Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Wait, what? 'Conversations with God' author lied, you say? No, really!
I just cannot believe that such a good and holy man, a spiritual leader for our times, who has . . .
*ugh* Sorry, even I can't keep up that level of snark.
Here's the story, in all of its Schadenfreude glory:
Christmas Essay Was Not His, Author Admits
Neale Donald Walsch, author of the best-selling series “Conversations With God,” recently posted a personal Christmas essay on the spiritual Web site Beliefnet.com about his son’s kindergarten winter pageant.
During a dress rehearsal, he wrote, a group of children spelled out the title of a song, “Christmas Love,” with each child holding up a letter. One girl held the “m” upside down, so that it appeared as a “w,” and it looked as if the group was spelling “Christ Was Love.” It was a heartwarming Christmas story from a writer known for his spiritual teachings.
Except it never happened — to him.
Mr. Walsch’s story was nearly identical to an essay by a writer named Candy Chand, which was originally published 10 years ago in Clarity, a spiritual magazine, and has been circulating on the Web ever since. Mr. Walsch now says he made a mistake in believing the story was something that had actually come from his personal experience.
Bwahahaha! *sniff*
Yeah, right. Go on, pull the other one.
What I love is the sense in the NYT story, and in one in his local paper about the whole mess (be sure to check out the comments - seems that Walsch himself shows up to argue with people) about how surprising all of this is. Who could possibly have predicted that someone riding the Holy Gravy Train would do such a thing? As someone on MetaFilter (where I came across this) put it:
One cannot serve both God and Mammon. But giving it a try pays pretty well.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:45 AM on January 10
Nah, yathink?
Jim Downey
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Par for the Course
This is no accident. This is standard operating procedure for christians, especially preachers. Stealing stories from one another is just the way things are done. Perhaps 15 years ago (back when I was still a christian... how embarrassing) our revernd included a long story in a sermon to illustrate a point, her referenced the story as what had actually happened to him. A few weeks later, a visiting pastor used the exact same story to illustrate a similar point, still claiming it had happened to him. It was entertaining.
This stuff is common, this guy just happened to get caught.
It's possible, maybe
It's just possible that the guy was honestly mistaken. Memory is a funny thing, and it's easy for false memories to get implanted (look at the work of Elizabeth Loftus, among others).
My wife and I both have a funny anecdote about something the then young child of friends of ours said 20 years or so ago.
However, my wife thinks we were actually there when the child said it, and I think her father told us about it a year or two afterwards. Also, in thinking it over just now, I can't remember if it was our friends' son or daughter who said the cute thing.
It's also quite possible he just stole the anecdote and hoped no one would catch him on it, of course.
Memory is inherently faulty
This is not the first time someone has "adopted" someone else's experience as their own memory. Usually it shows up in the context of a copyright infringment suit or some highly publicized scandal and withdrawal of a book from publication.
Coincidentally, my AWAD email today has this "Thought of the Day":
Attibuted to Leo Longanesi, journalist and editor (1905-1957). Seems quite apropos, since Walsch's so-called "memory" appears to be the stuff of dreams.
False teachings!!
With regards to your posts.... I am sure you guys get a kick out of showing up the false teaching within our own kind. Yes - even Christians lie to Christians...its called Greed. You only have to look within Atheism to know what Greed and corruption has done. You are being lied to every day... God does exist and he does love you all!
Whichever side of the fence you stand is entirely your choice...after reading this post I had to laugh a little. Why are you guys so worried about all this new stuff being discovered. Surely if you are Godless you have nothing to fear? Not so long aggo I was on the same path as you all. the cant be a God, and we happened entirely by chance -- yeah right! All the Scientific discoveries world wide are proving without a doubt there was a Big Flood, and that Dinosaurs did walk with man, oil was created from the flood and corrosion, Evoltion theories have been blown out of the water many, many times. Just look at www.drdino.com for examply. Dr Kent Hovind is one of the many Scientists who have worldwide debates with Evoltionists and Atheists proving the "Theories of Evoliton" false. The earth is not millions of years old... and we were NOT created from nothing! You have just got to listen to the crazy saying you come out with to realize that God truly does exist, and we were creation only 6000 years ago, and a Big flood did come! They have found overwhelming evidence worldwide to prove the bible 100% accurate! my blog: http://almosttheend.blogspot.com will show you WHY you are all so confused and have been pulled out of reach of the truth!! Please, for the sake of your souls, have a look at these sites!!! God Bless you and your choices.!!
What about theists who disagree?
Glenn, your closing is interesting - if G-d blesses the atheists choices, including the one not to believe in a diety, then what is the problem? They are already blessed, so there's no need to move further down that path. Or can't you be blessed by something in which you do not believe?
And I am curious - if you claims that everything in the Bible is true, what about people who believe in dieties but don't believe that your Bible is the truth? What if they believe that the religious scriptures they have been raised and trained to follow are the truth?
And it's "Evolution," not "Evoliton." I've found that among rational thinkers, you get more mileage when you spell things correctly. Not much, if you rant enthusiastically and offer no more than your own writings in substantiation, but some.
Aww, how cute -
- we have a YEC here to set us straight!
Please Glenn, Tell Us More!
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Huh?
Christ was love? Is he dead now? Or is he into hate these days?
- No More Mr. Nice Guy!
Conversation with ghod
Conversations with ghod? Reminds me of a personal story. My mother in law has always talked to ghod, but recently she has been engaging in serious two-way conversations. I mentioned this to my wife, who, with power of attorney, had her mother's medication reduced to match her recent weight loss. Seems to have worked, at least this ghod character isn't talking back anymore.
A great story
A great story is hard to pass up. Take the Mary Magdalene bit in the gospel of John where Jesus says "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." According to a fascinating book I read called Misquoting Jesus by new testament scholar Bart Ehrman, pretty well all of the biblical scholars agree that particular story was not written by the apostle John and was added much later.
Still, it's a great story ;)
You mean it never happened?
The 'let him who is without sin' bit? That would mean the Catholic Church can fight for the imposition of the death penalty again since one of their scriptural justifications for being against capital punishment is a hoax!
Seriously, other scholars say that that bit was written by the writer of the Luke gospel (based on the analysis of style and all that) and was misplaced in the John gospel. The monks were working with pieces of paper that could easily have shuffled out of order which was then perpetuated in subsequent copies.
You mean it never happened?
You have to know that the Roman Catholic Church is behind everything in the world! the Papal system is the Anti-christ - it is was makes and funds people like you guys... honestly - i have spend and done the homework....
All religions are pointing to Rome! All of them except the True Church of Christ....
They are behind Paganism, Satanism, Atheism, Hinduism, Muslims, the lot.....
if you dont believe me - do the homework: http://almosttheend.blogspot.com and you will see that even Atheism is a religion created to keep souls away from God.!!
take care
God Bless
Not all
Fiddle. Mine doesn't.
Except maybe with the middle finger.
Heh...
I call Poe. This is too delightfully ignorant to be otherwise. Thanks for the entertainment, Glenn. I really need to try this sometime, it looks like a lot of fun. And nothing could be easier than arguing like a fundie.
You're a hoot,
Matt