book-excerpt-Life Begins When???

Before I share this next excerpt with you, I need to inform you that Big D does not fit the stereotype that humans have made for the devil. At our second encounter, the devil appeared to me as an extremely attractive woman. At first, I was confused by the versatility and the continuing changes in mood, style, tempo, and temperament that “he/she” exposed to me. When I asked Big D about the seeming inconsistencies, here’s part of the response I got:

Let me assure you that any preconceived notions you may have about who or what I am -- about how I might look or act are totally false. I am the greatest master of disguises, illusions, cons, and manipulations your world has ever seen. I am an actor extraordinaire. I could win Academy Awards Oscars for best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, and best supporting actress all at the same time, and never break a sweat.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, expects me to be who I am. Nobody expects me to look as I look. Nobody expects me to act as I do. Humans are incredibly easy to scam because they rarely ever think for themselves and because they have a ridiculous, cartoon-character image of me as an idiot with horns and a pitchfork. So long as I don’t look like that cartoon character, or look otherwise grotesque, most humans never see me coming, and here's why.

Lies, deception, and cons are my games. Depravity, Sleaze, and Corruption, are my middle names. Trickery, fraud, and hoaxes are my calls to fame. I could sell snake oil to a snake oil salesmen, so don’t try to second-guess me or put any expectations between us. I guarantee that, if you do, you’ll not only be wrong, you’ll also miss the essence of what I have to offer you.

If you'll think for just one moment, it will become obvious to you that no devil worth his salt would ever come out as an evil one. All I have to do to create havoc and destruction here on Earth is to disguise myself as a promoter of what seems like a good cause.

I simply gather together a flock of mindless Would-Be Do-Gooders, and then, from a sacred place of trust and power and in the name of righteousness or some other illusion, I shower evil upon all mankind.

I've pulled this trick off thousands of times in the past, and at this very moment, I'm doing it right now, in dozens of different ways, right under your noses, and the vast majority of humans simply don't see it.

I'll give you a hint. Look into the concentrations of power. Look into your governments, your multi-national corporations, and your religious institutions. Look at what they are attempting to sell you. Look at what they are attempting to get you to believe, and follow this maxim: "By their fruits shall you know them." Look under the surface facade and see what things like: religious fanaticism --The Patriot Act --The Federal Reserve -- the anti-abortion war, and several other strongly supported causes are actually bringing to humanity.

Now on to the second excerpt. Big D, appearing to me in the form of and extremely attractive woman, has just finished explaining the fourth of six techniques “he/she” uses to con those who follow the anti-abortion promoters.

Life Begins When?

Big D = "The Devil" T.L.C. = The Interviewer

Big D Fifth, I con people into preaching beliefs and concepts which, in effect, subvert your Constitution’s provision regarding separation of church and state. And sixth. . . Ahh, yes, number six, this is my choicest piece of insidious manipulation, perversion, and misdirection!

With that, Big D began to shake, and little sparkles of red and orange light, like miniature fireworks, began to shoot upward from the tops of her ears.

Big D I’ve even got people preaching beliefs that ignore the words of their own God written in their own Bible about when life begins. And the funniest and my most masterful illusion of all is that both the promoters and their followers see my deception right there, directly in front of their own eyes, and, yet, they don’t even recognize it for what it is.

Oh, fabulous day! That's one of my finest pieces of work. Am I not just the greatest? Don’t you just want to pat me on the back -- or maybe even on the front?

She shook her breasts at me, looked, for a moment, intensely into my eyes, and then laughed hysterical. It tool all the mustard in my jar for me to remain grounded. Relying on my acting training, I took a deep breath, and with my most intense look of disgust, stared intently at a point on her forehead just above and between her eyes.

T.L.C. Just calm down now. You’d best do your own patting.

I sat in silence for almost a minute before I spoke again. The shaking slowed and finally stopped as did the ear-top fireworks.

Omission Lie Omission Lie ...

T.L.C. You obviously feel you’ve done something extraordinary, so please tell me how the anti-abortion promoters defy the words of their own God?

Big D If you were in a state of extreme emotional stress and you had a very limited timeframe within which to make a critically important, highly emotional, completely irreversible, life-changing decision, and I intentionally withheld from you a vital piece of information which could significantly alter your decision, what would you call that?

T.L.C. Technically, it’s a lie, a lie of omission.

Big D Why would you say that?

T.L.C. Because that would be an attempt to deceive; it would be an attempt to subvert the truth; it would be an attempt to manipulate me into altering my behavior to suit your desires; and, most importantly, it would also be a gross violation of my right of self-determination.

