Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site utastro.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!unc!mcnc!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!ut-sally!utastro!padraig
From: padraig@utastro.UUCP (Padraig Houlahan)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Crowley's sense of humor.
Message-ID: <302@utastro.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 1-Jul-85 10:53:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: utastro.302
Posted: Mon Jul  1 10:53:10 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 4-Jul-85 00:24:13 EDT
References: <437@cmu-cs-k.ARPA>, <5429@cbscc.UUCP>, <452@cmu-cs-k.ARPA>, <5458@cbscc.UUCP>, <464@cmu-cs-k.ARPA> <5517@cbscc.UUCP>
Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX
Lines: 31

> >If you are willing to believe that Crowley killed 150 people a year in human
> >sacrifice, then I'm sure nothing I could say would dissuade you.  It is
> >obviously impossible to get away with that.
> 
> No, I didn't believe the 150 part.  (That was apparently added by a
> commentator anyway)  But that's not what I'm talking about above, is it?
> The issue I wanted to get clear is that Crowley did not accept human
> sacrifice in principle.  No matter.  Some folks have already let me in
> on the "joke" by mail, and I am convinced that their explanations make
> sense.  I'm glad they had a little more faith in me than you in this respect.

All this reminds me of an incident that happened when I was about 12 or 13
years old. The story is that a guy in my class crucified a child he was
supposed to be baby sitting, believing that he could invoke the occult
to bring it back to life. I can't swear that this is absolutely correct
for my parents refused to discuss the matter, and the information had
to come via the gossip mongers. However the kid was pretty weird,
kept to himself alot, and would occasionally come to school with
a rat's skull on a chain around his neck. We never saw him again after
the incident.

The point of all this is that some people do not have the ability to
put things in perspective. Some will swallow anything that is held
to be true by "authority". If Crowley is joking, there are people
out there who will not understand this. Look at all the crap
in bookstores on astrology and the occult. There are people who
will accept chunks of this at face value. I think that it would be
a time bomb if his "joke" was placed in with the astrology and occult
section.

Padraig Houlahan.