Slightly OT: It's Not What They Say, It's What They Do

> ... and my advice is not gospel, but
> so-called "Christian" spammers are a special annoyance, because
> of their deep-seated hypocracy.

I agree with 100% of what Roadie (and others) have said. This is deplorable, no matter who does it, but a so-called religious service company doing this goes beyond unethical and illegal.

I would, however, like to GENTLY point out something said by the Person upon whom Christianity is based, if I may:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'L o r d, L o r d,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

It's not what you say that matters, it's what you do. And in this case, their actions tell me that they are on the Autobahn to hell.

I am appalled at the things done in the name of any religion. I would gently ask that anyone who sees things like this and thinks that they are being conducted by true "followers" keep the above verse in mind (the reference is Matthew 7:21, in case you're interested).

I hate to preach (and understand, mods, if you have to delete this -- I'll take that chance because what I'm saying is a part of who I am and not something that I simply "do"), but I really want to point out that bad things done in the name of Anything aren't really done in the name of that particular Anything. They are done with the same rationalizations used to do anything else bad, and invoking an Anything is, in my opinion, simply some type of intellectual and ethical disconnect that results in skewed logic leading to nonsensical conclusions. I guess it's like saying that since I see Internet Marketers spamming, then every Internet Marketer is bad. That's a classic logic trap ("spammers are bad, an Internet Marketer spammed, therefore Internet Marketers are bad") that leads to a questionable conclusion. It's not who they say they are, it's what they do that matters.

And so many bad things are done in the name of (fill in the name of your favorite religion, belief, ethical paradigm, or sports club here -- that's what I mean by "Anything") that many people who really are ethical, religious, or whatever never say it -- they simply try to live it because the philosophy is True but they don't want to be associated with the lie that others have created. I also realize that nobody is saying that all Christians / Moslems / Dallas Cowboy Fans are scumbags -- and I also know that almost everyone hates the "in your face, I'm better than you" attitude presented by most hypocritical religious zealots, regardless of the "flavor". Perhaps we would all be better off if we simply looked upon someone who obnoxiously claimed to be a Christian in the same light as we would look upon an obnoxious Dallas Cowboy fan?

As for me, I'm not perfect and never will be; I'm just forgiven and told to "sin no more". I'm no better or worse than anyone else, but I do think that society holds me to a higher standard if I make my beliefs known, and that's OK with me (although if you do so, I promise that I will regularly disappoint you with my inconsistent actions). I also find it ironic that I get more help and more love from so-called "heathens" than I have from most of the churches that I have attended (hmmm...perhaps something got twisted around?). But enough of this. E-mail me at "tom (dot) brownsword (at) gmail (dot) com" if you wish to discuss this further. I have a passion for what I call "true religion", and Roadie's post encouraged me to respond, but this isn't the right place to discuss it at great length.

All I really meant to say is that you can find pond scum on a lot of different ponds -- hypocrisy is not limited to the "Christian" pond. But regardless of which pond the scum comes from, you can only tell when you're dealing with pond scum by examining what they do because pond scum will never tell you that they are pond scum. And don't whip out your wallet because somebody invokes the name of Anybody or Anything; instead, look at the heart of what's being offered and decide based on that. Stop looking at the "eye candy" and start looking at the core of what's being offered. No matter how many times you give a skunk a bath, it's still a skunk, and you sometimes have to kiss a lot of frogs to find that Princess (or Prince...).

Thanks again, Roadie, for what you're doing -- it is quite encouraging. If you ever write an eBook outlining your experience, techniques, and tactics, it would be an honor to be able to purchase a copy. I also sense that this will never happen because I somehow sense that you aren't doing this to get rich...

Gotta run; it's my turn to put the "you're going to hell" tracts in the bathrooms at the mall (just joking!).

Thanks for listening,
Tom