You Shall Know They By Their Fruits

Yes this is a long blog, like the long version of Godfather II

or "The Sun Also Rises" or one of those other intellectual

masterpieces that you didn't read in High School

My Advice: If it seems long - Take Up Speed Reading

Last night I had a dream, which is one of the more positive dreams I had. Of course by way of review the night before I had that dream about a movie coming out about the shooting of John Lennon. Well, there are no Lennon movies coming out but Julian Lennon had a new album coming out that’s supposed to be a good one, and the first single from it will be out September 12^th. Last night I had a dream that I forget a lot of but it conveyed the idea that lies can be desguized in many forms and often are lies of omission or implication rather than direct lies. Even “deceiving spirits” can lie to you, if you believe in that sort of thing. And yes, dreams can contain lies, if you actually believe any of them. But the other part of this dream involved the song “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. And in this dream the song started out in one Tibettan or Napalese monestary and made a giant circle around the mountainous regions of SW Asia. Before returning to the starting point and the church set up some special altar or something

The upshot of all of this is- - I was wondering how come Black Sabbath was soon dropped from that famous 22 group listing of mine, the first of which I think was June of 1978. Of course I think “War Pigs” was listed as one of the very first songs on “Assylum Earth”, the very first “ZAC” album back in May or June of 1978. But it got me to wondering why Black Sabbath is one of the most vilified rock groups of all by “Jesus Freaks” for those of you old enough to remember that term. The first time I met Valerie M on April 18^th 1971 I asked if she was a Jesus Freak. And she responded “I’m a Christian but I’m not a Jesus Freak”. As you know in the first five years of exposure to Calvary Christianity- - there is one person whom I can lay the blame at of my not becoming a Christian at that time. I think you know who that is. Later that summer I was talking to Valerie and she mentioned that Black Sabbath was a group she was interested in. One would think that Black Sabbath would be a good Christian evangelization tool. But they have never been deemed as such. The line goes “Well they sound good on a lot of their lyrics, but that only means that they’re all the more a Satanic deception”. The message in the songs is to love God and hate and fear the devil. The Devil is equated with war such as in the lyrics “Generals gathered in their masses. Just like witches at black masses. Evil minds that plot destruction. Sorcerors of death’s construction”. There are lyrics in other songs equating God with Love. Something a lot of Christians, like Gene Scott and Walter Martin claim doesn't correctly portray God. They say things like "God has love, but Power is the thing that keeps him on the throne", and "The Bible is filled with references to his forgiveness but is literally OVERFLOWING with references to his wrath." There is talk about "finding the lock on your heart" and about the rapture and escaping earth and Satan and all his slaves. And there are songs about the evils of drugs and the terrors of the unsaved in the afterlife. So I say again, what the BLANK is wrong with Black Sabbath? Of course Jesus Christ Superstar was also condemned by them as “Not of God”. A lot of the early Calvary Christians seemed to have an aversion to crosses. In the early days they were both suspicious of any main line denomination, or for any religious movement that didn’t originate in Southern California.

But you know it is written ‘You shall know them by their fruits”. Arguably it’s less important how a movement began than where it is now. Back then two things they had going for them they do NOT now is that they had a “direct experience” with SOMETHING. They could point to God’s (?) direct intervention in their lives. Another thing they had back then they most assuredly lack now is Love. Of course their love was never really real and I found that out. One person attending their services might say “Well they have me really convinced they love Themselves- - - but they seem to despise the rest of the World, and I fear, maybe me”. All pretence at something non political, as in far right wing is completely gone now. They have adopted the tea party “talking points” hook, line, and sinker. Even the bit about the end of the world was mostly a kind of “come on” for new converts, preferably with this existentialist nihilist streak that Chuck Smith talks about. First they turn you into an extentialist with no hope, and then they can begin to work on you. They themselves are of course happily married and grandparents by now. Well those of them that weren’t shown to be either gay. or serial marries and divorcers abandoning their kids. Today it’s EASY to “decide not to be a Christian” what with people like Neil Savedra on the radio, who should be renamed “Satan’s little helper”. He helps people such as me feel really GOOD about not being a Christians. I’ve told you that George Carlin line about leftovers. “Leftovers give you two separate good feelings. When you decide to save them you feel good, “Gee, I’me saving food”. And when you go to eat them two or three weeks later you get another good feeling when you throw them out, “Gee, I’m saving my life”.

