Here’s side 2 of the banner. (Side 1 here.)

I was with this sign at an outdoor festival in Seattle one year. Some Christian group was near the entrance, haranguing the people waiting in line to get in, so I positioned myself nearby. I wasn’t saying anything, and I wasn’t close enough to be confrontational. Their group had maybe ten people, including two girls who were about 17 years old. They came over to talk. One of them asked if I had heard of somebody—a Russian numerologist or something. I hadn’t, but I wrote down the name to check later. She gave me her email address and said that she’d like to hear what I thought after doing some research.

We had a pleasant conversation for about ten minutes until the leader of their little group—the one who had been bloviating the most—came behind them and said, “Girls, you’re not to talk with this man anymore” and took them away.

That’s weird. Here they are, trying to put into practice what this crazy cult was teaching, just twenty feet away, and they get their hands slapped.

But it gets worse. A few minutes later, the Führer returns with one girl. He wanted to know, Had she given me her email address? I confirmed that she had. He said he’d like it back, so gave it to him.

If these girls had been ten years old, it would make sense to demand that dependency, but they were young adults, presumably about to go out on their own. I can’t imagine how humiliating them in public is a good thing—unless keeping them dependent was part of the plan.

If millions of people say a foolish thing, 
it’s still a foolish thing.
— Anonymous

(This is an update of a post that originally appeared 11/26/12.)