Big D Ah, self-determination! Freedom! Liberty! Sovereignty! The greatest gift from God. One day, you may yet taste its joys. Have you heard these words from one of the greatest masters who ever walked the planet: “Know the truth and the truth will set you free.”?

T.L.C. Of course. Everybody’s heard those words that Jesus spoke about truth.

Big D Apparently our anti-abortionist friends haven’t.

T.L.C. Why do you say that?

Big D Because their actions suppress the truth and deny freedom. They talk a good game, but when you examine the consequences of their actions, you’ll find the truth is intentionally withheld, subverted, twisted, and/or hidden. You'll find that hundreds of people die or live in misery for every embryo they save. You'll find that peoples’ freedom to make their own free will decisions about abortion, about sex, and about numerous other aspects of their private lives have been severely interfered with by personal religious beliefs that have been promoted into secular law by the ant-sexual anti-abortionists.

T.L.C. What do you mean? Can you give me an example?

Big D Of Course! Since I’m also a Bible expert, let me quote Genesis, 2:7.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

And also the Book of Job 33:4.

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life.

And then there's Ecclesiastes 11:5, RSV

As you do not know how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of the woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.”

T.L.C. So, you’re saying that the anti-abortionists are ignoring the Bible and defying their own God?

Big D No, I’m not saying that. I’m merely showing you some evidence that you had previously not been aware of. It’s plain, in-front-of-your-nose evidence that allows you to draw your own conclusions. What does their sacred book tell the no-choicers about their knowledge of how God works?

T.L.C. That they can't know how God works.

Big D And what does that same Bible say about when life begins?

T.L.C. You’ve just quoted the Genesis passage which clearly indicates that, according to God, life begins at first breath.

Big D Then, just look at this for a moment. Here's the infinite, all knowing, all powerful Creator of Everything That Is telling the anti-abortionist two things; first, that they can't know how God works and second, that life begins at first breath. And what do the no-choice peddlers do with that? They simply ignore it! They act as if those passages weren't even in their Bible. And an even dumber part of the story is that everyone else lets them get away with it.

I invite you to turn on your brain for a moment. Compare the infinite wisdom of God, the creator and source of everything, to the knowledge of a bunch of mindless, superstitious, fear-filled humans running around on in infinitely small speck of dust called Earth -- a speck of dust which, in relation to the rest of the physical universe, is so small that it's all but lost in a vast array of creation which is so huge and so variable that humans cannot possibly understand it. When you compare those two sources of information, who are you going to believe?

Wouldn’t it seem like God just might be right? Is it possible that the humans whom I've been coning for centuries -- that humans who have a track record of being wrong about just about everything just might be wrong about when God begins a independent human life? God is, after all, the "guy" who created human life. And He is the ultimate authority, isn’t He?

T.L.C. Most people agree with that.

Big D Then life begins at first breath -- that is, if the Christian Bible is actually the word of God.

T.L.C. Well, Christians believe it is.

Big D But, my fellow Bible experts who are spearheading the anti-abortion movement have proclaimed that life begins at conception. So does the evidence appear to indicate that they've set the truth aside and are defying their own God?

T.L.C. It certainly appears that way. So, if they don’t believe their own Bible, what do they believe?

God's Magic Act God's Magic Act ...

Big D They believe in instantaneous, supernatural, transcendental magic.

T.L.C. That sounds rather strange. Is that some far-Eastern yogi-religion stuff like transcendental meditation?

Big D No.

T.L.C. Then what do you mean?

Big D Let me explain. First, keep in mind, that when the anti-abortionists use the word “conception,” they are not simply a referring to the biology of male and female cells uniting. They are referring to an additional process -- a process where God steps in and transforms the egg and sperm into a brand new human being.

Although equally as live and viable one moment before uniting as they are a moment after uniting, the separate sperm and the egg are not accorded the status of a human life by the anti-abortionists.

They believe that at some undefined point during the process where the egg and sperm unite, God steps in and instantly creates an eternal, everlasting life-spirit called a human being who did not exist the moment before but will continue to exist forever more.

T.L.C. What about gorillas, Chimpanzees, monkeys and other primates? Their genetic structures are almost identical to humans. What does God do to their uniting eggs and sperms?

Big D Nothing. Your anti-choices friends tell us that their not good enough to go to Christian heaven.

T.L.C. Are you telling me that gorillas, who live peacefully in the forests, eat fruit and leaves, nurture each other, and make love but not war are excluded from heaven?

Big D Yup! Heaven is reserved for the God's true believers - - the anti-choice humans who, in His name, use lies of omission, half truths, distortions of the truth, inflammatory rhetoric, and intimidation - - humans who, engage in harassment, invasion of privacy, threats, assault against persons and property, violence, vandalism, arson, and murder.

