False Religion Strikes Again
As I write this, it is almost 11AM here, island time, May 21, 2011, and approaching 5pm, on the Eastern seaboard. The time the apocalypse was predicted to occur at 6pm (don’t know what time zone) has obviously passed without incident. I almost want to laugh when I think of all of the people who quit their jobs, deserted their homes and the like to be at a train stations with bags pack for a train that was not coming today. These are the same people that shake their heads at the Jim Jones Guyana tragedy in November, 1978 and said they could not imagine being so misled as to drink the cyanide laced Kool-Aid, committing suicide on the orders of one man. They laugh at a tenet of the Islam faith that says that those that die in martyrdom will meet with 75 virgins in heaven. Are they so different? They let some multi-millionaire evangelist put them in a similar position. I watched television and took in the sheer magnitude of people that were willing to throw it all away based on the musings of some old fellow in Florida.
How easy it is to deceive people who would appear perfectly rational on the surface. The forces that deceive people on this scale and in a way that is so blatantly the antithesis of common sense would seem almost demonic in origin. One billboard sign advertised the event and on one side it said ‘read your bible’. Well, I read mine and in regards to the coming apocalypse it says that ‘no man will know the day or the hour’. It also goes on to say that neither the angels nor even the Son knows, but only the Father. Did they read that? So, armed with that knowledge, how does an old man in Florida have the secret? This evangelist says that he crunched some numbers to come up with the specific date and hour. God would not be God if he made it possible for clever men to determine what He says was not to be determined. The test is living a life consistent with that promoted by scripture. This is a test of faith, not one of who can clean up their act at the last minute and get their bags pack the most quickly.
I have spoken before about the link between false religion and greedy commercialism. You cannot serve two masters; you will love one and despise the other. Well this old fellow has done pretty well for himself in the commercial realm. When I think of Christian (Christ like) it does not resonate with this evangelist as Jesus said that the wealthy must be willing to part with their wealth, give to the poor to find favor with the Father. This is scary; the power of false religion is vast and puts a cloud over ones ability to reason. The scriptures did say that in the end times, people will seek to have their ears tickled. Basically, they are going to go with the things they want to hear and pick and choose the areas of scripture to emphasize like dining at a smorgasbord buffet. So, if people can be made to behave in this way, is it no wonder they make such suitable prey for the politicians and commercial interests? There are inimical forces that far exceed the reach of this old gentleman. We are all relatively oblivious and on our own primrose paths, more than willing to drink our own form of Kool-Aid as long as its ‘on the rocks’
