What if a Jehovah’s Witness became a vampire? This is a theme that Dave Hitt explores in Blood Witness, a horror/comedy novel that he is releasing in weekly podcast installments on BloodWitness.com.
Not About Religion interviewed Mr. Hitt about the novel, atheism, and his views on religion.
Have you always been an atheist?
I was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. I always had doubts about it, but when I was 18 I decided to throw myself into it. I got baptized, which most kids do when they’re 14 or 15, and became a Pioneer, which at that time required 100 hours a month knocking on doors and conducting Bible Studies.
What changed?
During that time I got a job as an orderly in a nursing home. I discovered that faith gave dying people comfort, but it didn’t matter what faith it was. More importantly it was my first time dealing with professional adults outside of the controlled setting of the Witnesses. I had been trained that everyone in “The World” was unhappy and miserable, and it was wonderfully unsettling to learn that was a lie. By the time I was 20, I had left the Witnesses completely.
At what point did you come to believe that there is no God?
A couple of years after leaving the Witnesses. The God of the Bible just didn’t make any sense. A creature who was all powerful and omniscient and benevolent couldn’t possibly be presiding over a planet full of evil and accidents. When a child is killed by a stray bullet, why wouldn’t he nudge that bullet an inch to the left to spare their life? If he had that power and didn’t use it wouldn’t he be guilty of criminally negligent homicide? Why would a loving God allow the existence of things like disease and war and genocide and disco and Mamma’s Family?
Ok, but that’s the God of the Bible. Is there any God?
It was a small step from realizing that the God of the Bible was nonsense to concluding that all the other available gods were nonsense too. I diligently looked for evidence of some kind of god while deprogramming myself. I never found any.
You write about religion frequently on your blog, specifically the problem with religion. Why do you feel this is an important subject?
Religion has severely retarded mankind’s advancement. Think of how much we’ve learned in just the past century. We’ve doubled our lifespan, can communicate instantly with people on the other side of the globe and fly through the air to travel thousands of miles in just a few hours. Diseases and injuries that were once deadly are now routinely cured or reduced from being debilitating to being a minor pain in the ass. We used to worry about starvation, now food is so cheap and abundant we worry about obesity. We can learn anything, about any subject, with a simple search on Google. And every single one of these advancements was the direct result of science, not religion. In fact religion tried to get in the way of most of them.
Try to imagine what the world will be like five hundred years from now. Then consider that we’d be already be there if it weren’t for religion. For more than five hundred years, during the Dark Ages, religion was in charge. It ruled by terror and barbaric tortures that stopped innovation, invention and research. That cost us a half a millennia of human progress.
That’s an interesting insight.
And religion is still getting in the way. Fundamentalists are still demanding that their silly religion be taught in science class, and fighting their nonsense takes resources that would be better spent on education. They’ve managed to stall stem cell research for the better part of a decade. Islam wants to turn everyone in the world into barbarians who are as racist and misogynist and hateful as they are. Its followers eagerly murder anyone who disagrees with them, including family members. New age “woo woo” encourages people to avoid real medicine, often with deadly results. Hundreds of millions of people are trapped in cults, devoting their entire lives to nonsense. By now religion should be a quaint anachronism. Instead it is still a deadly superstition that ruins lives and prevents people from thinking clearly and making smart decisions.
What is the inspiration for Blood Witness?
A Rodney Dangerfield joke: “Wouldn’t it be funny if Dracula was a Jehovah’s Witness?” I heard while I was a teenager and still a JW and thought yeah, that would be funny. The joke, obviously, was about blood, but the witnesses also believe Christ died on a stake, not a cross, so crucifixes wouldn’t affect them. But you could protect yourself by holding up a stick.
How does the blood issue come into play in the novel?
The blood issue becomes huge for Chris when he becomes a vampire, but the crucifix joke only happens briefly in a later chapter. I thought it would be great fun to compare the horror of having to kill people regularly to survive to the horror of being trapped in a mind-numbing cult. What would it take for someone to exchange one horror for the other?
There’s also the issue of eternal life. JWs believe that most of them will live forever on a paradise earth. Vampires, of course, have the potential to live forever, although, in my vampire world, most of them don’t make it past a few hundred years. Catherine is one of the few exceptions – she’s 1800 years old. She uses Chris’ desire to live forever to entice him into becoming a vampire.
Did you plot out the whole book before writing it?
I had an ending in mind, but the characters took over and took it in a completely different direction. The original ending would make a good sequel, except I have no idea how to solve the problem I have in mind.
What has the audience response been like?
