From: TURTLE              
To: JONBOY              
Subject: words of wisdom
Date & Time: 01/01/91 16:29:02
Message Number 11044

>Well...speaking on a strictly existential basis...don't we all
>[view the world in terms of religion]?
 
No, at least not to the same extent the Jehovah's Witnesses do.
Speaking in a strictly NON-existential, practical basis, they
interpret literally everything they see in terms of their religion.
There is **nothing** which has no religious overtones to some of these
people. Their religion colors the way they listen to music, the way
they interact with everyone from McDonald's counter people to their
co-workers, the way they read the newspaper... I have a Jehovah's
Witness pamphlet that explains how clean a JW should keep his house
(too clean is vanity, not clean enough is disrespectful to God)
and even (I am NOT making this up!!) how many times per day a proper
Christian should wash their hands. These people literally cannot wash
their hands without perceiving religious overtones to the act. THAT
is what I am talking about when I say they see the world in terms of
their religion, and nothing /but/ their religion. It is not a matter
of their beliefs not coinciding with mine at all; I don't agree with
your beliefs, but I don't accuse YOU of being unable to interpret
events in anything other than religious terms...