Huddled
in their rumble jackets,
burly,
growly haired,
they waylaid me
at the foot
of the jetty
proselytizing Jesus;
one thrust a pamphlet
in my face
& I waved it away
saying, not interested
& he said
in a thick Russian accent,
why you not interested
& the others milled around;
I dug my hands
into my pockets
& strode up the jetty
wondering what Jesus would make of
these ruffians of the Lord
John Malone 
Ruffians, now there’s a word I haven’t heard in a while. Love the poem
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thanks; no, I hadn’t heard it in decades but it popped into the poem as the perfect word to describe these three ‘apostles’
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it does sound like the perfect word to describe them
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it didn’t take long to find that adjective; it jumped out of the pack 🙂
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Great point. Not a fan of these ruffians.
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same here, Bob; hard to see these rapscallions getting a free pass through the pearly gates 🙂
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I think these ruffians believe they are saving ‘souls’, but there’s a problem if you don’t believe you need to be saved. I’m speaking as an atheist, not a critic. I avoid organized religion like the plague.
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a very wise stance, Eden; I had no intention of engaging these fellows in debate which really got up their nostrils —
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A much younger, more naive me would’ve thought debate was possible, but I don’t think that anymore. For a debate to move forward, there needs to be some acceptance of the other’s point of view, or that both might simply be wrong. I don’t think the needle moves with people who are devout in their faith.
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I get that feeling too; these guys were closed to anything else but blind faith and adherence —
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Haha! Bullying people in the name of Jesus. Doesn’t sound very nice. Fanatics…
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yes, much like fanatics of all stripes and colours–
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Ruffians with an Russian accent, love it John. A methaphor for the invasion of Ukraine?
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if so, it was an unintentional one — though I learnt last evening that Putin is a devout christian; figure that one out 🙂
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The yeast of the Pharisees
is a very ancient disease.
The first symptom is a bout
of self-righteousness that
often never clears up.
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wonderfully expressed, David; thank you 🙂
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I’m sure they didn’t mean to be ruffians. Imagine standing there all day with so many rejections. Possibly one would be driven to more intense measures than is perhaps wished for. I used to be rude to the people who ring us constantly wanting to inform us about government rebates on Solar Panels. But I’m not rude anymore. I’m pretty sure they don’t know how irritating they are. They’re just earning a buck. And I honestly think we are programmed to think the Russian accent is tough. I mean, how many James Bond villains are Russian? Ever since the cold war… I remember playing with a friend when I was younger than 7. She was a few years older than me and had been at boarding school in England where I had only experienced the little village on an Indonesian Island. Whenever we played games, the enemies were “The Russians”. I look back on that and realise that I had no idea who or what “The Russians” signified. I have written my own poem of an encounter with a man of religious fervour.
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thank you Worms for that full comment; fair call; have I read that poem of yours?
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I only just posted it. It’s called God & Algebra.
https://outofthecave.blog/2022/10/20/encounter/
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ahh I’lll have a read now; thanks 🙂
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