Basically the inspiration, such as it isn't, comes from reading Slacktivist's Left Behind deconstruction (I can't believe he's nearly finished the first book! Only, um, something like 12 to go! Heh) and Right Behind, where people have been re-writing the scenario and crossovers (there's a Lovecraft/LB crossover that's about to be published, um, scary) and just general stuff (some are good, some are truly weird, some are about as well written as the original. Out of all of them I think "Children of the Goats" is the best.)
One of the things that irritated me about the books[1] is the assumption that people would notice the missing adults in amongst the billions of missing children. Maybe in the Midwest where a large number of people fit into the authors excruciatingly narrow definition of Christianity, but in Australia where the majority of people don't? Indonesia? Europe? Africa? Anywhere outside of a narrow band of the US and a bit of Canada?
Anyway, so I just wondered how the scenario would play out in Melbourne. Then I wondered about actual numbers. Then I googled.
Now all I have to do is actually write something. Maybe.
[1]Yeah, I know, one of the things. Let's not get into the full list here, it's kind of long. When you start thinking "you know, Dan Brown wasn't that bad a writer compared to this..." there's a problem.
Of course, she says replying to her own comment, if I were to write a fanfic of the book it would go something along the lines of:
All children vanish. People are mildly disturbed for about half a page, then only slightly curious about how quickly the freeways can be cleaned up and the telephone system can be gotten back in order. But then the Romanian election results come out, and suddenly everyone's excited again! Then the UN announcement about a New World Leader and we're all happy and joyful because Everything Will Be Alright. And the telephones work.
Everyone except those pesky primary school teachers, who've apparently gone out on strike, along with several other sympathetic unions. Damn communists.
Well, the AoG are Fundamentalist Pentecostals in beliefs, but they don't take the idea of dressing modestly to the extreme that the folks who actually call themselves Fundamentalist Pentecostals (some of which affiliate with AoG, but most don't) do.
The true Fundamentalist Pentecostals wear the turn-of-the-century long dresses that cover to ankle, wrist, and neck, and don't believe that women's hair or men's beards should ever be cut. Hence what we call "Pentecostal hair" which basically looks like the women from Little House on the Prairie. AoG folks dress like normal people. That's really the biggest difference.
Kind of like the fundamentalist Mormons out of (um) Texas style dress?
Seriously, I don't get these people at all. Apart from anything else, their hairstyles are Godawfully bad. And also, why stop at turn-of-the-century? Why not go back to the middle ages and require hair covering as well?
To be honest all the AoG mob I've met have been reasonably normal people. I'd certainly no idea there were people wandering around pretending it was 100 years ago in there.
Yeah, fundamentalist Mormons dress like that too, but there aren't tons of those in Texas (they mostly stick to Utah, Arizona, and Nevada), so in most of the South that style of clothing is pretty much the Pentecostal uniform (technically, AoG is a Pentecostal denomination, but those other folks don't have a denomination in their own right, so are generally just called Pentecostals or Fundamentalist Pentecostals).
But most of those people don't identify as AoG. The people that dress like that generally stick to small communities in the country. But they're not quite as extreme as the Amish, in that they generally do have cars and electricity and things, but they're also generally poor, whereas mainstream AoG are generally rather normal middle-class suburbanites that are difficult to distinguish from anybody else. Southern Baptists have a similarly myopic belief structure but a wider demographic (and, as far as I'm aware, no strange-dressing extremists).
I'd say most of the "religious right" is made up of AoG and Southern Baptist denominations. The groups that are even more extreme than them tend to eschew mainstream society altogether, and the less extreme denominations (Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, etc) seem to be rather politically divided amongst themselves according to the individual's tastes (or along social issues other than abortion). Mormons are really something else altogether.
The groups that are even more extreme than them tend to eschew mainstream society altogether
To a point - it amazes me how they're frequently quite willing to put aside their beliefs and vote if it means they'll get a candidate they like in. The Exclusive Brethren here are a bit notorious for attempts at political influence.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 09:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 11:41 pm (UTC)Basically the inspiration, such as it isn't, comes from reading Slacktivist's Left Behind deconstruction (I can't believe he's nearly finished the first book! Only, um, something like 12 to go! Heh) and Right Behind, where people have been re-writing the scenario and crossovers (there's a Lovecraft/LB crossover that's about to be published, um, scary) and just general stuff (some are good, some are truly weird, some are about as well written as the original. Out of all of them I think "Children of the Goats" is the best.)
One of the things that irritated me about the books[1] is the assumption that people would notice the missing adults in amongst the billions of missing children. Maybe in the Midwest where a large number of people fit into the authors excruciatingly narrow definition of Christianity, but in Australia where the majority of people don't? Indonesia? Europe? Africa? Anywhere outside of a narrow band of the US and a bit of Canada?
Anyway, so I just wondered how the scenario would play out in Melbourne. Then I wondered about actual numbers. Then I googled.
Now all I have to do is actually write something. Maybe.
[1]Yeah, I know, one of the things. Let's not get into the full list here, it's kind of long. When you start thinking "you know, Dan Brown wasn't that bad a writer compared to this..." there's a problem.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-18 06:14 am (UTC)All children vanish. People are mildly disturbed for about half a page, then only slightly curious about how quickly the freeways can be cleaned up and the telephone system can be gotten back in order. But then the Romanian election results come out, and suddenly everyone's excited again! Then the UN announcement about a New World Leader and we're all happy and joyful because Everything Will Be Alright. And the telephones work.
Everyone except those pesky primary school teachers, who've apparently gone out on strike, along with several other sympathetic unions. Damn communists.
;-)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 10:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 12:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-18 05:39 am (UTC)The true Fundamentalist Pentecostals wear the turn-of-the-century long dresses that cover to ankle, wrist, and neck, and don't believe that women's hair or men's beards should ever be cut. Hence what we call "Pentecostal hair" which basically looks like the women from Little House on the Prairie. AoG folks dress like normal people. That's really the biggest difference.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-18 06:09 am (UTC)Seriously, I don't get these people at all. Apart from anything else, their hairstyles are Godawfully bad. And also, why stop at turn-of-the-century? Why not go back to the middle ages and require hair covering as well?
To be honest all the AoG mob I've met have been reasonably normal people. I'd certainly no idea there were people wandering around pretending it was 100 years ago in there.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-18 07:17 am (UTC)But most of those people don't identify as AoG. The people that dress like that generally stick to small communities in the country. But they're not quite as extreme as the Amish, in that they generally do have cars and electricity and things, but they're also generally poor, whereas mainstream AoG are generally rather normal middle-class suburbanites that are difficult to distinguish from anybody else. Southern Baptists have a similarly myopic belief structure but a wider demographic (and, as far as I'm aware, no strange-dressing extremists).
I'd say most of the "religious right" is made up of AoG and Southern Baptist denominations. The groups that are even more extreme than them tend to eschew mainstream society altogether, and the less extreme denominations (Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, etc) seem to be rather politically divided amongst themselves according to the individual's tastes (or along social issues other than abortion). Mormons are really something else altogether.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-18 11:59 pm (UTC)To a point - it amazes me how they're frequently quite willing to put aside their beliefs and vote if it means they'll get a candidate they like in. The Exclusive Brethren here are a bit notorious for attempts at political influence.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-18 05:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-18 06:10 am (UTC)