BANANACUE
REPUBLIC
Vol I, No. 14
Dec 08, 2004
by Daphne Cardillo
Among the Christian believers today, there is a rising concern in the
resurgence of cults and occult practices in their very midst.
Satanic worship, which gained prominence in England and became more
organized in the United States, caters to people from high and low places
who insidiously encroach their ways into the Christian churches.
Other cults of the primordial kind, however, draw members from
among the society’s disillusioned and lost.
The rapid rise of materialism subsequently pulled men away
from the church, relegating spiritual matters to the economically
unproductive the young, the old, and invariably, women.
Side by side with the rise of materialism, the very issue of
relevance of the church to society hangs like a Sword of Democles, that
much as Christians profess not to be transformed by the world, they are
the only set of believers who attempts to interpret the Scriptures to
adapt to the changing world. The
Bible has long been translated and translated and even paraphrased to be
applicable “in the context of.…”
Then as if to cast away sins of guilt and shame, some point
to the cults and the occult as the anathema of a broken church, declaring
that Satan is alive and is here to rule the earth.
Satanic worship is merely a rebellion against the
establishment. It makes a
desperate attempt at distorting everything that represents Christianity;
from inverting the cross and singing Christian hymns backward to mimicking
basic church rituals. It
cannot even be original, employing a bit of the ancient science of
astrology and alchemy mixed with oriental mysticism to achieve its warped
ends. Other cults for that
matter are not much of a threat. They
have self-defeating mechanisms (i.e., mass suicide by members of
Heaven’s Gate) that with their depressing world outlook they will simply
self-destruct even without invoking Jesus name.
Which brings me to the news of Satanic practices that
occasionally circulates in our midst.
I came home once to be greeted by a crying child who was scared of
“Satanism.” Her friend
called over the phone to warn her not to roam outside the house. Now, now. I
guess there should be a more concrete object of fear for our children to
be afraid of than an abstraction like Satan if we intend to sow fear among
the young.
But even if that “scare” about Satanism did not break
out, why is it that those who profess to be in Christ are the rabid ones
who blame Satan for the maladies besetting us.
It’s like blaming the communists for every bomb that explodes in
our midst. Satan has been
made as a scapegoat for the consequences of man’s self-righteousness and
self-will, not to mention the old sins of pride, envy, and hate.
That strategy seems to absolve us of the responsibility of our own
actions.
Look here. We
have not only destroyed our own kind but we have destroyed nature.
We have placed a hole at the ozone layer of the atmosphere causing
our bodies to unduly deteriorate due to the uncontrolled heat and
ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun. We have ravaged the forests and seas thereby altering the
ecological balance and perilously exposing us to the extremes in weather
and climate. We produce
narcotics, and we produce deadly weapons.
We break our moral values, and we break our family life.
The list is endless.
Maybe there is some kind of deception here.
Satanism, the resurgence of cults and the occult, or doomsday
scenarios for that matter is not the issue.
We are simply being tuned to be scared.
So, beware. To embark
on fear is the first step towards being yoked.
Posted 12/07/04. Send your comment to bananacue_republic@yahoo.com
"Satan
has been made as a scapegoat for the consequences of man’s
self-righteousness and self-will, not to mention the old sins of pride,
envy, and hate. That strategy
seems to absolve us of the responsibility of our own actions."