tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4795284845836270713.post101677479511324787..comments2024-03-27T11:23:43.902+00:00Comments on Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley: Wasted Sermon IllustrationsWodeWosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381754587879658356noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4795284845836270713.post-66787441231463290082015-10-22T01:09:13.737+01:002015-10-22T01:09:13.737+01:00I once nailed a sermon with a reference to Richard...I once nailed a sermon with a reference to Richard Dawkins; I would recommend mentioning him - everyone hates Richard Dawkins (oops, not very Christian!).Carolynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10166347698365200398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4795284845836270713.post-33289134932203539632015-10-21T20:48:16.076+01:002015-10-21T20:48:16.076+01:00Well, I'd find sermons easier to follow if the...Well, I'd find sermons easier to follow if they had more Star Trek analogies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4795284845836270713.post-28536621522413511332015-10-21T15:04:20.857+01:002015-10-21T15:04:20.857+01:00I shouldn't use metaphors if I were you. Ther...I shouldn't use metaphors if I were you. There are an awful lot of innocent literal minds out there, as well as those characterised by Alan Bennett as "people who make a beeline for the wrong end of the stick", and your carefully-chosen rhetorical device might well blow up in your face.<br /><br />The makers of the film <i>The Deer Hunter</i> used a very powerful metaphor to convey the tragic insanity and random death-dealing of the war in Vietnam: the American soldiers, once captured, are made by the Viet Cong to take part in games of russian roulette. But once released, the film was condemned by liberals as libelling the poor little Viet Cong: they never, no never, employed such a cruel tactic! Useless for the hapless producer to point out that no-one had said that such scenes were historical, any more than the wedding scenes or the deer-hunting scenes were historical. They were fairytales used as such tales have always been used, illustrating a deeper truth.<br /><br />Unless of course you meant a simile. Don't use similes either, unless you desire someone to say, "How dare the preacher compare the ineffable X to the vulgar Y! That's blasphemy and I shall write to the Bishop tonight!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com