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Bostonians bombarded by biblical book

The Great Controversy

From South Boston to Brighton, Bostonians are finding this book in their mailboxes or just dropped in stacks in their building lobbies.

For the one or two people who simply tossed the thing in the nearest recycling bin, it's a Seventh-Day Adventist tome first published in 1858 that

[D]escribes the "Great Controversy theme" between Jesus and Satan, as played out over the millennia from its start in heaven, to its final end when the world is destroyed and recreated.

The version we're getting is from Remnant Publications, which sells a variety of versions of the book, including an audio one on MP3 and hardcover editions.

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Comments

Thanks for the info. I just figured it was from the Witnesses.

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“proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes no sense.” - Pope Francis

“The Church does not grow by proselytizing; she grows by attracting others.” - Pope Francis

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And this is why religious people are super annoying. Almost as annoying as the phonebook people.

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.

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...a thousand tiny free libraries.

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And promptly threw it in the recycling bin next to it. I feel bad for the poor USPS employee or contractor charged with emptying the recycling bins there.

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Drop it off at the SDA church in Fenway.

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Now if everyone would just do it on the same day.

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It's their Sabbath.

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We had people on campus come up to us and asked us if we wanted to have a copy of one of those "left behind" books. Some students were interested until you were asked to give a "donation." Most didn't get a copy, one person said they donated a nickel to get the book, needless to say, they disappeared after that.

Wonder if we'll see the book appear on campus.

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Have you read the "Left Behind" books? Even a little bit? Their only use (besides starting a fire) is as a textbook illustrating how NOT to write. Aside from the theology, which I'm told is quite laughable, they're just plain BAD writing. It's usually not a good thing when someone's inspiration for creative expression is religious fervor.

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That's what I think every time I hear Ode to Joy.

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... but rather like American deists (belief in a generally benign God that didn't interfer much or command constant attention) and the Ode to Joy is more about human brotherhood and peace than it is about religion.

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My friend and I had a challenge before I looked it up on google. I said either the Jehovah Witnesses or the Church of Christ. He was spot on with his guess.

On to the recycling bin with the Globe Directs...

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I received one in Allston last week: no address, postmarks or other markings so I assumed it had to be hand delivered. Wondered if it was from a neighbor who thought I needed saving. It's a relief to know it was just a blitz.

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I'm a letter carrier. There is supposed to be a card delivered with it that had the postage on it. We call it marriage mail. The card explained what the book is about..very annoying cause everyone got one.

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I actually called the post office to complain, because I thought my mail carrier hand delivered this mess no the job. There was no card in mine, either. I threw mine in a puddle, stomped on it, then threw it in the recycle bin after it dried.

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Mine came tucked in the elastic with the weekly sales papers, pushed through my mail slot. Must have come through USPS.

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Whose side are the Adventists on?

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According to my 2012 Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar the 7th Day is one of those Naboo starfighters, so clearly they are not on the side of the Trade Federation.

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I really, really need one of those.

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If it was an LGBT book nobody would be complaining

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FTFY.

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Everyone would complain because EVERYONE hates junk mail. This much wasted paper for something you didn't request and don't want is universally annoying. Get over yourself. Friends recommend books to me all the time and I don't read them, because I have no time. At least I don't have to dump them in my recycle bin every time a friend things I should really read the lovely bones or gone girl or whatever crap is popular this week.

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A strawman argument is replacing your opponent's argument with one you can more easily attack:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

This isn't it.

They're saying that if the book were about another subject, we wouldn't object to it being dumped in our mailboxes.

People are irritated for many reasons (the subject, it taking up space in their mailbox/PO box, the hassle of throwing it away, the waste of material, the atrocious writing, etc).

It's a fallacy of the single cause:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy_of_the_single_cause

If the book were about LGBT subjects, there would still be plenty of people who were annoyed.

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You never heard anyone complain back when the Pink Pages were mailed en masse in some neighborhoods? I have a very clear memory of a vociferous bitchfest about "gay propaganda" at a bar where I worked.

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Seriously, though, I get p.o.'d when the ASPCA and Peta mail me thick envelopes of stuff. I love dogs, but I hate junk mail. I support religious freedom, but I hate junk mail. I support gay marriage, but I hate junk mail. If you want to keep people on your side, don't send junk mail and don't use telemarketers. Once you do, you cross to the dark side, period.

