Beyond Expectations (Reclaiming Art Part 1)

Submitted by Virge on Sun, Mar 14, 2004 - 22:29
in

My previous entry gave a behind-the-scenes view of creating Reclaiming Art. Now I'll try to draw together some of the responses from the lives that it touched. The Reclaiming Art hoax reached a far wider audience than any of us imagined. It was the huge crowd of unintended victims that led us to blow the cover early rather than hold on until April 1st.

The Intended Victims - 1st Letter


The letter to Linda is available here.


Here are selected comments from EK members when Linda posted a copy of Andrew T Foster's first letter. They hadn't discovered the Reclaiming Art forums at this stage so it appeared to be a heavy-handed semi-personalised god-spam.



  • I didn't understand half of what was in that e-mail, but if you're being sinful, it's very naughty of you not to share :{

  • o_0
    Have you been painting the devil with your divine wacom powers <!--EZCODE ITALIC START-->again<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, Linda?

  • REPENT!!! REPENT YE SINNARRRSS!!!
    OR....... just get rid of the walking celery emoti and everytha'ng will be ALLRIGHT!!

  • Dear Andrew T Foster
    Your letter has changed my life. Thank you. Before I was pretty indifferent to religion, and now I realize you're all freaks.
    hehehehe

  • that is soooo SICK. its people like that who give religion a bad name.

    perhaps you should ask what he does for a living? and if he only does it for God? should doctors only operate on believers? what about the school janitor? are all lawyers going to hell? Who gave him the power or the GALL be so presumptious about another persons life? does he lead such a perfect life he feels he can tell others what to do with theirs? Who is he to start pointing his pretentious fingers? perhaps he needs a lesson on humility?

    <!--EZCODE ITALIC START-->"For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; <!--EZCODE BOLD START-->9<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> not as a result of works, that no one should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

    God is not going to love him any more for trying to preach, nor is He going to love you(linda) any less for creating the art that you do. judge not? casting stones? perhaps he should concentrate on his own life, on his own faith before he makes any judgement on others?

    example: thomas kinkade is a well known artist, and a lot of his works are printed on items and sold in most christian stores. and yet he paints houses and things with trees. is his art not up to the 'highest possible standard' though because it has no religious content? is that what it takes to deem art great in his eyes? this small group may love you less for not painting what <!--EZCODE ITALIC START-->they<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> think you should, but God wont and never will.

    if they want someone to minister to tell them to go to a prison outreach. Your life is your business, your faith is your business, your art is your business .(which im interested in knowing why they deem it soooo blasphemous?)

    thank you very much.
    (ha tell him to go see the Passion. and if he writes back and says he has, tell him hes obviously missed the point.)

  • I have seen this letter before, somewhere, can't quite remember where. Without Linda's name ofcourse but I have definately read this somewhere on the net.

    Oh and that dude needs some lessons in selling.

  • simple, paint him Enayla teh Devilwoman, with Azzy, Hellhound extraordinaire at her side.

  • for every sane person there is a nutter, and for every one of those nutters are another two like them and each of those has three people akin to sheep who follow them and copy them. Thus is the human race's blind mass stupidity explained.

  • I don't think you need to respond to that.
    The letter is creepy (they were praying for you o_O) and as Rio said, things like this give Christians a bad reputation.

    The second quote is kind of pointless, and the suggested prayer is so stupid. They want you to give up being an independent and strong person and to cower before some god and be grateful for what Jesus may have done.
    They are indirectly threatening with burning in hell. I don't like the whole guilt thing in Christian belief.

  • You know what they mean by the recent events dont you?
    Its that movie. Its stirred massive christian awakening...or an uprising. Jesus or people preaching Jesus are everywhere I look now. On TV, in my mail....on EK!!

    Though inspired, it is still a very presumptuous letter on their part.

  • Religious addiction is as bad as any other addiction. And what I don't like about most religion, it's that <!--EZCODE ITALIC START-->you have to<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> start has a bad person who has to work to change alignment.
    You didn't get the message : those guys love Linda's work so much they try to get her in the Religion buisness so she will paint angels and Jesus ! <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--><!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END-->

  • The thing about evangelical attempts, like the letter, is that the people who send it don't see it as anything but a great idea. It may be kind of freaky to you, but they are honestly trying to save you from eternal damnation. I'm not saying they're right, I'm just saying keep that in mind. It may be creepy or insulting to us, buy they think they're doing the right thing.

