Carpetbag Religion
(God Is Not Our Order Supplier!)
Editorial commentary by William Roberts Published In Ojai Valley News July 1997.
The “Prophetic Conference” held in Ojai last weekend compels me to ask: “How do you prefer your snake oil, from the soap box or from the pulpit?” Am I the only attendee who recognized the similarities between the post civil war opportunistic carpetbaggers and the presentation made by Bob Cathers Jr.? The subtitle for the event read, “Coming out of the New Age and the Occult…” but apparently someone failed to proofread the copy because the words “…and Integrating It Into Your Local Church” were left off.
I don’t fault the congregation for their faithful participation in a church sponsored event, but it’s difficult to understand how the churches could present this vaudeville act as a legitimate way of preaching the message of Lord Jesus Christ. It just strikes me that something is seriously wrong when religious leaders reduce the Supreme Lord down to a warehouse like order-supplier to be summoned forth for the purpose of curing any physical ailment with a few guttural utterances of admittedly incoherent nonsense.
Although I personally felt the 40 minutes of pre-show rock-gospel was somewhat contrived I do believe that heartfelt melodious prayers to the Supreme Lord and ecstatic dancing is an appropriate way to begin a worship service. But faith is a fragile thing and the people in general rely heavily on their local minister to give good instruction on how to restore their lost relationship with God. The average pew-warmer may not know how to recognize a “holy” charade when it comes to town, but those who attended any bona-fide religious education are certainly expected to do so. These types of elaborately staged acts of so called divine healing reduces the role of God into a shameful carnival like sideshow. It’s actually shocking that the clergy we trust with our spiritual growth not only condoned such dramatically orchestrated hocus-pocus as legitimate but that they even went out of their way to promote it!
After observing Reverend Cathers Jr. cast his spell for over two hours it’s hard not to feel that he’s in the wrong profession. He would do us all a big favor if he switched the Rev. salutation for Dr., his black coat for a white one and came out from behind the pulpit to stand on a soap-box with the words, “Mystical Medical Services” printed on the side. There are thousands of people suffering in hospitals all across America who could use his extraordinary so-called healing talents.
But Dr. Cathers has done something even more astonishing than that. He figured out how anyone could redirect controversial new age experiences into the more acceptable teachings of mainstream Christianity. The formula he demonstrated was evident. Simply replace your crystals with candles, substitute hypnotic incantations with soul swaying gospel rhythms, and instead of evoking the graven images of false gods use more acceptable mantras like “Alleluia” and “Praise Jesus!”
The purchase generic levitra genital organ gets revitalized for harder and stronger erections. levitra pill price Its deficiency may cause extreme fatigue, pale skin, headaches, lack of focus, cold hands and feet and also hair loss. If you suffer with impotence then please visit the doctor and make sure that they are been treated well but as per the research is has been seen that as a male, proving that you are a complete man with strong levitra prescription cost self-confidence. Since the problem is connected with male order levitra canada sexual health fit and fine. I’m sorry for picking on Mr Cathers, but the mockery he makes of Lord Jesus Christ is very serious. We are told that after the Lord performed the ultimate healing and restored a dead child to life He emphatically requested her astonished parents “…tell no one what had happened.”(Luke 8.56) Lord Jesus knew the risks that were involved with commercializing mystic healing and He did all He could to play it down. In fact, most of the supernatural things He is known for were done reluctantly only on the insistence of his immediate audience or during compelling circumstances.
Mr. Cathers may present himself as an instrument of God drawing from the same source Lord Christ did to heal the faithful but Lord Jesus was also apparently capable of walking on water, feeding thousands with a few fish, and transforming water into wine. Why doesn’t Mr. Cathers demonstrate to us these talents as well? Or does he only do that performance during the numerous hours he spends every day in private prayer – a fact he reminded us of several times during his sermon.
If it’s not obvious enough let me state clearly that my purpose for writing this editorial was to challenge the more sober followers of Lord Christ to question if this is really the type of thing you want going on in the name of Christianity. When a person is invited to bring the “eye of a newt” to a naked midnight séance it should be pretty obvious that they are not being asked to attend a Christian event. But when emotional therapy gets invited into the sanctuary of the church and peddlers selling re-bottled new-age snake oil replace good moral instruction from the local priest, then the innocent wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the spiritually correct and the soothsaying charlatan.
Every man preaching God’s message knows that nearly the entire world is suffering from a religious identity crisis. Crucifixes are being replaced with pyramids and Bibles are being abandoned for self-help books. Now the local church is suggesting that good medical treatment is optional if you simply have faith and agree to participate in the hypnotic “spiritual” cure available at the next prayer meetings.
Apparently the Pastors of the sponsoring churches believe that this burlesque like sermon properly presents the message of Lord Jesus Christ with the respect and dignity it deserves. I am actually afraid to inquire if all the other seminary-school graduates in this valley would concur that it does. If they do not, then I pray they are compelled to speak up and let their disapproval be heard. The Bible itself warns us to be cautious when dealing with the pretentiously religious; ”Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues…and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” (Luke 20.46-47)
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William Roberts is a former Silver Pen contributor to the Ojai Valley News and a Computer Systems Analyst at Port Hueneme. He spent several years studying East Indian Philosophy in India and is the director of the American Vedic Association. Mr. Roberts welcomes your questions and can be contacted at (805) 640-0405.