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Thursday, June 19, 2003
NOW WHERE DID I PUT MY PUBLISHER'S NUMBER?
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I just had kind of a funny book idea. The main character always or frequently has that cliche of a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other-- or maybe he or she just talks directly to God and the Devil. But the hook is this: the advice given by God or the angel is difficult to follow and doesn't always make a whole lot of sense. By contrast, the Devil is brilliant tempter, whose logic is compelling and seemingly flawless.
I don't come to this idea out of disrespect for God or religion. But, in fact, this conception is more like our traditional notions of good and the Devil. That is, doing what's right involves sacrifice, and it is not always for us to understand the methods of God. But the devil is supposed to offer real temptation by appealing not only to our basest desires, but also to our brilliant ability to rationalize away the evil that we do.
So, maybe our main character is considering whether to have sex with his girlfriend, and the angel on his shoulder says something like, "Yes, you love her and you plan to spend your life with her, but unless your relationship is sanctioned officially by the church in the form of a marriage then it's a sin." But then the devil says, "Hey, what about King Henry the eighth who had all his marriages annulled and his wives murdered so that he could keep having sex with different women-- that was sanctioned by the church. How can that be right and this be wrong? What about men who abuse their wives? How can that be sanctioned by the church and this not be? And what about lesbians and gay men, what are they supposed to do? The church won't sanction their relationships, and that can't be right. Your not a homophobic bigot are you? And what about all those poor little boys molested by priests in the same churches where so many weddings were performed? All you and your girlfriend want to do is consecrate your love for each other. You're adults, you're in love, you're both disease-free, and you're monogamous. Sex is a basic human need and it's unhealthy to deny it." And then the angel replies, "Well, that's not what it says in the Bible."
It's sort of a modern day Candide.
link to this item: http://www.creamy.com/blog/2003/06/now-where-did-i-put-my-publishers.html
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