I’ve only released two episodes so far, and the responses have been fantastic. With the Quick Hitts podcast (http://www.davehitt.com/podcasts/index.html) I usually get two or three e-mails for every thousand downloads. So far about 10% of the people who have download Blood Witness have responded on the blog or sent e-mail, which is an amazing feedback rate. They’ve ranged from “This is pretty good,” to “OMG, you got into my head!”
Who does Blood Witness appeal to?
It’s aimed at people who love horror novels and vampire novels, although ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses will enjoy it as well.
Why release it as a podiobook, as opposed to a more traditional e-book?
Have you ever read an entire novel as an e-book?
Nope.
Me neither. E-books are fine for reference books and short works, but reading a novel in PDF format is a chore, not a pleasure. You can take a podiobook with you wherever you go and listen whenever you want. I’d like this to reach as many people as possible, and podcasts are much more popular than e-books.
Why not release the entire novel in one podcast, as apposed to weekly episodes?
I like the episodic nature of podiobooks. There are a lot of things in Blood Witness that don’t quite make sense, especially in the earlier chapters. They’re there to raise questions in the reader’s mind and entice them keep reading for the answers. In the podiobook format it helps build anticipation for the next episode.
Do you have other novels that you will release as podiobooks?
I’ve got a half finished novel I wrote with a friend about a young man who can control the weather. It’s much funnier than Blood Witness and has no religious themes. I’d like to finish it just to see how it ends.
Any plans of traditional ink and paper publishing?
I don’t have any plans to self-publish, but would love to have a traditional publisher pick it up. That’s unlikely, but if a few thousand people enjoy listening to it on their MP3 players it will be worth the effort.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
qwertyuiop
Jehovah’s Witnesses blood transfusion confusion
Simple fact-. Bloodless surgeries are great if they can be elective.1/3rd of all trauma deaths are from blood loss. Jehovah’s Witnesses children die every year worldwide due to blood transfusion ban.Rank & file Jehovah’s Witness are indoctrinated to be scared to death of blood
FYI 1) JW’s DO USE many parts aka ‘fractions’ aka components of blood,so if it’s ‘sacred’ to God why the hypocritical contradiction flip-flop?
2) They USE blood collections that are donated by Red Cross and others but don’t donate back,more hypocrisy.
The Watchtower society will not allow a JW to bank their own blood
“WHEN JESUS BORN THERE IS NO LIGHT”
“WHEN JESUS DIED THERE IS NO DARKNESS”
LORD JESUS IS COMING VERY SHORTLY
“WHEN JESUS BORN THERE IS NO LIGHT”
“WHEN JESUS DIED THERE IS NO DARKNESS”
LORD JESUS IS COMING
Here is a little example of the kind of person Dave Hitt is.
I called him out on some ridiculous items on his web site, including the SHS one. Then on a writing area, about using specialized software when any old word processor will do.
Note that he starts out stating he will alter my posts. He also says he is doing this deliberately to cause me harm and distress. Then see what he actually says. Juvenile, obscene and not very original. Note that I have included some of my relpies before he was able to change them into his obscene, hateful discourse.
Dave begins:
This boy is really persistent. I’ve deleted over a dozen of his comments in the past couple of days. Informing him he’s no longer welcome here and deleting his nonsense over and over again doesn’t seem to discourage him, so from now on I’m just going to have some fun with them. Normally I consider putting words in someone’s mouth just about the worst thing you can do. (But then he revels in doing it JES)
I’ve never edited the content of comments here before, no matter how nasty they were. But since this twit is relentless, and since deleting his nonsense doesn’t even slow him down, I’m going to have some fun with him.
From this point forward I’m going to rewrite every post he makes. Note that I’m not adding any posts in his name, just editing ones he makes. You’ll be able to gauge his stupidity by how long it takes before he gives up.
Hi! My name is James Smith João Pessoa from Brazil. I like to pretend I’m a writer, but when I’m not doing that I love to fuck goats. Big goats, little goats, boy goats, girl goats, it just doesn’t matter. Give me a goat and I’ll fuck it. Twice, if I’m not to tired.
Sincerely,
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil?Goat Fucker Extraordinaire.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
He’s been posting two or three messages a day here, each one snottier and goofier than the last, and I’ve been deleting them as soon as I see them. I can only guess what kind of pathology drives this guy. I’m not well versed in psychological disorders, but I’m guessing someone who was would diagnose it has a combination of jealousy combined with anger issues and being fucking nuts.
