Deconstruction: National Sunday Law

So, last week somebody left a copy of National Sunday Law in my car. Not on my car, mind you. Oh, no. I had the windows cracked ('cause, you know, Texas in the summer...) so I found it sitting in Firstborn's car seat. This was what you might call an "unwelcome development".

It could, however, have been worse. Whoever distributed the things had tucked some of them under people's windshield wipers. I'm okay with that if you're talking about a flyer or a tract or something, but this is a ninety-four page book.

Tragically, the people who distributed these things didn't leave any identifying information - like, say, a little "come to our cult meeting to learn just how crazy we are" card - nor did I manage to catch anyone in the act. So I looked the thing up on Amazon, and now I have some idea who the culprits are: it's a Seventh Day Adventist thing. Some of the Amazon reviews are pretty priceless, too:

Having read poor apologetical works by numerous groups, I had come across my share of illogical and at times illucid treatises. Yet National Sunday Law belongs in a class of its own - it may be to apologetics books what Plan 9 from Outer Space is to science fiction movies.

So I took it home and read it. My first reaction is that it's an absolute marvel of apophenia. Granted, a lot of it is just recycled anti-Catholic nonsense and run-of-the-mill doomsday predictions, but there's a level of in-depth tinfoil hat lunacy here that sets National Sunday Law apart. So -- provided my interest, attention, and sanity hold up -- in the coming weeks I'll spend some time exploring "A Shocking Glimpse Behind the Scenes" as "Forces unite amid stupendous crisis..."

Brace yourselves.