Sigh. I probably should have seen this coming. I got another tacky solicitation from the church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The envelope has lots of stuff written on it with lots of things underlined and double underlined. In purple. There is also a notice on the envelope (in ALL CAPS, which I have been quoted at work as saying is "cheap and whorish.") To "PLEASE OPEN IN PRIVATE." I really was expecting a Bible tract with a pop-up Jesus, kind of like a children's pop-up book. Given that tomorrow is Easter, I guess that when you opened the tract, Jesus should have popped out of a tomb or something. Surely not having this was an oversight on their part.
The inside has an envelope with I can't count how many fonts. One of the testimonials says that "One of these moles that was so bad in my temple HAS VANISHED with the prayer cloth and God's mercy." So I guess that Jesus is now branching out into skin care products, or maybe there was a rodent infestation at a synagogue, depending on what "mole" and "Temple" referred to. God apparently also took care of someone's son's high blood pressure and got him a high paying job.
I didn't get a prayer handkerchief this time, just a purple ribbon of blessing. Maybe they didn't like getting the full moon ritual last time. Of course they are also asking for money. The whole thing just feels like some kind of (you should excuse the expression) gawd-awful chain letter.
Real spirituality should not feel like it's about making money. This just seems to be preying on people who are likely to be poor or going through bad times, and getting them to send checks so that the church gets richer. Yuck!
Amusingly enough, I need to go get ready to go to a Pagan thing. I will use the church's pre-paid reply envelope to send them back their original material, as well as an issue of Erie Gay News, as well as this blog entry. Church folks? Total, out of the broom closet Pagan here and I am so out as gay that it is probably visible from space. What you're selling, I'm not buying. Monotheism is fine, but it isn't me. Okay?
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