It’s rumored that Tolstoy had dolls set up on his desk representing his characters, and when he killed one of them he’d knock the doll over, to help him keep track. Mark Twain was enthralled with the typewriter, and bought one as soon as it was available, singing the praises of this wonderful machine that let him write more than he could before. I know some writers who like to write their first draft in longhand with a fountain pen – the feel of the pen on the paper inspires them. Others eschew word processors in favor of an old typewriter. Still others use index cards to arrange every scene before tackling the novel. Every one of them has made the correct choice – for them. Just as a chef may have a favorite knife no one else likes (not that he’d ever allow anyone else to touch it) or a carpenter may always reach for the same worn hammer, an artist’s tools are a very personal thing. Any “writer” who insists their method of writing and the tools they chose are the only legitimate ones is a non-artist, a wannabe, a failed writer, and a useless hack with nothing worthwhile to offer anyone else.
Dave Hitt | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
Dave continues:
Just the other day there was this brown beauty with a white stripe up his back. Damn, I fucked that boy for a half hour. I think he loved it as much as I did.
James, Goat Fucker
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
Some people debate if you should cuddle the goat after fucking it. I’m in the cuddling camp. It lets them know you care.
James?Goat Fucker Extraordinaire.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
I’m particularly fond of Angora Goats.
When the villagers banished me from my hovel and chased me into this cave I found it difficult to keep warm until I adopted an Angora goat. Lots of warmth, lots and lots of good lovin’. It’s the perfect combination!
James?Goat Fucker Extraordinaire
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
I was put on trial for goat fucking, and asked my mom, who likes to get fucked by goats, which lawyer I should hire. She recommended two. One, she said, was great at the negotiating before the trial, but if he wasn’t able to get the sentence reduced he wasn’t that good in court. The other’s expertise was in picking a sympathetic jury. Although the later was more expensive, I decided to go with him.
I had to blow a lot of sailors to raise the money, but it was worth it. I remember the turning point in the trial, when I knew I was going to get off (so to speak). The woman who had reported me in was on the stand, and the prosecutor asked her for a detailed description of what she’d seen.
“It was disgusting,” she said. “After he fucked the goat he walked around in front of it and the goat licked his penis.”
One juror turned to another and said, “A good goat will do that for you.”
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
I stated:
I see you are becoming increasingly obscene and juvenile. Wouldn’t it have been better to face me like a man instead of revealing yourself for what you are? Do you think the other people reading this will respect you more for this?
You do know that some will surely see my responses and see the difference between someone that doesn’t hide behind the internet to make childish insults and some one that calmly invites open, honest debate. They can see that when I have labeled you an intellectual, ethical, and physical coward, I was not engaging in mere insults but stating obvious facts. Thank you for amply illustrating my point.
If your writing resembles your posts on here, there is no software on earth that can help you. It’s “Garbage in, garbage out” you know. LMAO!
This is really fun. Maybe we should start a pool to see how far into your sophomoric fantasies this will drive you?
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
You think I will give up? No, I want to help you dig as large a hole as possible for yourself.
FYI, falsifying my posts IS making false statements over my name. So you have admitted you are a liar and they things you post show the level of your maturity and mentality. They will be justification for any retaliation I care to take. I have saved all of this, you know. Clearly, you are too stupid and have let your anger blind you to the possible consequences of your actions.
Unlike you, I do not engage in childish threats or obscene posts over another’s name. You could save yourself a lot of embarrassment if you simply walked away. Maybe you have some deep-seated masochistic urge to make yourself look as bad as possible in front as many people as possible. If so, that would explain a lot. There is treatment for those things, but you have to do it. I urge you to look for help before you do more damage to yourself than you have so far. Some of the things you are saying now, show signs of serious mental disturbances.
Dave starts in again:
This boy is really persistent. I’ve deleted over a dozen of his comments in the past couple of days. Informing him he’s no longer welcome here and deleting his nonsense over and over again doesn’t seem to discourage him, so from now on I’m just going to have some fun with them. Normally I consider putting words in someone’s mouth just about the worst thing you can do. I’ve never edited the content of comments here before, no matter how nasty they were. But since this twit is relentless, and since deleting his nonsense doesn’t even slow him down, I’m going to have some fun with him. From this point forward I’m going to rewrite every post he makes. Note that I’m not adding any posts in his name, just editing ones he makes. (That is posting false statements over someone’s name JES)
You’ll be able to gauge his stupidity by how long it takes before he gives up.
Hi! My name is James Smith João Pessoa from Brazil. I like to pretend I’m a writer, but when I’m not doing that I love to fuck goats. Big goats, little goats, boy goats, girl goats, it just doesn’t matter. Give me a goat and I’ll fuck it. Twice, if I’m not to tired.
Sincerely,
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil?Goat Fucker Extraordinaire.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
Just the other day there was this brown beauty with a white stripe up his back. Damn, I fucked that boy for a half hour. I think he loved it as much as I did.
James, Goat Fucker
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
Some people debate if you should cuddle the goat after fucking it. I’m in the cuddling camp. It lets them know you care.
