Stuffing Books With Gospel Tracts

[Patsy]

I've never found or been given a great tract in my life :( One on how all other churches get the Trinity wrong, so come to Blizzleblozzle church to hear about how it REALLY is - and a post-it note in a Dawkins book (have to admit, that one did make me happy).

[JesusFightClub]

What did the post it say??

I've once or twice found strange things but they were shopping lists mostly. The best one was a postcard (quite old) with a faded view of somewhere in Italy. On the back the poster declares her undying love for the recipient. Who then used it to mark his place in an article about a fairly obscure aspect of theory in "International Socialism", suggesting he perhaps lacked the romance gene ;)

What really annoys the shit out of me is bloodstains. If one has bled all over the pages of a library book (and I've been guilty of this) one should not then blithely return it to the library like nothing has happened. One should say to the librarian "I'm very sorry but I had an accident with this book. How much would a new one be? I will pay for that."

[ladypuglover]

As a daughter of a librarian I have found some very interesting stuff used as bookmarks in the books my mother would bring home from the prisons to repair.

from prison libraries:

A unwrapped condom/still in wrapper

A human hair

A note saying Joe is cheating on Tom with Jim

A cigeratte/back in the day when they could still smoke in prison

from public or school libraries:

A note telling someone they were pregnant but didn't know who was the father but had it narrowed down to one of ten guys/also had a private girl school letterhead

A baby bootie

A silk ribbon

shopping lists

clothing tags

a really yummy recipe

a really gross recipe

a dear John letter

photos

a page from another book

slips of papers with phone numbers on them

a very nice bookmark made from cloth and stitched

lots of notes that kids pass in class

a barret

tracts

gum wrappers

beef jerky

tissue, for the nose or butt

wrapping paper scraps

that is just to name a few and i always wonder about the people who put them there. I wonder if I have ever left something by accident but I don't think so as I am always very careful to check as I have used clothing tags, tissue and gum wrappers as bookmarks myself. But never beef jerky. No I didn't eat it but gave to the librarian who there it into her box of found items.

[darkplumaged]

I posted on the old board about finding tracts in library books. I find them all the damn time now, always in nonfiction books, various subjects. I toss them in the recycling bin immediately if I'm not checking out the book.

I've said before that I never see obvious fundies in my area. Who is doing this?

[JesusFightClub]

I posted on the old board about finding tracts in library books. I find them all the damn time now, always in nonfiction books, various subjects. I toss them in the recycling bin immediately if I'm not checking out the book.

I've said before that I never see obvious fundies in my area. Who is doing this?

On the Chick Tracts site it promotes it as a way for shy people to get the word out. If they are Chick tracts you're seeing, I guess the people may not look like the full on frumper wearers?

[darkplumaged]

I wish they were Chick tracts. Those are at least amusing, in a sick kind of way. These are just cards and little trifold brochures. At least one of them was published by something called the Old Paths Tract Society. I think one of them was about death and hell. I'd suspect the Maxwells, but they never visit my area.

[DuckEgg]

I would love to find a tract somewhere. Ive only ever received them through the mail, and even then it was only twice.

[Patsy]

What did the post it say??

If memory serves (don't have it on me):

"Read John 6 in a Catholic bible tonight

God bless u Charles"

John 6 is largely about miracles Jesus performed. Not sure what differences there are for John 6 between a Catholic bible and any other (my sister took out her New Jerusalem translation, and nothing jumped out at me, just glancing at it), and not exaaaactly sure how that was relevant to the book it was in, either.

And I actually forgot to mention a 'tract' I got, which wasn't quite a tract but a note from someone I knew at Easter, explaining the true message of Easter and salvation.

[debrand]

Sometimes, I find tracts in public bathrooms. That has always struck me as an odd place to leave religious tracts.

[DuckEgg]

Sometimes, I find tracts in public bathrooms. That has always struck me as an odd place to leave religious tracts.

Many a sinful thing can happen in a public restroom. Like urinating loudly....

You never know, one day some fundie might write a blog about how God never wanted us to splash our cash so to speak. :naughty:

[keeperrox]

I've never been given, nor have I found a tract. I guess I'm missing out on all the fun.

[Triplet3]

Wow, just wow. I don't think that would ever happen in the UK. I've certainly never come across it, anyway, and I've been going to public libraries for as long as I remember!

[library_youth]

It happens regularly in my public library system. When I find 'em, I shred 'em.

Me too! I haven't found any for awhile, but I found a ton of them last summer, strategically placed next to computers in the children's department. It was so annoying. I find them in books every so often as well.

[pomology]

Many a sinful thing can happen in a public restroom. Like urinating loudly....

Or a man might pee sitting down. And according to ZsuZsu's husband, that just makes God sick.

[daharyn]

i once bought a used SF novel on abebooks.com; it came with a tract in the middle. I actually contacted the web site to complain. (If you don't know, they serve as a network for independent booksellers, so it came to me from a particular seller.) It turned out that it was a violation of the site's terms of service...

[Kaylee]

I don't agree with stuffing tracts in books. The first experience I ever had with it was in college, when someone was putting hate group flyers in library books (seemed to be mostly in the history section, which was one of my majors, so I found several). It sort of makes me see the religious tracts in the same light, especially because so many of the tracts use hateful rhetoric.

I tend to get tracts in stuff from ebay or etsy, but usually only when I order from a seller who is openly religious (one headcovering maker, in particular, included 5 or 6 different ones and a business card for a tract company). For the people that collect them, if you google "free tracts", there are at least 2 places that will send you a sample pack free. There's also a huge online Jack Chick museum, and a few parody sites.

[Swamptribe]

I work in a used bookstore now. We find some of the weirdest things in books. Boarding passes are a biggie. Shopping lists. Another employee and I have started keeping photographs we find. Started doing it after a grandmother came in hoping we had found one of her grandson she may have left in a book. We found a dead, squished lizard in one book. Found a live baby lizard the other day. A cute toddler that was in the store helped me catch it. We also find cute notes that we leave in the books. One book about Chicago had a lovely note from a little boy who wrote how much fun he had visiting the city. Another was a Christian book that had a beautiful note from some adopted children thanking their grandmother for never having treated them differently from the other grandchildren. The note actually made me cry when I read it. We also come across a ton of stuff with some very personal information. always throw that out.

[Elaine]

"Read John 6 in a Catholic bible tonight

God bless u Charles"

John 6 is largely about miracles Jesus performed. Not sure what differences there are for John 6 between a Catholic bible and any other (my sister took out her New Jerusalem translation, and nothing jumped out at me, just glancing at it), and not exaaaactly sure how that was relevant to the book it was in, either.

I'm not sure if this is the answer, but Catholics generally believe that John 6 is the "proof" that Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist (as in, the bread and wine actually transform into His literal flesh and blood). Don't know what that has to do with the book it was in (Dawkins?), but that is the only bell that rang in my head when seeing John 6 and Catholic together.

[Chrystal-J]

There's this guy who walks around town handing out Chick Tracks. He never speaks. Just taps you on the shoulder and hands you a track. He's really tall and a little scary looking. I just say "thank you" take the tracks.

Chick tracks are really insane. They are extremely over-dramatic and play on stereotypes. I just throw them out.