Granted, an actual hunger strike would be intensely difficult, but I think it could achieve real results in making this world a little closer to heaven. And we could rewrite history just a bit… and claim they’d died protesting an actual humanitarian cause. Like religious oppression, sexual discrimination, or those convoluted user service agreements that ask you to give up your legal rights to demand what you actually paid money to receive.

In the dystopian possible future where I am “Evil” Overlord Supreme… Urbanski is going to get to train the judges. I want that level of wit and wisdom to stop being rare and out-of-place. It needs to be the norm.

Mayan Mirth just doesn’t carry the same cachet… at least if you’re not absolutely willing to put your heart into it.

Of course, Romney’s retort was calculated as well… within the boundaries available. He loses his main demographic of “religious” hatefulls if he takes any other stance… or doesn’t back their lunacy up with pleasing statements.

I do wish these fools had more than one chance to run. I think it would be hilarious to see Al Gore up against McCain in 2016.

[...]The information talked about inside the write-up are several of the most beneficial out there [...]…

It’s not really possible to be paying attention to the world we all live in, and believe in a god that isn’t either an asshole, or self-centered, or indifferent. Or maybe just not very powerful… or smart. I could believe in a cosmos created by an idiot. Or a superhero working randomly. Factual issues aside, it’s not possible to have internal consistency if you claim omnipotence, omnipresence, and to be perfectly good… while demonstrably evil.

The bible I read, the part of “God” was played by a whiny bully who will happily torture humans to win *bets* with the devil. >_< That's what super-villains do. They prove how loyal their minions are by torturing them. They raze entire cities to the ground, and wipe out civilizations with floods… and anyone who slights them can burn for eternity. God doesn't help people. The whole thing with Moses, he wanted the story. He was honest that he was going to make the pharoh's heart harden… so that he would have an excuse to torture the citizens. And then he leaves his chosen people… in a desert. For decades. Until Moses calls him out on that, and gets banned from settling with the others. That's epic trolling.

I never saw anything of this level in any other mythology. Zeus once turned a girl into a cow for a year… because he was banging her and his wife came home. And he panicked about hiding her. It took a while before he had a chance to sneak the "cow" out from under Hera's nose. Now, understandably, that's horrifying. But it did keep her alive. Other tales had women cursed for excessive beauty or talent by particularly jealous goddesses. But nobody pretended it was for any reason other than petty jealousy.

In short, it's hard to find a religion with a more obviously evil god. Most are justifiably indifferent and capricious… dangerous… but not evil.

I do believe I will start work on the book as soon as the semester is over and I’ve finished the comic scripts I’ve been long promising my ever patient artist (*snugs Nate*). Should I actually find the means and courage to finish it, you’ll receive a glowing mention in the dedication.

As for you… I’m currently of the opinion that it would be a crime for you NOT to begin writing. I hope you conquer that fear. *snugs*

This book would be well-researched, and presented with unassailable logic. Detractors thinking the author incompetent would be hard-pressed to find fault to back up their ridiculous claim. Presenting with humor and insight makes the subject memorable. Enjoyable. “Dr”s Phil and Lara… whatever else you can say, did manage to get very far without credentials. Their messages were presented with conviction and in an amusing fashion. Just saying, if those hacks can manage, surely you can do better.

Look at those you admire. Realize… to be awesome, you must do awesome. And try things. I’m looking at starting a bit of writing… and it’s scaring the hell out of me. I am afraid of failure, but I am more afraid of success. Because if I do it, it means more hard work and few excuses. But that’s life. Hard work, hopefully rewarding, and no excuses. No do-overs.

“The web is full of tools to open things up to limited crowdsourcing, previews, smartasses commenting, etc. I’ve time coming at me in the near future, and I absolutely (within reason) wish to volunteer some, possibly lots, of it to a worthy and productive cause. Such as this. HINT HINT.”

You are correct, of course, in your assertion that a great deal of time can be saved by taking advantage of the services and individuals available to authors. Should I actually decide to jump into this, I’ll keep your cleverly hidden offer of assistance close to mind.

“Rather than a paragraph for each category, it could be a full article post for each. Or blog a major prophecy a week for a year. And it’s a highly useful step for crafting the arduous outline mentioned in my previous point.”

I may consider writing a series of articles, but I don’t have the discipline to schedule regular blog posts. Hell, I consider it a minor miracle if I manage to blog at all. Luckily, most of the outlining work is already done, just by the nature of how I keep track of my notes.

“I also just love the mental image of oiled Spartans and sweater-clad bible thumpers uniting to protest this book.”

*laughs* LOVE IT. There are, however, 365 supposed prophesies… so I’d have to do a bit of work on the name. Also, I must admit I find the idea of “tricking” Christians into buying the thing especially delicious. *giggles*

I really do like the idea of writing this book, and I think adding in a few chapters on the evolution of messianic mythos and rebutting common apologetics pertaining to the prophesies (replacement theology, etc.) would round it out into something people might want to actually read, rather than simply reference. I suppose the only thing stopping me is an acute sense of laziness and the odd suspicion that I may simply be tossed aside as someone who doesn’t have the vaguest idea of what she’s going on about – after all, it’s not as though I have any sort of degree or expertise backing up my claims, I do, of course, have a veritable shit-tonne of references, and access to experts that would be happy to weigh in, but I, myself, am a bit of a nobody.