GR:The stoned reading

[Sojourner]

At 10:54 AM 9/13/97 -0500, Craig Bleakley wrote:

>Of course, alcohol's the drug They want me on, isn't it?  But somehow I
>can't imagine "GR: The Drunk Reading."
>

I know this was a laze maynut comet of yer part, but to wit, ergo, 
sally forth, and let slip the dogs of war:

I don't remember where I first read this, but the analysis is striking.
As we all know, Christianity of the Bible hardly represents Christianity
today, in terms of practice and tradition at least.  I mean, the vast
majority of Christiants are non-Semitic peoples, the Sabbath is now
on Sun-Day, and the big holidays revolve around former pagan
holidays, including Easter and Xmas.  

Many people believe that Christianity did many evil and unkind things
to the pagan peoples of Europe in their millenia of conversion, from
making Pan and Pan-like gods of merriment, freedom and fun into
the symbolic image of the devil.  After all, the "Devil" you see on a show
looks exactly like Pan (see Tom Robbins etc.), and so on and so on.

My point in this is that somewhere along the line, alcohol became the
only accepted Christian drug, and all others banned.  In all Christian
countries (countries with a large percentage of those who adhere to
the Christian faith), alcohol is the legal drug of the masses, and most
others are not.  I'm not just speaking of Europe either, there are a
variety of other "mind-altering" drugs consumed around the world
including the use of religious peyote.

The point I felt was, alcohol, perhaps with the exception of those
"Irish writers" seems to be the worst (legal drug) for your self, or for 
doing such things as finding meaningful things in GR, or life, or anything.

Alcohol seems to repress the mind.  It turns off your mind, it makes
you think what you say is witty and sexy (when it is not) and to
think what others say is witty and sexy (when it is not).  My old roommate
got into way more fights when he was drunk than during any other
time.  People have sex that they wouldn't otherwise.  And perhaps even
more sickening than that, its addiction, when truly burning inside someone's
soul, is one of the most horrible things you could ever witness.  A heroin
or crack junkie at their worst is a person scavenging the streets, looking to
steal enough money to keep their addiction alive... but an alcoholic can
ruin their life and their loved one's lives for years and years.. many
alcoholics
seem to "function" inside society, using the old Kicked Dog Method, whereas
the person functions where it "matters", so long as they can kick the "dog"
around when they can't function.  Read as: abusing those who can't do
anything about it.

The Church in regards to this matter, the Church of Luther's time, was a 
church of priests who could read and a populace that couldn't.  A Church
where the Bible was to be read and interpreted FOR you, and not BY you.

And drugs like marijuana would easily be counter-productive in that
society.  A person who at the end of toiling on land owned by someone else,
a hugely fat someone else while you worked 7 days a week for months on
end without respite, who maybe could sit for a moment and think about
WHY things are, might not be so easily lorded over.  Alcohol on the other
hand is perfect -- the moment you get a break from work or life, you
get blotto, get numb, get anaesthetized, get rubberized, and then you
wake up, you groan, you barely remember that "good time" you so
desperately dreamed of, and head off to the daily grind.  And each time,
you think that if you were a bit drunker, you might enjoy yourself a
bit more, but the more you drink the more you find that the enjoyment
itself comes from and only from "not having to deal with your problems
while you are butt boned drunk".  Vis a vis -- work hard now feudal
serf, and enjoy your life in heaven.  Or.. work hard now so you can
escape from your problems with yer old relative and bosom buddy
al-Uncle Hal.

warning*** diatribe generator power LOW -- please refuel at ONCE

When I'm drunk I can barely watch TV.  I can barely do anything..

any...
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