When suddenly...

So, "Maniacs for Jesus" (not the official name of the church, but it might as well be) are giving away an automobile to one lucky Easter service attendee. Anyone can win - you don't need to be a regular attendee, and they're passing out flyers. I'm sure their hearts are in the right place, but the idea of having prize giveaways in church (apart from for-fun stuff like church social prizes, which are always on the level of party favours anyway) really grates on me. I can't help but think of Jesus going medieval* on the moneychangers in the Temple. I can see their reasoning and motivation. This is very much akin to missionaries giving away knives, and cloth,** and beads to get the natives to come listen to them talk about Christ. On the whole, though, I'm uncomfortable with it, and it surprises me just how uncomfortable.


*Perhaps, under the circumstances, it should be characterized as 'going bronze age'.

** See what I did there, Loganberry?

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Nasty video of the Haitians getting electrocuted on their float. I had to search to find it, so I can't really complain, but wow. Loud, evil-sounding 60Hz buzz when the line flares. I'm still not entirely sure what happened. I think maybe the guy with the stick pushed two lines together, and they arced and burned through.

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It's interesting how conditioned one is to recognize 60Hz as the sound of serious, immediate danger. Only the last few generations have had that reflex.