.ili. Devil Shat Forty Nine .ili. ------------------------------------- The Sins of the Modern Day Morbii .................. by Morbus This is Devil Shat Forty Nine released on 03/25/99. Devil Shat is published by Disobey and is protected under all copyright laws. All of the issues are archived at the Disobey website: http://www.disobey.com/ Submissions, email, and news should be sent to morbus@disobey.com. Your comments are welcome. What do you want us to write about? Send an email and let us know. I am very tired. --------------------------------------------- .ili. The Sins of the Modern Day Morbii .ili. --------------------------------------------- by Morbus NOTE: This is a modified version of a religious document - modified so it removes all the possible dogma related confusion that might afflict those with closed minds (although I think most of them, thankfully, have been weeded out from the readers of Devil Shat). Direct lines from the original document are encased in quotes (""). I've updated it mainly because the points are valid and can be used from any standpoint: these are sins that should be on the minds of every person whose an avid reader of Devil Shat. Just as there are Christian sins, there are the Sins of Modern Day Morbii - those which any self respectable (or in some cases, unrespectable) person should follow. Sins to avoid, sins to disapprove of, yet all realistic. Some Christian sins just can't be followed by normal people - thou shalt not kill? As much as we may personally follow that dictum, we also become responsible indirectly - by giving alcohol to those we know will drive home, by allowing our children to go into the military, by putting out roach killer. Or how about thou shalt not covet another's belongings? Ha! Our whole society is based around getting the best crap and outdoing the Joneses down the street. No, what follows is that of realism and stark naked truth. 1) STUPIDITY. The top of the Sins. "It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful. Ignorance is one thing, but our society thrives increasingly on stupidity. It depends on people going along with whatever they are told. The media promotes a cultivated stupidity as a posture that is not only acceptable but laudable." We "must learn to see through the tricks and cannot afford to be stupid". 2) PRETENTIOUSNESS. "Empty posturing can be most irritating" and that's exactly the definition of pretentiousness: the assumption of dignity, importance. Kinda like Al Gore saying he created the Internet. "On equal footing with stupidity for what keeps the money in circulation these days. Everyone's made to feel like a big shot, whether they can come up with the goods or not." 3) SOLIPSISM. Solipsism can be dangerous to most people. You might have read in these pages the fact that you should assume that people will go along with how you feel, and how you think. Although this would be a perfect world, it's just not so. "Projecting your reactions, responses, and sensibilities onto someone else who is probably far less attuned that you are. It is the mistake of expecting people to give you the same consideration, courtesy, and respect that you naturally give them. They won't. Instead" we "must strive to apply the dictum of 'Do unto others as they do onto you.'" If someone kicks you, kick them harder. If they are later kind to you, rear your boot back but keep it cocked. "It's work for most of us and requires constant vigilance lest you slip into a comfortable illusion of everyone being like you. As has been said, certain utopias would be ideal in a nation of philosophers, but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, from a Machiavellian viewpoint) we are [far] from that point." 4) SELF-DECEIT. This is a BIG no-no. Don't fool yourself into believing you're something you're not. It's not conducive to growth if you lie to yourself. Eventually you'll start to believe what you're telling other people. Be honest with yourself, and you won't have to worry about what other people think. "We must not pay homage to any of the sacred cows presented to us, including the roles we are expected to play ourselves. The only time self-deceit should be entered [into] is when it is fun, and with awareness." 5) HERD CONFORMITY. "It's all right to conform to a person's wishes, if it ultimately benefits you. But only fools follow along with the herd, letting an impersonal entity dictate to you. The key is to choose a master wisely instead of being enslaved by the whims of many." 6) LACK OF PERSPECTIVE. "You must never lose sight of who and what you are, and what a threat you can be, by your very existence. We are making history right now, everyday. Always keep the wider historical and social picture in mind... See the patterns and fit the things together as you want the pieces to fall into place... Know that you are working on another level entirely from the rest of the world." 7) FORGETFULNESS OF THE PAST. This is one of the magical methods of brainwashing people into "accepting something as 'new' and 'different', when in reality its something that was once widely accepted but is now presented in a new package. We are expected to rave about the genius of the 'creator' and forget the original. This makes for a disposable society." 8) COUNTER PRODUCTIVE PRIDE. "The first word is important. Pride is great up to the point you begin to throw out the baby with the bathwater... if it works for you, great. When it stops working for you, when you've painted yourself into a corner and the only way out is to say, 'I'm sorry, I made a mistake, I wish we could compromise somehow,'" don't ever be afraid to. The more you are stubborn with your errors, the more you try to make that error into a benefit - which will almost never work out. Don't be afraid to admit you are wrong - not only will people respect you for it, but you'll loosen any remaining walls you don't know you've built. I know the amount of email that I will get questioning exactly what religious document this is taken from, and why didn't I just come out and say it. The original document is entitled "The Nine Satanic Sins" and was written by Anton LaVey. As you can tell, I've cut out one sin involving aesthetics, which largely related to the idea of Magic. Otherwise, I've removed most of the scary words like "Satan" and "Satanism". Why? I imagine thousands of people dropping from the readership because of those words. It scares people and sends them thinking about child sacrifices and how these people are so evil. Strangely enough, removing anything related to Satanism from the above text creates a rather noble list of Sins - one which closely mirrors my previous "Goals to Achieving Inner Peace" (Devil Shat Thirty Nine and Forty). The amount of people (a lot) who liked that article should equally appreciate the previous. We'll see what happens. I'm sure I'll be flooded with "unsubscribe"s but that could only enhance the quality of my readers - and for that, I'll be appreciative. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The website edition includes images, a nice design, and all of the email we have received about this issue. Go there and um, er, have fun: http://www.disobey.com/devilshat/ Copyright 1997-1999 Disobey. 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