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I am different from others on this, but any time someone leaves something at someone's front door that they didn't ask for, ire is raised. Phone books, the weekly newspaper, newspaper ads sans actual newspaper, and now religious books. Sure, some might have an issue with the religious part of it, but mostly, it's because people just hate having things dropped off in front of their house they didn't ask for.

Seriously, though, I sometimes think there are people out there who want the USPS to stop delivering to their homes altogether. Of course, with my obvious bias, the only thing that gets me is when I get 2 sets of advertisements from the Globe rather than the 1 set I await.

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I think that's really the issue. If someone WANTS a copy of this book and asks for it, that's one thing. But, to just distribute them en masse, city-wide, that's annoying (to say the least.)

On a more serious note, who is bankrolling this operation? That must have cost some serious cash to print and send out all these books.

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So wasteful! They should have just mailed the cards and advertised a free copy of the book to anyone who wanted it. They would have saved so many of these books from their fate in the recycle bin.

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I promise not to complain if people leave money for me at my door.

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Every once in a while, there are self published books[1] that get distributed through the neighborhood, put in people's bike baskets, left at burrito joints etc. Usually someone gathers up a bunch and brings them to the textbook buyback part of university bookstores and of course, they don't take them because they have no resell value.

TL;DR regardless of content, large quantities of things no one asked for, left all over the place, are a pain in the butt.

[1]I think one was about a guy who goes on a spirit quest or something. I didn't read it and it looked awful.

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1. Don't you think you count? Surely, you're not just "nobody".
2. There would be so many complaints about offending "deeply held religious beliefs"
that a new Martyr Day would have to be recognized. Win-Win all around.
3. The pictures in the publication (and there would be QUITE a few) would be a LOT
more interesting than your average religious tract.
4. #2 and #3 are moot points because by popular demand, The Agenda has now gone
online. However, If you'd like a hardcopy, you can send in a SASE.

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Wow, you know, Christians are so terribly persecuted and oppressed, it's a wonder they're still running the damn country.

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The Great Controversy: Globe Direct - How Will It End?

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I just assumed it has to do with Market Basket.

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Badly.

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this is a perfect anti-religious discussion topic for liberals.

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well you right wingers have plenty of anti atheist discussions so why don't you go there.

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Spare me.

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First, most "liberals" are religious. Most non-religious people are not anti-religious. Those that are anti-religious are however most likely liberal/progressive. There's a difference; learn it.

To that second point, while non-religious people are not anti-religious, they are nearly all anti-religion-in-your-face and ask that if you're religious, you keep it to yourself. Proselytizing by book on doorstep is about the weakest form of asking me to care about your religion as possible. It's one step up from leaving a flyer on my windshield.

Finally, given all the large and costly problems in the world that are rooted in religion, wouldn't it be nice to try and see if we could focus on different problems instead for a change by keeping our religion in our own pockets instead of trying to shove it upon others?

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Agreed. I would say I'm a little religious (and I keep it to myself,) but I'm completely, totally, 100% anti-religion-in-your-face.

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Less thumping, please.

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Let's all clutch our pearls and weep for the downtrodden, persecuted state of religious people in America. No, really, let's. They must be the most oppressed people on the planet.

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The only people who are known to have brought Ebola into the USA are ... religious missionaries!

Hmmmm ...

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Going out of your way to malign people who were risking their lives to take care of those in need? You make so many intelligent, thoughtful comments, but then your prejudice against religious people brings out this kind of cruelty.

Oh, and don't forget the monkey importers.

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Sorry.

This was meant as a poke at all the "Christian" elected representatives who have been claiming that all these Central American kids are carrying Ebola. Or that exposed Africans are boarding planes just to spread the disease because they are Muslims.

Also a shot at people drawing conclusions from coincidences speciously linked to ancient and multiply edited and translated texts.

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Points taken. Those examples are worth mocking.

I got a little sensitive since I'm so touched by the amazing sacrifice these two have made to care for the sick- even if they are motivated by ancient, life-changing texts :)

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Chapter 18, "An American Reformer", introduces the reader to William Miller, an "Upright, honest-hearted farmer,... the man specially chosen of God to lead out the proclamation of Christ's second coming." Miller calculated that the world would end and Christ would arrive in 1844.

