The Loser Letters by Mary Eberstadt (anti-atheist broadside)

[Doomed Harlottt]

You know, the midget is really confusing. He sort of runs the rehab center where she is staying. There is a discussion of Dante, so maybe the rehab center is supposed to be one of the circles of hell.

My first thought was that the midget with the red cape is supposed to be a demon. But:

Holy moly, guys - I can't believe the midget watches House. Can you? But he sure seems to know everything about it. He knows about lots of other random things too, as it turns out. He loves Johnny Cash for instance. And guess what - I even asked him about the red cape and where he got it from! He gave a little laugh about that - he said nobody ever asked him before - and told me it was actually quite new. He saw one like it in a shop window in Rome that he liked, so he told some Polish friend of his named Karol. And when the Polish guy checked in here a couple years ago, he brought a red cape just like that with him for the midget! How cool is that?!

Is the Polish guy John Paul II? Does that mean the midget with the red cape is a good guy? Does this mean House or Johnny Cash are good or bad? Our female Jonathan Swift here completely lost me.

[pomology]

So yeah, A.F. Christian has an emotional reunion with her aborted baby. Lots of tears, swooning over little toes, yada yada yada.

It turns out that she died when overdosing on the pills. The rehab is a holding center in the afterlife, where she was waiting while the Director decided what to do with her. The attendants had her write letters to prominent atheists so they could try to figure out the inner workings of her soul. At first it looked like she was heading to Hell -- which is why they were having her learn German. I am sure German readers of this book will find the idea that German is the language of Hell utterly hi-larious.

Her last letter, however, established that she felt remorse of her abortion and that she did not intend to kill herself. It also established that she had, in her soul, remained a Christian all along. As such, she was going to be sent to Heaven, where she could be with her baby all the time!

The language of heaven by the way is Italian. Go Vatican!

I like that she's hating on Pope Benedict's native tongue. What a foolishly shallow and skewed view of the world this woman possesses. GERMAN IS THE LANGUAGE OF EEEVIL. Grow the fuck up, lady.

[Cran]

Yeah, and if I post in German, you'll get demons from that, so take care not to anger me!

[Bookworm]

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: This author is so incredibly dumb, just the excerpts are like wading into a seething pool of stupid. I don't know HOW you are getting through it, DH, but ack! At least one comfort is, that often people who give books like this have not read the books before handing them out. But seriously, did this woman even wiki the atheists the letters are to? Because Hitchens was not pro-choice. I mean, really.

[Aurora]

So basically this is not only offensive to atheists, but also to non-theistic religions, Jews, anyone pro-choice, Germans, French, Catholics, teenagers, and little people.

Did I miss anyone? Because it looks like she didn't.

[Doomed Harlottt]

Yeah, I don't usually find reading fundie tripe that painful. But that was genuinely painful. Now that I'm done with the book, I think I might go pound a few beers and try to forget that I just wasted several hours of my life!

[Doomed Harlottt]

Sadly, Aurora, I don't think this book is intended to offend Catholics. The author is a very conservative Catholic and the book is written from that perspective.

That actually leads me to another thought. The author obviously equates the German language with hellishness and evil because of the Nazis (who are, in turn, equated with atheists), but I wonder if there is a little Martin Luther hate here too?

[Doomed Harlottt]

Bookworm,

The book makes fun of Hitchens quite a bit for flip flopping on the issue of choice. And flip flopping on lots of other things too.

[Aurora]

Sadly, Aurora, I don't think this book is intended to offend Catholics. The author is a very conservative Catholic and the book is written from that perspective.

That actually leads me to another thought. The author obviously equates the German language with hellishness and evil because of the Nazis (who are, in turn, equated with atheists), but I wonder if there is a little Martin Luther hate here too?

Oh, OK - the parts about the Pope were a bit confusing, so probably I missed something. The writing is so bad, sometimes it doesn't make sense!

That's a good point about Martin Luther, but she seems very uneducated for a "scholar". Doesn't she realize that Germany is now one of the most peace-loving and progressive countries in the world thanks to the lessons learned from WWII? and that the Martin Luther battle is 500 years old and it might be time to move on now?

Still can't believe she is a scholar at an institute associated with Stanford. I know they have a conservative perspective, but shouldn't they show a bit more sophistication?

[slickcat79]

I'm sorry your friend put you up to reading that Doomed Harlottt, but I appreciate your thoughts on it. Way to take one for the team :P

[debrand]

I am pretty certain that using the term midget is considered rude. It is strange that this atheist doesn't use terms that show how tolerant-and therefore to the left- she is.

Also, why woud you learn German in purgatory? Does she think that German is an evil language?

