I needed a subject to write a blog post to keep this blog active, and a series of posts by James B rausch on his blog (no link to him, he won't link to me) "inspired" me.
The B rausch series is a fictionalized account (some reality, some fiction, he says) of his methamphetamine (meth) addiction, why and how he got started on it, the "meth life", bottoming out, recovery, finding he-she-it, converting to Mormonism, making several thousand dollars on the internet while in recovery, and discovering paradise in Costa Rica.
While some of the stuff about all that and the help of various social services (shelters and meals, all provided by various non-Mormon religious organizations) in keeping him afloat was fascinating, the stuff about he-she-it speaking to him, prayer, the conversion, etc., was maudlin, almost comical. I read through the series for details on how he made the several thousand dollars. Not much there on that.
He states his series will be removed from his blog or otherwise made inaccessible after 2007 December 25. If you are looking for a religious experience, you are out of luck if you read this post after that date.
But, if you are looking for internet marketing tips, what I gathered from his posts about that is this:
You write something up ("the product") -- but he never said what, even what kind of subject he wrote about -- that people will find valuable. Duh.
Then you put your product as a post on a blog you set up -- i.e., a free Google blog like this.
Then you go find a bunch of forums and post to each about what you have written with a link to your blog post.
I'm not sure of the next step. It could be either or both of these:
On the forums, you mention the product is free but you request a donation of $10, $20, whatever.
That may or may not be permissible. On your blog, as part of your blog post, I would think you definitely would want to include that donation request.
The donation request link goes to a PayPal account you have set up.
(In PayPal, you have to set up payment, by going to "Merchant Services".
Click "Donate" under "Create Buttons". I guess for forum posts you would use the select "Link for e-mails" code. For a blog post, get that and paste it into your blog post while in HTML mode. That's it. You can see how that works on a blog by donating to me, below.)
Anyway, that's it, as far as I can decipher. I have just saved you an hour or more of sometimes fascinating but ultimately unimportant reading.
Back to he-she-it:
Many people claim that he-she-it has spoken to them. They range from various killers (serial killers, mothers drowning their children, founders of religions spaced out from dehydration or "herbs" wandering around in the desert, etc., etc.) to usually harmless people you think are talking on their cell-phones, but who don't have a cell-phone, to people like B rausch that are seemingly quite successful. All that demonstrates to me is that both losers and winners (however you define those) can be wacko.
As I said above, just ONE of the reasons I am an atheist is that he-she-it has not spoken to me, personally. Why should he-she-it speak to me, you may ask. Why shouldn't he-she-it, I ask in return. After all, if there really is a he-she-it, am I not one of he-she-it's flock? Doesn't he-she-it care about ME? Doesn't he-she-it want my worship, obedience, reverence, whatever? What am I, chopped liver?
He-she-it is supposed to be omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. With those super-powers, you would think it inconsequentially simple for he-she-it to conduct a personal seance with every living person on Earth (and wherever) as frequently and intensively as necessary to make sure that we all "get the Word". Hasn't happened.
What am I missing? Comments are welcome (but note that they are moderated).
BTW, please contribute (donate) to my PayPal account if you think this worthwhile.
Have a happy winter solstice pagan celebration to welcome in the new year.
