Thursday 11 January 2007

The Cult of the Burnt Fornicator II - Judgment Day

A Jesus impostor in your vicinity

Judgment has come upon the man who deluded many and who as the leader of the Christian Praying Assembly in Lagos proclaimed himself as Jesus Christ with power on earth to punish sin.

Just like something out of a witch-burning activity in the 15th Century, anyone caught in the sin of adultery or fornication – if that means anything to people today – was doused with petrol and set alight.

One of the said sinners did burn and lost her life in the process before the law in Nigeria waded in to seek justice for this abuse of power and criminal act. Months ago, in Cult of the Burnt Fornicator I wrote about this episode.

What is most disconcerting is the number of people who would follow a lie and engage themselves in cultist activities that seem to create more adherents as their increasingly bizarre and uniquely outrageous acts gain notoriety.

Proselytisers bring friends who feel they would be protected from greater evils by submitting themselves to a lesser evil which holds sway over their freedom, their liberty, their rights and their freewill; the stupid and gullible being lead by a con – there can be no greater partnership.

Ignorance that grates

Beyond this, it is the ignorance of the rule book that grates the most, a person going to church should and must be able to read a Bible in whatever language they speak, nowadays, Bibles are in pictures, in audio and fully dramatised in audio-visual sometime crass acting, but there is almost no excuse for not checking if what you have heard is really true.

We have a case where Jesus had to deal with the issue of adultery, it was a lesson in understanding the gravity of the offence but greater still, understanding the greater good of forgiveness, giving the adulterer the opportunity to repent and spread the news of forgiveness.

Men had arraigned to stone the adulterer to death as is expected of the law of the day, but rather than carry that sentence out, they approached Jesus to hear his view of the matter.

Knowing the law, knowing humanity

Jesus did not argue either the law or the sentence of the law, but he highlighted that fact that those who stand in judgment should themselves be free of guile and sin – let the man without sin throw the first stone, he said – then you all can then have a killing party, he implied. From the oldest to the last, they dropped their stones and walked away as conviction came upon each and everyone – meanwhile, the adulterer stood waiting for judgment deserved as Jesus scrawled in the sand.

At the end, there was not one accuser left and he who could pronounce judgment spoke mercy – “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more”. How, then can another man impersonating Jesus then be carrying out gruesome petrol burnings when the Jesus we know would not do such a thing?

As we have seen through the ages, the man involved in the act is often never caught or brought to judgment that is another issue.

The man the con

The problem is, as the man takes his sentence for murder and more heinous crimes, there are many who still believe that this religious tyrant is some messenger, a messenger of death and terror, I would say, as he tries to model his sufferings on the sufferings of Jesus.

No, people should not buy into that lie, I am no supporter of the death penalty, however, if he must die, I am happy that no one has decided to take the joke as far as to crucify him – however, it is evident that Jesus cannot die twice, a revealing truth that makes this religious cad, a false prophet and charlatan.

It would appear Nigeria needs a Religious Cons and Cults Tribunal to ascertain the qualifications of these preachers of woe, vet their practices, audit their accounts and testimonies, close their operations if found wanting and prosecute them to the limits of the law if they have been dishonest, deceitful, deceptive, cajoling and threatening.

I have seen many and they perform their deeds with impunity because the hold and sway of the superstitious and the incredible prevents seemingly rational minds from questioning the veracity of outrageous claims, all fearing a great wrath would befall them.

That is the power of these purveyors of evil, the ability to maintain an atmosphere of pervasive awe backed by the fear of evil rather than the courage of good.

This sentence would go to appeal, but it is time for the courts to hold up the mantle of justice for those who have been sacrificed on the altar of retaining the awe of the spectacular. The blood of the innocent, albeit gullible must be requited by a suitable punishment as a lesson to those who still seek to deceive.

References

Jesus Forgives Woman Caught in Adultery

Churches should be sanctuaries not prisons

How to spot religious abuse

Opinions on cults and religious abuse

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