02/11/03: Moses

juju · 02-11-2003, 02:21 PM

At the university where I go to school, we used to have this fundamentalist nutjob preach outside of the student union everyday, up on a mound. His name was Gary Bowman, but he called himself Moses, because he saw himself as a prophet of God. He would go on an on about God and the bible, and how all of us were going to hell. If you drink, you're going to hell. If you smoke, you're going to hell. If you're a guy with long hair, or a woman with short hair, you're going to hell. Women who wear blue jeans can expect to burn in eternal damnation. Men who shave can expect the same. Cheerleading is certainly against God's will, and you most certainly should not listen to Rock and Roll!

Despite this, the guy was actually cool. He had charisma. It was really quite a phenomonen. Not just because there was some nutcase shouting atop a mound every day, but because of the reaction he always got. He stood on this mound everyday between the student union and the library, near the bus station. It was the central location where everybody passed by to get to class, and there was always a huge crowd of people standing around him. I bet he had a hundred people surronding him each day. And they didn't just passively listen. They would jeer, shout insults, heckle him. It was great! This man was a machine. He could take any amount of heckling and keep on preaching. The crowd never let up in their insults or endless logical debates. Once, Moses shouted some statistic that everyone knew was BS, and one guy in the crowd started yelling, "What's your sample size? What's your sample size?". Moses just ignored him and started talking about something else, even though the guy kept shouting it for like 5 minutes. Another time, a guy an a bicycle circled him in about a 2 foot radius for 20 minutes while he gave his sermon. It really seemed to distract him, but he just kept on preaching.

Once, in response to a series of questions about the type of logic he was using, he gave this response:

"ye...yes. It's...it's circular logic, but it's the very best kind of circular logic."

Priceless! Moses agreed that he used circular logic, but he didn't care, and thought it was good!

I would go to class at about noon, and then come back 3 hours later and he would still be there, giving his sermon. I think he was there every day from 12-5. Last semester, the administration got tired of his sorry ass and passed an ordinance that said you could only speak on campus grounds 5 times per semester if you were a non-university attendee. There was all sorts of outcry over free speech, but no one was ever able to reverse the administration's decision. So I haven't seen him yet this semester. Kinda sad, 'cause I always enjoyed seeing what the crowds would do to try and humiliate this poor man. Their daily humiliation of him was one of the most entertaining things I've ever been priviledged enough to witness.

I guess there's probably nutjobs shouting on street corners in Philadelphia all the time, but it's sort of unique down here. People actually respond to it en masse instead of just ignoring them. :) Hey, we're people people down here

wolf · 02-11-2003, 05:07 PM

Perhaps he's been hospitalized, or is back on his medication for the time being and the spirit of the Lord isn't moving in him quite the same way right now ...

elSicomoro · 02-11-2003, 07:19 PM

The last experience I had with a street "preacher" was the day before the 4th of July. As I was walking along Market Street, between 5th and 6th (in front of the Liberty Bell Pavilion), there was some sort of rally going on. My best guess is that this was some sort of black nationalist guy...he was talking about how it wasn't Independence Day for blacks and what not. Then he happened to talk about killing Whitey...and I was the only non-black around at the time. Talk about being uncomfortable.

slang · 02-11-2003, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sycamore
and I was the only non-black around at the time.

Don't worry Syc, everyone knows that the *white* man is responsible for all the evil, sorrow, and hatred in the world.

[delusion of many] White guys like me actually wake up each morning with a checklist of items to complete for the day that will annoy, disenfranchise, torture, deprive, and suppress non-white men and women of all races. And we have superhuman powers too. Everytime something bad happens to a non-white guy, it's because we made that happen. If lightning strikes a NWG, it was our doing. If a NWG gets a flat tire, listen for one of us snickering in the background. If a bird shits on the hat of a NWG, we did that too. :) [/delusion of many]

I have to get some rest now. I have a big list for tomorrow.

Whit · 02-12-2003, 01:06 AM

     Actually I know the feeling of being the only white guy in the crowd when "the Whiteman" is being discussed. When I worked down in Dallas at a retirement facility I was the only white guy under thirty in the entire place, certainly the only white guy in the kitchen area. Anyway, I was doing my job when I came across five or six black guys complaining about how "The Man" (the fact that 'The Man' was white was clearly implied) had put liquor stores and pawn shops on every corner of "their" neighborhoods. At first they didn't see me, so I listened for a few, then I stepped up only a few feet away and leaned against a shelf and listened. Most of them broke off and went back to work, a couple of 'em just kinda looked at me a bit perplexed. So, I asked if they'd actually seen any white guys in these places in 'their' neighborhood. They assured me they never had. So I asked if these places were owned by white people, they said they thought they were mostly owned by asians. I asked how exactly white people were involved, they weren't sure, but were sure they were involved somehow.

     I then asked if they knew what the law of supply and demand was. They told me they did not. I said, "oh" and tried to explain, got tired of them giving each other confused looks, gave up and went back to work. Sigh...

