So I got this flier in the mail from the local Seventh Day Adventist church.

[laconicsax]

www.theappearingpdx.com

The Ancients Predicted It

Today it is one of the hottest subjects around. Millions of people are talking about it—and even though dramatic shifts in world events seem to indicate that it’s about to happen, few people agree on exactly what will happen. Is it possible that many people are making a big mistake when it comes to the Appearing—an event that is referenced in the Bible more than 2,500 times?

Join people from around your area who are seeking the truth of what is to come.

The dates are 2/26-3/13. This brought to mind two questions:

-What if "The Appearing" happens before the 26th? People planning to attend to learn about the "truth of what is to come" would be out of luck.
-How ridiculous is it that sending this mass mailing is considered acceptable behavior but a billboard or bus sign that reads "Don't believe in God? You're not alone" is deserving of a vitriolic response?

edit: homophone

[MineralMan]

1. So, what's the difference between this and a flyer for

Energy-Saving Windows or Siding? Why is it not acceptable behavior on the part of some church to adverize their movie or whatever it is? See, I'm an atheist, but I don't care if churches mail stuff to people. I just put it in the recycling bin with the window ads. Most people don't care about the atheists' signs either.

What's the difference between your vitriolic response and that of those who don't like the sign?

I guess I don't understand.

[Chulanowa]

2. He's not suing the post office to have these flyers banned

THAT'S the difference.

[laconicsax]

4. You consider my post 'vitriolic?'

Wow.

[zeemike]

3. I get mass mailings all the time.

Mostly trying to sell me something, or as in this case looking for new recrutes....I have thrown away dozens from AARP.
So I don't see the comparison.

[laconicsax]

6. Really?

You don't see the double standard in these being seen as acceptable but an atheist group renting a billboard is controversial?

[zeemike]

9. No I really don't

It is comparing oranges and apples.
And i don't have any problem with atheist renting billboards or using mass mailings like the religious ones do...it is free speech.

[laconicsax]

11. You're absolutely correct when you say that it's free speech--it's comparing apples to apples.

What happens when a church sends out a mass mailing advertising a three-weekend seminar about the end of the world? People roll their eyes and toss it. It's considered acceptable behavior.

What happens when an areligious group rents a billboard stating that some people don't believe in a god? Groups try to bully the billboard owner into taking it down, others vandalize the billboard, religious leaders denounce it, and TV and radio commentators ask if the areligious group crossed a line. It's debated whether it's acceptable behavior.

[darkstar3]

12. Nailed it. +1 n/t

[zeemike]

13. It is not debatable to me it is not acceptable behavior.

But this is the first I have heard of this happeing....more surprised that any atheist group would even care to do something like that really.
But they have every right to do it.

[laconicsax]

18. It's not about you.

Just Google "atheist billboard" or "atheist bus ad" and educate yourself.

[downtrodden41]

15. Thats exactly right.

[Walk away]

5. I wouldn't go to an event and I'm an Atheist but now I have to know,,,,

What is "The Appearing"? What mistake are many people making? Are they all making the same mistake?

Good marketing! I'm off to Google....

[laconicsax]

7. It's a great looking flier.

[LiberalFighter]

8. More than 2,500 times? Hogwash!!

[DeSwiss]

10. Well the first topic that starts promptly at 7PM seems like fun....

...it's called:

(1) A Planet in Upheaval (Friday, Feb. 26) Tsunamis, earthquakes, fires, floods… what in the world is going on?

- I think this is an insurance seminar. No?

[zeemike]

14. That church sign!

Makes my dirty dirty mind go to work....I just wonder, I really do.
What kind of god this man talked too.
:eyes:

[DeSwiss]

17. I believe that the innuendo......

...in the sign's wording is purposeful. And intended to be a sexual double entendre. It makes him sound hip and trendy. Many preachers are now resorting to blatant titillating tactics as they see their memberships dwindle. So they've opted to utilize the "worldly" advertising approaches that they've been haranguing against all these years - after finally coming to the conclusion that if they can't beat them, then they might as well join them.

The fact is, that when you boil down religion to it's essence, it's pretty much always been about sex and trying to control those who can have it. Women in particular. It has been the legacy of the patriarchal versions of religion that have sought to put-down all things female (as far as importance is concerned) and to place them under male control. This has been particularly so since the former versions of the world's religions accorded women a more equal status among the divinities. These religious ripoffs of today have been so sufficiently successful that now (in many places) women don't even have any http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/pregnant_iowa_woman_arrested_for_falling_down">authority over their own bodies. A man would never allow laws to control his body in the manner that women are compelled to. So they've made the rules different for women -- not as a sign of the sanctity of life, but as a sign of their control.

And yet from the very earliest beginnings, from the land of Mu, to the Mother of all -- Gaia; and onto the pantheons of the Sumerians, the Arcadian and the Egyptians there are the goddesses. And of course the Greeks and the Romans who copied those who came before them -- all included women prominently as part of central symbolism of religion's power and it's connection nature and the greater universe. Neith, Minerva, Athene, and Cybele, and from the days of the Anglo-Saxon before they called upon Yahweh and Jesus, they called upon the Earth, ’Hal wes thu folde fira modor’ (Hail, thou Earth, men’s mother).

That is -- all but the Abrahamics -- the deadliest and most evil form(s) of religion yet devised. And they have insinuated themselves into every aspect of our lives now. Judaism - who blamed the fall of all of humanity upon Eve. Christianity - who blamed Eve and who also made Mary into an empty vessel for the "holy sperm" of their deity who apparently lacked the power and ability to come among us, except through a woman. A woman whom they immediately (and continue) to debase and discriminate upon. And then there's Islam -- the one's who own their women. Those who buy and sell them as if in a bazaar, and then just as easily get rid of them if their faces are hairy, or they're missing a few teeth -- and with a few twirls... Poof! they're gone. Or even more disconcertingly, if they show even the slightest bit of independence, they are killed in order to save a man's so-called "honor."

All are sickening stains upon humanity's legacy and symbols of our IGNORANCE and FEAR. A torn, filthy and tattered Teddy Bear we refuse to let go of because we fear what will happen to us without the mumbo-jumbo and the rituals and the woo-woo -- and the fairy tale heaven that no one knows a damned thing about, and yet which they are still forever striving to attain entrance. To go to a place that has to be the most boring idea of heaven and bliss ever contemplated by man. Bowing down and praising and worshiping a completely psychopathic deity for all eternity. No, not me. You can have it!

- And the sign we see above is really a sign of desperation. An attempt to stave off the inevitable. The complete abandonment of religious delusion by the young people of the world.....

[downtrodden41]

16. Considering that a typical bible has about 1200 pages, for "the appearing" to be mentioned

2500 times would mean that one would see it about twice per page (or hundreds of times per page in the relevant book) and I just don't think thats true, is is?