What the book doesn't say is that Miller settled in Boston, where he and his followers ("the Millerites") built a grand Temple or Tabernacle on Howard Street, a now-gone thoroughfare that used to be just outside of Scollay Square. When the world did not end as Miller had predicted, the Tabernacle building was sold to a group of nonbelievers and was converted to a theatre. It took the name of the street it was on, the Howard Athenaeum. The original wooden structure burned a few years later and was replaced by a granite theatre that used the same name. At the time it was the grandest theatre in Boston.

A century later, the Old Howard was still there on Howard Street. Yes, that Old Howard, the famed home of Boston burlesque.

Maybe that's why they're blitzing Boston with this book -- they figure we all need saving for the sins of Ann Corio.

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His followers were called the Miller Lites?

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They were less filing, but tasted great.

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Dress all in white, smoke a lot, never talk?

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We got them too in East Boston too.

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I only get the JWs coming by. Ignored the doorbell last time; they left a brochure at the front door and the back one, those rascals.

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All I could think of when I saw it was "The Late Great Planet Earth" hooey from the 1980s. I remember that being advertized on TV late at night after the Twilight Zone would have some planet ending episode.

Repo Man comes to mind, too.

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IMAGE(http://home.snafu.de/tilman/cos_fun/dioretix_crop.jpg)

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               IMAGE(http://slism.com/images-slider/the-diuretic-effect-work-for-you/the-diuretic-effect-work-for-you-03s.jpg)
                                   photo by Edvard Munch

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This book keeps popping up in our lobby. I flipped through a few pages of it out of curiosity... it was completely nonsensical.

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I got one of these in my locked mailbox last week or so. My mailman walks his beat with one of those push-bag things so it must have been dreadful for him to carry all those about.

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Yup. We got a copy sent to our office several months ago. Our office manager was going around asking if anyone specifically ordered it, and we all finally decided that it was some kind of crazy bulk-mail thing.

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Rather than trying to find some 7th Day Adventist Church to drop them off at, just give your copy to Screaming Preacher Man on the Orange Line. Since he's so interested in saving souls and all.

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.

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oh, phew... I thought the Scientologists had somehow acquired my address.

Reminds me of the "Jesus Video Project" when I was in Bakersfield - the baptists were mailing a low-budget 'passion of the christ' type vhs to every home in town, with the tagline "Just watch it." Yes, really.

Then they sent people door to door to ask if we did, indeed, just watch it. My dad was working in the garage when they swung by and he, lifelong atheist, cheerfully replied, "The book was better." They didn't know what to make of that and buggered off posthaste.

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I'm Agnostic. I just tossed it out. It doesn't bother me they dropped it off at my door. Same with those atupid Globe direct (in the Globe's case, it's sad more than anything, that they've fallen so far to resort to Globe direct). I just toss them in the trash. Sometimes I save the little plastic bags, they can be useful. Nothing to get your panties in a bunch over.

An level 3 sex offender animal in Dorchester was arrested yesterday for raping a 10 year old. Let's see if that gets 40 posts. It's worthy of getting into a tizzy over.

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I got mine today in Fields Corner. I opened a random page and read that the French Revolution was caused by rejection of the Bible LIe
Within 30 seconds I discovered several other lies.
The biggest lie I found in my 30 seconds was on the card with my address. It alleged the book was non-fiction.

Religion=Lies

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For Themselves", also unsolicited through the mail. Not really sure what it was about, but it's sitting on my bookshelf anyway. By the way, in case anyone cares I'm pretty positive this is Constitutionally protected speech. And incidentally more innocuous than credit card offers IMO.

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I got on the bus this morning and sat down in the back. Across from me was an old guy reading this book.

This is not the worst thing in the world. A few months ago I was on the Orange Line and a sob story guy did his thing. The woman next to me gave him a buck Now, that's the encouragement we don't need.

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I wasn't reading the book. I carved out the pages so could watch porn on my smartphone.

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18 U.S.C. 1725 states: "Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits any mailable matter such as statements of accounts, circulars, sale bills, or other like matter, on which no postage has been paid, in any letter box established, approved, or accepted by the Postal Service for the receipt or delivery of mail matter on any mail route with intent to avoid payment of lawful postage thereon, shall for each such offense be fined under this title"

File a complaint against the miscreatants, the postal inspectors will run them down.

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even hit h-block in roxbury

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