     I would like to say though that the only time I really felt uncomforatable due to race was when there was a major racial flare up along the black/hispanic lines. I stayed in my storeroom, quietly staying the f--k out of it.

jaguar · 02-12-2003, 03:47 AM

I think there's a few of those guys in every city (vaguely nuttery street preachers), certainly a few back home. I do remmeber one time though a friend of mine got into a logical, rational sane debate with one which went on for around an hour and a half and ending with him saying he'd think about it, packing up and leaving. Never seen him since, funny stuff.

They're fun though, best trick i've found is to get a couple of girls to kiss in front of them, they start frothing at the mouth.

You know melbourne is one hell of an athnic melting pot, we've got huge greek, italian, vietnamese and chinese as well as decent sized numbers from prety much everywhere yet racism is virtually unheard of, occasional insults but nothing...systematic. Guess the US's history is just a tad more...disagreeable.

Whit · 02-12-2003, 08:42 AM

Quote:

From Jag
They're fun though, best trick i've found is to get a couple of girls to kiss in front of them, they start frothing at the mouth.

Hmm, I'll have to try to set this up. Strictly to get the preacher guys reaction of course... Not for any more personal reason... No, not at all... Wouldn't consider it...

perth · 02-12-2003, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Whit

Hmm, I'll have to try to set this up. Strictly to get the preacher guys reaction of course... Not for any more personal reason... No, not at all... Wouldn't consider it...

well, if you do, get pictures. you know... for posterity. :)

~james

God · 02-12-2003, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by juju
He would go on an on about God and the bible, and how all of us were going to hell.

Sometimes when cable is on the fritz I look in on these guys. They are kinda fun to watch and I can check the literacy rate of these "prophets".

The Bible is my best literary work, but lets get serious for a minute, all the Hindus *arent* going to hell. There's a lot of interpretation going on here. The Blue Dude and I shoot darts on the league together, he's got his group covered.

Whit · 02-12-2003, 05:49 PM

That's cool for them. To bad the Buddist's get screwed though. I've met a few, they've been nice.

wolf · 02-12-2003, 05:53 PM

Many buddhists DON'T get screwed. That whole ascetic thing, you know. ;)

Whoops. You mean with respect to the heaven/hell thing? They get do-overs until they make it to nirvana.

Whit · 02-12-2003, 05:56 PM

Which I'd just like to say sounds like alot more fun. The do-over part I mean. Of course I'm the curious sort and would really like to try a few different lives out.

wolf · 02-12-2003, 06:28 PM

It's fun, and not restricted to buddhism.

Whit · 02-12-2003, 07:19 PM

     I went to high school with a chic that always went on about all the famous people she had been in former lives. So, I told her that I only remembered one former life. I explained that I was a potato farmer in Idaho named "Bob". I told her that I lost my farm not long after my wife took the kids and left me due to my drunken ways. I went on to say that I died drunk, in a ditch homeless and friendless.

     Interestingly, this chic got pissed. I thought it sounded much more likely than any of her stories of having been famous people. Oh well. I even tried to explain that I don't drink i this life because I learned my lesson as an alchoholic last time. She stormed off and never spoke to me again.

     So I'd have to say my only expierience involving reincarnation was very positive.

02-11-2003, 02:21 PM	#1
juju no one of consequence Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Arkansas Posts: 2,839	02/11/03: Moses At the university where I go to school, we used to have this fundamentalist nutjob preach outside of the student union everyday, up on a mound. His name was Gary Bowman, but he called himself Moses, because he saw himself as a prophet of God. He would go on an on about God and the bible, and how all of us were going to hell. If you drink, you're going to hell. If you smoke, you're going to hell. If you're a guy with long hair, or a woman with short hair, you're going to hell. Women who wear blue jeans can expect to burn in eternal damnation. Men who shave can expect the same. Cheerleading is certainly against God's will, and you most certainly should not listen to Rock and Roll! Despite this, the guy was actually cool. He had charisma. It was really quite a phenomonen. Not just because there was some nutcase shouting atop a mound every day, but because of the reaction he always got. He stood on this mound everyday between the student union and the library, near the bus station. It was the central location where everybody passed by to get to class, and there was always a huge crowd of people standing around him. I bet he had a hundred people surronding him each day. And they didn't just passively listen. They would jeer, shout insults, heckle him. It was great! This man was a machine. He could take any amount of heckling and keep on preaching. The crowd never let up in their insults or endless logical debates. Once, Moses shouted some statistic that everyone knew was BS, and one guy in the crowd started yelling, "What's your sample size? What's your sample size?". Moses just ignored him and started talking about something else, even though the guy kept shouting it for like 5 minutes. Another time, a guy an a bicycle circled him in about a 2 foot radius for 20 minutes while he gave his sermon. It really seemed to distract him, but he just kept on preaching. Once, in response to a series of questions about the type of logic he was using, he gave this response: "ye...yes. It's...it's circular logic, but it's the very best kind of circular logic." Priceless! Moses agreed that he used circular logic, but he didn't care, and thought it was good! I would go to class at about noon, and then come back 3 hours later and he would still be there, giving his sermon. I think he was there every day from 12-5. Last semester, the administration got tired of his sorry ass and passed an ordinance that said you could only speak on campus grounds 5 times per semester if you were a non-university attendee. There was all sorts of outcry over free speech, but no one was ever able to reverse the administration's decision. So I haven't seen him yet this semester. Kinda sad, 'cause I always enjoyed seeing what the crowds would do to try and humiliate this poor man. Their daily humiliation of him was one of the most entertaining things I've ever been priviledged enough to witness. I guess there's probably nutjobs shouting on street corners in Philadelphia all the time, but it's sort of unique down here. People actually respond to it en masse instead of just ignoring them. :) Hey, we're people people down here Last edited by juju; 02-11-2003 at 02:27 PM.

