Well done! I loved this story and had to restrain myself from laughing so my coworkers wouldn't look at me funny all day. The reading was fantastic and it was well written.
I only have two tiny irks: the second person seemed only there for the constant use of "thou" and "thee," which I guess was the point, but it still kinda annoyed me; the second is how the angels didn't seem to understand how God operates. It really helped build the story and explore ideas of authoritarianism, but it still kinda bugged. Neither of these were actually problems with the story, just things that just kinda stuck with me.
So on to the real discussion... I was born and raised Roman Catholic. Baptized, confirmed, and I'm even a member of a Christ-centered fraternity (yes, they exist). The last religious story that had the word "blasphemy" thrown at it was "Hell is the Absence of God" by Ted Chiang. I went off on a tear about how it was a horrible, blasphemous story etc. I've calmed down since then, so I'm not starting another rant. I actually want to apologize for being so sensitive back then. Living with guys of different religious backgrounds plus a Jesuit education loosened me up about other people's religious ideas. I have to agree with Dave that there is really only one thing Christians need to focus on above all else: love. Love people, love God. Blasphemy is trying to void the core values of any religion which is usually a variant of "Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and love your neighbor as yourself." So the only blasphemy is calling for hate.
On that note, Dave... Thank you for calling out OSC like you did. I only ask that we are careful about that, because as soon as we say "OSC is a blasphemer and he sucks!" then that's blasphemy as well because that hates just loops around in a big circle. I know that's not happening now, but I'm just saying we need to be careful. Hypocrisy can find one anywhere.
Written with love,
The Captain
« Last Edit: September 15, 2011, 08:07:44 PM by Captain (none given) »
"The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart." -- Maya Angelou