionth Citi Bank mailer that I have gotten in the last few months. I suppose our bailout funds, aside from paying bonuses to idiots and buying jets, are being used to pay for huge mailings so I can have another checking account that hits me for $35 bucks if I am overdrawn by one red cent.
We got it -- from the people I've asked it seems 70115 is the ZIP they targeted. What you haven't mentioned is the part about the pope being the anti-christ and how they conveniently sent it to the ZIP most affected by the recent church closings by the archbishop -- I think they are trying to steal those people away from the catholic church - thats my theory anyway
His name is Ben Abraham. Search for "Box of Forced Worship books". He's even sent them outside the US.
I had to go to the website--some things are bigger than me: "Everybody who has been inspired reading this book should buy a whole case (if it can be afforded) and pass copies on to those who appear to be interested. Sometimes just leaving a copy behind in a waiting room, or on a park bench, or perhaps even in a public rest room, or wherever there is an opportunity to expose this paperback to people passing by, this may be a most successful method of getting the message across." Yeah, I can't wait to be exposed to this book in a public rest room...