  • yeah and a lot of times its pretentious bs and they are only doing that to make themselves look better. the way they basically talk down to you, the condescending manner does not speak of love or caring..they come off more liek they are just trying to get their brownie points..i could go on for hours.

    that one person sending an email like that, that one person coming to your door, thats all it takes to close people off. in fact it literally pisses me off. its generic and unfeeling, and that most liekly is indeed a cookie cutter email theyve sent off to a bunch of other artists as well.

    the non denominational church i used to go to was so much more caring on this subject. instead of a 'save them all' mentality stopping people on streets, flyers, emails, they encouraged a 'one at a time' mentality, because a subject like this should be discussed on a personal level with somone who wont judge you, who speaks your same language, who wont push or preach or use cookie cutter speeches, and only one at a time, even if it takes years before you can say the name God without them rolling their eyes. you inform,you share, you shed a new light on a familiar subject, but at their pace, on their time. God is not going to love you any more or any less, there are no brownie points, and if you care enough to 'spread the word' put all that caring into just one person. if every believer was as serious, you wouldnt need a 'save the world' mentality. you wouldnt need flyers and pushy door salesmen. doesnt mean close others off if they have questions and such. but its a huge responsibility the way you handle a conversation about God could as likely turn them off forever. its always a senstive subject most people dont like discussing and you ALWAYS need to be respectful of that.

    how many times have these people come to your door for example and you decide to be a smart ass and start firing off questions. do you even get an answer or do they continue on with a pre memorized speech and pretend you didnt ask it? how often do you get anything but a generic answer? do you get their opinion or do they just quote a common fill-in-the-blank all purpose verse? are they actually talking or are they preaching? do they actually care or are they just tryin to get rid of a flyer to meet their quota? im not just talkin about jehovies, im talkin about Christians as well, even more so. its liek someone mentions God and they go into 'super hero mode' where they get up on their pedestal so they can preach down to you.

    the sad fact about most of these evangels is that they totally freeze when you put them on the spot. they have sunday school knowledge and memorized speeches. few of them really care when it comes down to it, and you can tell when soemone is talking to you whether they do or not. few of them know enough to ever answer a serious question. they talk to you impersonally on a subject thats deeply personal and i think its rude.

  • Religious freaks should be banned by <!--EZCODE BOLD START-->LAW<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->.
    That's all I have to say about this.

  • "as long as they don't show up outside my door trying to spread their propaganda, in which case I might just have to throw a bucket of water at them like you would with any other really unwanted visitor."<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
    The Jehovah's Witnesses do that... I used to be one, though I was what, 13? So I'm not sure that really counts. My mother really despises the whole thing a few years later. We haven't had any door-to-door visits from them in a long time. Though I don't completely agree with what they do, I have to say they ARE extremely nice people, and if you politely tell them you're not interested they'll just go away. At least that was my experience. I've heard a lot of other freaky religious people stories though. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END-->

  • basically...they don't like it when I tell them about loving father satan...infact, they get downright angry and offensive... so if they can't discuss both sides like nice people then they aren't allowed to state their side in my book. share. hug. love. <3

  • "that is soooo SICK. its people like that who give religion a bad name."
    I couldn't agree more. And I'm sure I've read a very similar email to that before except it wasn't personalised. This guy is a brainwashed cockhead.

  • I just find it damn funny

  • Wolfmoon<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> I wasn't trying to excuse what the letter, I was trying to contextualize it. I don't think that just because someone thinks they are doing right that they are. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.(I know it's a tired saying, but it fits) I think the outside context of the letter makes it slightly less bizarre. I'd be more disturbed if a guy in a business suit walked up to me and screamed "YOU MUST BELIEVE IN GOD!" then walked away than if a guy in a shirt that said "God's bitch" did it. I would at least expect it from the latter person. It's the same thing with the letter. (hehehe-mental image of someone in a "God's bitch" t-shirt)

  • Had an Andrew encounter myself when a wanker sat next to me at a cafe & started pontificating. My startled look of alarm & dismay did not stop him and he kept going on about praying for my soul & how we (as in him, me & JC - the new Trinity) could change the world.

    Told him that I had a religious encounter the night before too. And that the Trinity was certainly there when I was screaming Yes, Jesus! .. OMG ... Holy Mary Mother of God ... all night & morning. If I had a stake, I would have driven it into his heart before I left the table too.

    On days like that I wish I was Muslim.
    <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :roll -->