Not the best…
I just read a book called “National Sunday Law.” It was in my mailbox and since I am cheap and an avid reader I figured I’d give it a go. It was a small book so I knew it wouldn’t take me long to read and given the summary on the back cover, I knew it was nonfiction. Now, I love me some nonfiction that challenges my beliefs and thinking - sometimes it gives me a better understanding that I am wrong and sometimes it shows that I am right and the author is a dipshit. Loving a good debate is one of my many flaws (calling someone a dipshit for espousing their nonsense is another) so I was started reading the short book with an open mind.
That’s an hour of my life I will never get back. To be honest, it’s a long winded conspiracy theory of a religious nature. Now, I like hearing other people’s viewpoints on religion. It’s no secret that I am most decidedly NOT religious as I believe religion is the worst thing to happen to the word of God and am vocal about it when asked; however, I am not so ingrained in my philosophies that I cannot hear another’s thoughts about religion. This particular author’s viewpoint is not unlike the pamphlets the Jehovah’s Witnesses leave for people - the world is going to hell in a hand basket and the only salvation is God.
Well, no shit Sherlock. Duh. Every religion has been shouting “The end is near” for so long, I’ve been shouting back, “Is it gonna be TODAY?!?” Yes, I know Armageddon is coming. I’m eagerly anticipating its arrival. Every baby I’ve come across I’ve checked for “the Mark” so I can protect that child from the idiots in the Catholic church from killing the Antichrist. Seriously, as a religion, Christians should relish the arrival of the Antichrist because, according to biblical teachings, once the end war happens between Christ and Satan’s baby, the good people will be reborn and life will be good and peaceful - everyone will still have to wear clothes, according to the Jehovah’s Witness publications, but I guess being able to run around naked is too much to ask of God. One would think that if that’s the end goal of the religious, they would protect the Antichrist so they can get to “heaven” faster. Make no mistakes, even my own family thinks I’m weird for having this thought process, so don’t feel like you’re being judgy for thinking I’m a touch crazy. I was raised in a Baptist home - the JUDGIEST religion I have ever come across…
Anyhoo! The book is about how religions are trying to make Sunday the “National Day of Rest” when Sunday is NOT the true Sabbath. It says the Catholic church changed it because, well, let’s face it, the Vatican thinks it can do what it wants - including changing God’s commandments about keeping Saturday the holy day and saying it’s what God wants. The ENTIRE book is all about how the Catholic church is evil. They are doing Satan’s work by changing the resting day, and the other Christian religions are following suit by demanding the American government to make it law. The author keeps yammering about the 4th commandment, totally bypassing the 1st commandment of “God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me’” when speaking of the atrocities ancient Catholicism had done to people. But whatever, the book IS about a National Sunday Law. I continued to read, God forgive me…
The author tries to refute other Christian teachings of the commandments being put on the cross with Christ when he was crucified. He states there were two sets of commandments - the moral law and the ceremonial law - and it was the ceremonial law that was put on the cross with Christ. What the author fails to realize is that one of Jesus’s teachings was about doing works on the Sabbath - like getting your donkey out of a hole if it fell in on the Sabbath; or your neighbors roof starts leaking and it rains; or a fire breaks out in the village on the Sabbath. What? Y’all gonna stand outside and watch the place burn because God says you can’t do work?
That’s how silly some of the pharisees’ interpretations of the commandments were and why there were TWO commandments left, given to CHRISTIANS by God through his dying son: “Love God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Now the first one is self explanatory - and given the author’s points of religious actions, most religions of the world are in direct violation of the first one. The second one means treat others as you want to be treated. If you lie to people, they’re gonna lie to you; if you treat people like shit, they’re gonna treat you like shit. The author of this book failed to mention either one of these - though if he did it would completely negate his yammering about a commandment that NO LONGER APPLIES TO FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST!
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The author continues on and while I enjoy a good conspiracy theory - I’m a sucker for the Illuminati bullshit - the rest of the book pretty much devolved into Jehovah’s Witness pamphlet that was written by someone who imbibed in too much of the sacramental wine and had a fourth grade writing level. He gets into the whole origin of the “666” number from Revelations. According to the author, it’s the Latin letters of the Pope’s title Vicarius Filii Dei. Using numerology (which the author previously stated was “against God”) the author takes all the letters that are also Roman numerals and they add up to the unholy number. Frankly, his “origin” point belies his point of the Antichrist being the Catholic Church since the number “666” isn’t on Vatican property (at least to my knowledge). The author bounces around like Tigger on crack with his explanations of the end time when we all have to choose between getting the mark or losing our heads; and while he makes some good points, his delivery is very much that of a zealot.
Even after all of that, the thing that irritated me the most about the book - no, the thing that pissed me right the fuck off about the book; and my BIGGEST problem with religion; isn’t the fact that passages were cherry picked, twisted and bastardized to fit the author’s narrative. I’m used to religious fanatics doing that - remember, I grew up in a Baptist home. No, what pissed me off the most about this book is the author’s condemnation of homosexuality, DESPITE there being BIBLICAL PROOF (1 Samuel 18:-23) that God doesn’t really give a shit which gender you love - if God did, do you really think he would have blessed David? If God really cared about which gender you loved, do you really think he would have his son, the Lamb, come from a lineage that was “tainted” as such? I think not. Now, if you want to have off-spring, then yeah, you kinda need both genders (or parts from both, cuz medical science has made leaps and bounds in that department - some of which I’m still on the fence about). But to love someone that has the same gender DNA as you being sinful and an abomination to God? I sincerely doubt that, but then again, I’m probably driving the bus to Hell for my paganistic and warped viewpoint of God so draw your own conclusions.
Do I think the book has merit? Yes, but then I’m an intellectual bookworm. I don’t believe in banning or burning books because ALL books have some worth. This one can be used as toilet paper when you’re done reading it. If you read the book, what did you think of it?