[debrand]

habOgMbG5pQ

Here is a link for those of you who are curious what the writer looks and sounds like. Because my family did not want to listen to the clip, I have not watched this video.

[emmiedahl]

DoomedHarlot, has this guy *read* the book? Because if so, he is not a friend or even a potential friend. He wants you to read something asserting that you are an immoral baby-killer who hates God, *but it's okay, God will take you back if you repent now!!!!!*? That is not the level of mutual respect that makes for a friendship, even a work-mate friendship-lite.

[thoughtful]

Yeah, I don't usually find reading fundie tripe that painful. But that was genuinely painful. Now that I'm done with the book, I think I might go pound a few beers and try to forget that I just wasted several hours of my life!

And then read something really, really good, just to cleanse your mind!

[emmiedahl]

Read "Your Inner Fish". That's a good one, about evolution but light and entertaining.

[Doomed Harlottt]

Unfortunately, my work friend has read the book and I am pretty sure based on what he has said to me that it conforms with his views. In fairness to him, he did hesitate to give me the book, but I urged him on because I was curious.

That video above is really interesting. Thanks debrand! At one point she flat out says that atheists have no moral code.

I will say that the experience of reading this book today has really depressed me. Even though I read stuff like this on line all the time, it feels different when someone I know and like has endorsed it and given it to me.

[Aurora]

Unfortunately, my work friend has read the book and I am pretty sure based on what he has said to me that it conforms with his views. In fairness to him, he did hesitate to give me the book, but I urged him on because I was curious.

That video above is really interesting. Thanks debrand! At one point she flat out says that atheists have no moral code.

I will say that the experience of reading this book today has really depressed me. Even though I read stuff like this on line all the time, it feels different when someone I know and like has endorsed it and given it to me.

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure it would depress me too, I would think "wow, does my friend really think that of me?" Perhaps, though, your friend hasn't really thought through all the implications. Maybe he thinks he is just showing you the wonders of Christianity or something.

[Peas n carrots]

Is she trying to write the most offensive book of all time? She has pretty well covered the gamut...even on the Amazon reviews, a good number of Christian reviewers were offended because it was so poorly written.

Le sigh. I'm not surprised...I mean, this is the same group that knowingly allows known pedophiles to have contact with young people.

[JesusFightClub]

There's plenty to satirize in the New Atheist movement, or any movement made up of human beings, but this sounds dreadful. To write good satire, you need to know something about the subject.

I think you almost need affection too. Not necessarily for your target ;) but some idea that things could be better? As you say, as well, you need to actually know what you are talking about.

It was my ambition for ages to write a satire on the Left, but I have every intention of remaining that way politically inclined ;) so it would have been done with affection. But looking back over twelve years, I realised that from dressing as a missile to a meeting discussing how women's genitals smell (and that wasn't even the weirdest meeting I've been at) to the epic saga involving swingers' clubs, champagne, phone tapping, epic Party splits and secret videotaping, you couldn't make this shit up anyway...

[Artemis]

Have read it. Thought it was crap. Finally got round to reviewing on Amazon, having read this - had been meaning to for some time.

[fakepigtails73]

Ugh. I thought I was going to zip through whole thing tonight but I'm already fading fast. I almost forgot this little gem from the sexual revolution chapter:

I love how she thinks it is so obvious that, of course, any parent would see that a daughter would be better off with an anti-abortion, save-sex-for-marriage type. Which is kind of silly if she is writing to try to persuade someone with pro-choice values. As someone who actually believes in choice and the value of women's health, I would be much more nervous to have my daughter dating an antiabortion person than a guy like Richard Dawkins. What if my daughter gets pregnant and has a health scare? Is Mr. Antiabortion going to try to talk her out of taking measures to protect her health?

I love it how those fundies think they are so "nice"...

[Doomed Harlottt]

Can you giveaway clues as to which review on Amazon is yours, Artemis?

Emmiedahl, I am really excited to read Your Inner Fish!

[Terrie]

"This is not a book to be set aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." - Dorothy Parker

[Artemis]

Can you giveaway clues as to which review on Amazon is yours, Artemis?

Emmiedahl, I am really excited to read Your Inner Fish!

Uh - think you'll get it if you read the reviews DH. I was being my best English up-my own-arse intellectual snob self :D You need to be on amazon.co.uk mind you, but feel free to copy and paste to amazon.com.

It was a one star.

[Doomed Harlottt]

Ah, - that explains it. I wasn't looking at Amazon UK. I am looking forward to finding and reading it!

For all who followed along with this, I am planning to throw up a post later today or this evening about my follow up conversation with the friend who gave me the book. It will be called REligion at Work, Part Deux.