T.L.C. That must be some heaven! Do you mind if I go elsewhere?

Big D Oh you certainly will because you've just questioned their dogma and when they find out some of the most ardent believers will personally condemn you to another of their fantasy creations - - the one they call hell.

But we're getting way off track here. Let's go back to talking about the uniting human egg and sperm.

T.L.C. OK.

Big D According to the beliefs of the anti-abortion promoters, it is not the uniting of sperm and egg which creates a new human being, it’s God’s magic that transforms the united egg and sperm into a human being.

T.L.C. But, that’s not biology! That's religion!

Big D I’m well aware of that.

T.L.C. And it’s not even in the Bible.

Big D I’m well aware of that, too. That’s what makes it an even better example of supernatural, transcendental magic.

T.L.C. So where did this instantaneous creation story come from?

She just looked at me and grinned.

Big D Do you really need to ask?

T.L.C. I should have known.

Big D The anti-abortion promoters can’t give you a legitimate answer to that question because they created the transcendental magic story by still another act of transcendental magic. P.F.A. as some people would say.

T.L.C. What’s P.F.A.?

Big D Plucked from the Air.

T.L.C. You mean it’s something someone simply made up, and now many people believe that it’s reality?

Big D Yup! That’s it. It has no factual basis whatsoever, and it defies God’s words in their own Bible.

T.L.C. But lots of people believe things that aren’t true, so what’s the big deal?

Big D It’s perfectly normal and acceptable to hold anything, even this, as a personal belief. It’s something else entirely to proclaim it to be provable, factual reality and then, without a single lick on proof, try to shove it . . . Let me say this politely; shove it down everyone else’s throat.

T.L.C. So you’re not questioning their right to believe in transcendental magic?

Big D Of course not.

T.L.C. Then the issue is that they have taken an unprovable, personal belief and proclaimed it to be objective reality?

Big D Yes, that and their attempt to force it onto everyone else. That fairytale proclamation and the anti-choice attempt to force it onto everyone is one of my grandest and most brazenly shining piles of bullshit. It’s the foul-smelling, false foundation of their entire anti-abortion campaign and not one in a thousand of it’s peddlers sees or smells anything but sunshine and roses.

T.L.C. You are obviously proud of this.

Big D Of Course! Who but I, the Prince of Hubris, could inspire the wooden-brained, would-be do-gooders to spew out such a blasphemous proclamation -- such a heresy of esoteric pride? Who, but I could foster such a blatant denial of their own Bible -- such a masterful piece of insidious, mind-bending nonsense -- and then get them to proudly peddle it as if it were objective truth and never once stop to look at the absurdity of making such a ridiculous proclamation.

T.L.C. Yes, that is quite an accomplishment.

Big D Let me quote one of my most revered disciples, Adolph Hitler, who, by the way, was a staunch anti-abortionist: "Tell a lie lie loud enough, often enough and long enough and people will believe it."

T.L.C. So you’re telling me there’s no scientific basis for this claim that an individual human life begins at conception?

Big D Nyet! Nay! No! None! Nada! Zero! Zippoooo...! Even the United States Supreme Court could not find even one lick of factual evidence or any scientific research data to support such a claim.

T.L.C. Is there any proof that an individual human life does not begin at conception, or that it begins at some other time?

Big D If you choose to accept the word of God as written in the Christian Bible as proof, then Genesis 2:7 proves that an individual human life begins at first breath.

T.L.C. Let me ask this again, slightly differently. Is there any scientific proof that an individual human life does not begin at conception or that it begins at some other time?

Big D Again I get to say Nyet! Nay! No! None! Nada! Zero! Zippoooo...!

T.L.C. So when the Supreme Court case was being heard, where was all the evidence we keep hearing about from the anti-abortionists? Were they asleep? Didn’t they know about this case?

Big D They certainly knew about it, but didn’t provide any evidence because they don’t have any. They have a lot of opinions which, when grouped together, can sound like proof — that is, as long as you don’t listen closely to what they’re actually saying.

T.L.C. So when does an individual human life begin?

Big D Where does the sky begin? When does day become night? How high is up? At what exact moment do the ingredients of a cake become a cake? At what point does a caterpillar become a butterfly? When does an individual human life begin? The only answer to those questions is, “Whenever you say it does.”

T.L.C. So, to claim that life begins at the moment of conception is like saying day becomes night at precisely 5:17 p.m., that “expensive” is anything costing more than 99¢, or that a human being becomes an adult at 12:00:01 a.m. on the day of his 21st birthday.

Big D Exactly. And when making such completely arbitrary decisions, two questions always arise: “Which choice is to be followed?” and “Who gets to make that decision?”

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Life Begins When ???

Life Begins When?