2001-12-04 - 4:29 p.m.
There is a group of men who stand outside the subway station at 34th Street. They are some kind of religious fanatics, although I don't know what religion it is they embody.Must be the fundamentalist version of the religion from Planet of the Apes, judging from their their get-ups. They wear these makeshift robes, cut crudely from some cheap, flimsy satin in deep blue and purple, with felt overlays in gold and green. Some have crudely cut and pasted gilt stars on the chest, and some have shiny silver medallions instead of the star, and they all have these giant belts that look like heavyweight championship boxing belts. They wear ornate felt hats, and stand in a small group, spouting the most offensive, hateful rhetoric I have ever heard. Against women, and Jews, and Asians, and Christians, and whites. Horrible, inflammatory diatribes against the imagined evils of all abovementioned groups, and a call for repentence.It's horrifying, especially these days, to hear such hatred and ignorance. Sometimes I feel like going right up in their faces and screaming at them to stop it, that no religion in the world preaches hate and violence. But I won't, because I'm afraid of their anger, their militant righteousness. There is one thing I really want to say, though, and that is this:
Dude. I SEE your Fubu jeans under those lame-ass Planet of the Apes robes. I see your brand new Timberland boots, still bearing the leather logo tag dangling from the laces.
And here's the thing. People of God, (of any God), truly religious people, do not wear $100 jeans. The pious, by definition, care only for their purpose. And while I'm sure they have their human weaknesses, consumerism and label lust are probably not among them. The same thing with Jim and Tammy Fay. Do you mean to tell me that of all the people who bought into their Ministry of Bullshit, it never occured to one of them to wonder why they drove a gold - trimmed Cadillac? Lived in a huge, ornate mansion? What is that, so when God came to speak to them he'd be comfortable? No bells went off for those people?
Think about it. Ever hear stories of Jesus having robes of gold? Allah living in a 20 room palace? Anyone ever see Mother Theresa wearing a big old diamond ring? Gandhi driving around in a Mercedes? I think not.
Religious zealots with high status luxury goods = no good. It seems simple to me.
In other news, they've begun the first round of layoffs at work. The flip side of the coin is that I got a job offer from the guy I mentioned the other night. I don't know if it's an ideal situation for me, but at least if I get fired this week I'll have an option. *sigh* The waiting is the worst part.
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she lives - 2005-08-18
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