Ship of Fools: Infernal leaflets (was: Have you had enough?)

Thread: Infernal leaflets (was: Have you had enough?) Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

Someone on my twitter feed has just posted a leaflet that their local church group put through their letter box.

It is a leaflet that says "Have you had enough yet?". With a hangmans noose as the 'o' of the 'you'.

I can sort of accept that church media studies would be about 11+ level, that most churches have no fucking clue about how to communicate with normal people, and that the embarrassment gland seems to be removed along with spine at ordination.

But this is beyond the pale. This is sick. This is a disgrace, and makes me glad that I can distance myself from the church.

[ 13. February 2013, 00:06: Message buggered about with by: comet ]

Posted by Mr Clingford (# 7961) on :

Had enough of what? What is this about?

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

S Cat,

To agree with Mr Clingford, your OP looks like a premature ejaculation.

Posted by Tortuf (# 3784) on :

I understand what SC is grousing about. The hangman's noose is just there as a threat; believe the way we do or you are doomed. I can guarantee I will never believe the way someone who would use such a threat does.

It might be better if there was a link to the picture of the leaflet.

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

One infers that the tract posits that the godless life invariably begets a desire for self murder. Shows what they know.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

Well I would have posted a link to a picture, but I didn't. I think the point of the leaflet is that if you are suicidal, the church can help.

Any church that sends such a thing through my letter box is not a place that I would suggest a suicidal person would go.

Posted by Drifting Star (# 12799) on :

I'd have thought there was a serious risk of someone who was inclined towards suicide being pushed further in that direction by this leaflet.

Shock tactics are completely out of place when you are genuinely trying to help those in despair - this is crass, insensitive and dangerous.

Posted by Nicolemr (# 28) on :

It's hard to picture who would have thought this leaflet was a good idea.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

Yes, I have had enough actually. But the subject of which I'd had enough of was discussed rationally, sensibly and with the persons concerned. Not by a sick leaflet or poisoned pen letter. How irresponsible. [Confused]

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Nicolemr:
It's hard to picture who would have thought this leaflet was a good idea.

A picture.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

A picture of a noose is tasteless? So how about another means of execution, one used by the Romans 2,000 years ago.

I'd have to see the content of the leaflet before I made a decision, not just the description of the cover.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I can actually see this working on a specific minority. That would be those people who are into reading Camus and Vonnegut and Palahniuk and Ellis. They would look at the cover of the pamphlet, be hit by an ironic gigging fit, and the endorphin rush alone would be enough to stave off suicidal ideations. But they wouldn't bother to read it.

[ 10. February 2013, 21:49: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :

Sounds like it could push a suicidal, desperate, or depressed person in the wrong direction.

What a stupid thing to do.

Posted by poileplume (# 16438) on :

There is another side. What would they do if a genuinely suicidal person turned up? Do they have the qualified resources to deal with the multitude of causes of suicide from mental illness to dealing with terminal illnesses? It’s like inviting people to an Armature Brain Surgery night.

You do wonder who these people are and what is their motivation – concerning the latter I am highly suspicious.

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

And there's the off chance they shove that leaflet through the door of someone who's lost a loved one to suicide, whether by hanging or not. That's pretty triggering to use an image like that.

For years after I was mugged at gunpoint (and wrestled the gun down from my heart), I would relive the experience or at least have an adrenaline rush at the sight of a picture of a revolver (which is what the gun was). Sometimes I still do. Images are very powerful.

Someone who survived suicidality might also be triggered by that image. They may not go hang themselves, but they might have trouble functioning for a while. Often people who survive a suicide attempt suffer from PSTD over it.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
A picture of a noose is tasteless? So how about another means of execution, one used by the Romans 2,000 years ago.

But then hanging is still a method of suicide used today. It is therefore triggery.

I know of no-one who has killed themself by cruxifiction.

Posted by Garasu (# 17152) on :

Which, in fairness, may be an issue in itself: the cross has become utterly unexceptionable.

Whether leaflets such as you describe are the answer is another matter...

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

I came in here to call shenanigans, but then I found the tract. Here it is, available from these people.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

It doesn't seem like the graphic was in anyway necessary either.

Posted by Molopata The Rebel (# 9933) on :

Is this really worth a hell call? The leaflet is admittedly not very bright, but probably as harmless - or harmful - as the half dozen other images and allusions one encounters every day. And pretty run-of-the-mill for one part of the Christian spectrum.

Gospel groups are always coming up with strange modes of communication. I remember being handed a tract when catching a train a few year back with the threat on it "Jesus will come again". I think they were trying to inspire hope in me, but that's not what it sounded like, especially when I read the rest of the moralising text.

Posted by comet (# 10353) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Molopata The Rebel:
Is this really worth a hell call?

We keep our standards low and pass the savings on to you.

Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :

quote:
Originally posted by comet:

quote:
Originally posted by Molopata The Rebel:
Is this really worth a hell call?
We keep our standards low and pass the savings on to you.

Quotes!

Posted by Molopata The Rebel (# 9933) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:

quote:
Originally posted by comet:

quote:
Originally posted by Molopata The Rebel:
Is this really worth a hell call?
We keep our standards low and pass the savings on to you.
Quotes!

Was that really worth a quote? [Razz]

Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :

You want to keep this thread alive against your own best interests, buddy, go right ahead...

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