02-11-2003, 05:07 PM	#2
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Perhaps he's been hospitalized, or is back on his medication for the time being and the spirit of the Lord isn't moving in him quite the same way right now ... __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

02-12-2003, 01:06 AM	#5
Whit Umm ... yeah. Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Arkansas, USA Posts: 949	Actually I know the feeling of being the only white guy in the crowd when "the Whiteman" is being discussed. When I worked down in Dallas at a retirement facility I was the only white guy under thirty in the entire place, certainly the only white guy in the kitchen area. Anyway, I was doing my job when I came across five or six black guys complaining about how "The Man" (the fact that 'The Man' was white was clearly implied) had put liquor stores and pawn shops on every corner of "their" neighborhoods. At first they didn't see me, so I listened for a few, then I stepped up only a few feet away and leaned against a shelf and listened. Most of them broke off and went back to work, a couple of 'em just kinda looked at me a bit perplexed. So, I asked if they'd actually seen any white guys in these places in 'their' neighborhood. They assured me they never had. So I asked if these places were owned by white people, they said they thought they were mostly owned by asians. I asked how exactly white people were involved, they weren't sure, but were sure they were involved somehow. I then asked if they knew what the law of supply and demand was. They told me they did not. I said, "oh" and tried to explain, got tired of them giving each other confused looks, gave up and went back to work. Sigh... I would like to say though that the only time I really felt uncomforatable due to race was when there was a major racial flare up along the black/hispanic lines. I stayed in my storeroom, quietly staying the f--k out of it. __________________ A friend will help you move. A true friend will help you move a body.

02-12-2003, 03:47 AM	#6
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	I think there's a few of those guys in every city (vaguely nuttery street preachers), certainly a few back home. I do remmeber one time though a friend of mine got into a logical, rational sane debate with one which went on for around an hour and a half and ending with him saying he'd think about it, packing up and leaving. Never seen him since, funny stuff. They're fun though, best trick i've found is to get a couple of girls to kiss in front of them, they start frothing at the mouth. You know melbourne is one hell of an athnic melting pot, we've got huge greek, italian, vietnamese and chinese as well as decent sized numbers from prety much everywhere yet racism is virtually unheard of, occasional insults but nothing...systematic. Guess the US's history is just a tad more...disagreeable. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

02-12-2003, 05:49 PM	#10
Whit Umm ... yeah. Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Arkansas, USA Posts: 949	That's cool for them. To bad the Buddist's get screwed though. I've met a few, they've been nice. __________________ A friend will help you move. A true friend will help you move a body.

02-11-2003, 07:19 PM	#3
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	The last experience I had with a street "preacher" was the day before the 4th of July. As I was walking along Market Street, between 5th and 6th (in front of the Liberty Bell Pavilion), there was some sort of rally going on. My best guess is that this was some sort of black nationalist guy...he was talking about how it wasn't Independence Day for blacks and what not. Then he happened to talk about killing Whitey...and I was the only non-black around at the time. Talk about being uncomfortable.

02-12-2003, 05:53 PM	#11
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Many buddhists DON'T get screwed. That whole ascetic thing, you know. ;) Whoops. You mean with respect to the heaven/hell thing? They get do-overs until they make it to nirvana. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

02-12-2003, 05:56 PM	#12
Whit Umm ... yeah. Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Arkansas, USA Posts: 949	Which I'd just like to say sounds like alot more fun. The do-over part I mean. Of course I'm the curious sort and would really like to try a few different lives out. __________________ A friend will help you move. A true friend will help you move a body.

02-12-2003, 06:28 PM	#13
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Do-overs It's fun, and not restricted to buddhism. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

02-12-2003, 07:19 PM	#14
Whit Umm ... yeah. Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Arkansas, USA Posts: 949	I went to high school with a chic that always went on about all the famous people she had been in former lives. So, I told her that I only remembered one former life. I explained that I was a potato farmer in Idaho named "Bob". I told her that I lost my farm not long after my wife took the kids and left me due to my drunken ways. I went on to say that I died drunk, in a ditch homeless and friendless. Interestingly, this chic got pissed. I thought it sounded much more likely than any of her stories of having been famous people. Oh well. I even tried to explain that I don't drink i this life because I learned my lesson as an alchoholic last time. She stormed off and never spoke to me again. So I'd have to say my only expierience involving reincarnation was very positive. __________________ A friend will help you move. A true friend will help you move a body.

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