James?Goat Fucker Extraordinaire.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
I posted:
I see you are becoming increasingly obscene and juvenile. Wouldn’t it have been better to face me like a man instead of revealing yourself for what you are? Do you think the other people reading this will respect you more for this?
You do know that some will surely see my responses and see the difference between someone that doesn’t hide behind the internet to make childish insults and some one that calmly invites open, honest debate. They can see that when I have labeled you an intellectual, ethical, and physical coward, I was not engaging in mere insults but stating obvious facts. Thank you for amply illustrating my point.
If your writing resembles your posts on here, there is no software on earth that can help you. It’s “Garbage in, garbage out” you know. LMAO!
This is really fun. Maybe we should start a pool to see how far into your sophomoric fantasies this will drive you?
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
You think I will give up? No, I want to help you dig as large a hole as possible for yourself.
FYI, falsifying my posts IS making false statements over my name. So you have admitted you are a liar and they things you post show the level of your maturity and mentality. They will be justification for any retaliation I care to take. I have saved all of this, you know. Clearly, you are too stupid and have let your anger blind you to the possible consequences of your actions.
Unlike you, I do not engage in childish threats or obscene posts over another’s name. You could save yourself a lot of embarrassment if you simply walked away. Maybe you have some deep-seated masochistic urge to make yourself look as bad as possible in front as many people as possible. If so, that would explain a lot. There is treatment for those things, but you have to do it. I urge you to look for help before you do more damage to yourself than you have so far. Some of the things you are saying now, show signs of serious mental disturbances.
Dave posted:
I got caught walking home with a goat under one arm and a sheep under the other.
Ok, I guess I’ll have to admit I’m bi-sexual.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
Here’s a video of me and my dad celebrating my birthday:
http://www.toxicjunction.com/get.asp?i=V1566 (Note: pornographic bestiality JES)
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
I commented:
Now you are posting pornography over my name. I knew it would come to this. You are really making yourself look good in front of anyone that reads this page. I wonder how the courts will feel about it?
Another intelligent response from Dave Hitt:
I’m James Smith, I come from Brazil?I’m always in search of a thrill?I’m a wanna be writer?A pretend to be fighter?But goat fucking’s my only real skill
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
more goat fucking info on it’s way…
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
I replied:
What a delightful person you are demonstrating yourself to be. I suspect soon, no one will be reading this unless they are morbidly curious about the train wreck you are making of your site.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
Let’s review. You announced what you were going to do. You stated it was deliberate and intended to do me harm. I have all of that saved as well as it being available through the internet via your hosting service as well as other sources.
This just gets better and better for me. I wonder how it will be for you in court and how your friends (if any) and family (if any claim you) will feel about it? Well, none of that is my problem.
As far as who and what I am, you can see a few videos about it at http://www.vimeo,com Search on slrman. It’s all true and unlike you, I can prove every bit of it.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
You keep it up. I am loving every minute of it. Every time you edit my posts with your lies and obscenities, I look better and you look like, well, what you are. Just keep dancing,I love to see you twisting in the virtual wind.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
Another insightful post by Dave, still over my name:
Goats goats goats goats
?James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
I couldn’t resist:
Hmm, a really intelligent try. Did you think of that all by yourself? I’m afraid you will have to to better than that. Have you run out of pornographic sites already?
?James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
So he comes back with more.
This is my picture, taken right after I fucked a goat.
http://www.davehitt.com/temp/james_smith_goat_fucker.jpg
That’s not a shit eating grin. That’s a goat fucking smile.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
Be sure to read my book, “Stay Fit For Life by Molesting Barnyard Animals.”
Only five bucks, or the use of your goat for three minutes.
James Smith,
Goat Fucker Extraordinaire
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
Here’s a poem I wrote.
Goat Fucking, buy James Smith.
I fuck goats?Right down their throats?I by them coats?I feed the oats?Then I fuck goats?and then I gloat!
That there is some fine poetry writin’, yes sirree bob, I don’t care nobody says.
James Smith?Goat Fucker Extraordinaire.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
I had to note a small error:
I think you meant “buy”, not “by” but they may not teach proper English at Albany Business College.
I still must admit, it’s better than I expected from you. But then, Dr. Seuss was no doubt an advanced textbook for you.
You are really working hard with that shovel. I love it. Keep digging.
With all your “expertise” you still can’t keep me out, can you? Trust me, Dave, we’re just getting started.
James Smith João Pessoa, Brazil | Feb 12, 2011 | Reply
From this you can see what type of upstanding, moral individual is Dave Hitt. As you say, he is still blowing smoke up his own ass. I am sure he thinks all of this will make him look smarter and appear as a courageous person full of wit, compassion, and tolerance. What does anyone else think? I doubt that the “Hittman” cares.