Another thing Christians hate are Mormons and Mormonism. This whole hate thing tword Mormons is something I could never get into. I remember back when I was a teenager or maybe younger and there was a meeting at my house with prominent members of my denomination. And there was a Mormon representative there, too. And they all attacked him for “stealing converts” because if they had truly made the effort they could have been successes in their former denomination. Of course, and Loretta said it just the other say, is “Mormons truly care about people”. This is an element that is so sorely lacking from all these mega-churches, with the exception of Robert Schuller. I’ve heard quite positive reports from people who have gone there. So it seems to me that main line Christianity needs a check-up to inquire as to their health. What are their problems with Mormonism and are THEY really right in their own positions. Of course Mormons reject the Trinity. We all know the Trinity didn’t come on till about AD 300 or so. When Tertulian first proposed the idea he was labeled a heretic. Mormons believe the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for today. At this they are in opposition to all sorts of people you’d never suspect such as Chuck Smith and Fred Price - - not to mention Neil Savedra, who dismisses tongues as “something low level Christians do to make themselves feel important”. Should I quote the Lennon line here? “As soon as you’re born they make you feel small. By giving you no time instead of it all. Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all”. Of course with prophecy Walter Martin made the Papal edict years ago that “The office of Prophet is extinct in the modern church”. Of course they do prophecy in church- sometimes even in tongues- - but it isn’t really prophecy but something they call “exortation”, which is basically another word for bullshit, because if none of it comes to pass- - -it’s YOUR fault for even bringing it up. So let’s work our way down the list. Mormons believe your soul existed before you were born. So they are at odds with Tertulian on this one. And not only this- but Calvary people would have it that your life really began the day you accepted Jesus, not before. So, what’s the other thing. Oh yes, that great mother of all evils Baptismal regeneration. Walter Martin and the “correct” Christians fight against this one tooth and nail, I think because the Cults are more diligent to follow Biblical teachings than others are. But oh they sure get worked up over this one calling it “salvation by works”. I think they have one more problem with Mormonism that is particularly evident today and that is keeping politics and political preference out of Church affairs. Here again even Christian friends who weren’t formerly political have now become resonance chamber loudspeakers for the tea party’s talking points. It’s like someone else put those words in their head. Just to get general for a moment- - - I get suspicious of people, even the President, who is unable to think on his feet. They do fine as long as their reading from a teleprompter, but Lord help them if you ask them a question or interrupt them “while they’re in the flow”. They are like a person in the bathroom with verbal diaria, and they wish not to be disturbed. So you know right off John Huntsman and Mitt Romney are going to have real problems with the tea party right on this whole Mormon issue. The Mormon brand name kind of connotes a person of temperance who has thought things through and controls his tongue. This isn’t the tea bagger’s style. You see republican after republican giving up their former views to adopt the tea party talking points. You’ve seen it with Mc Cain, you’ve seen it with Romney, and even to a small degree with John Boehner. Think about it.

Let’s just look at a few other things to see “how firm a foundation” Christian dogma is built on. You’ve heard of the term Grandfathering, or “Grandfathered in” haven’t you? It may date back to your grandfather being a slave and being denied the right to vote or something- but I’ll be more specific. One decision in “The Brethren” book that outraged me when I read it had to do with some park that some rich person willed this southern city. And one provision of the will was that this park always exclude black people, or the property would revert to someone else in the Estate. Well with the passage if Civil Rights public access laws, the park was integrated. And so someone brought a law suit- - -and they WON- - at the U S Supreme Court! The court went with this “grandfather provision”. Hypothetically suppose Ronald Reagan decided to change the laws on qualification for Welfare in the state of California to cover only the “truly needy”. But suppose the attorney of a black Welfare Queen with her Cadillac and all, was told she could be “grandfathered in” for life under the old law and they could Never cut her off. This is how it is with ten epistles of St. Paul. They were “grandfathered in” meaning they would never make it into the cannon today using the same process. So you have things like St. Paul claiming that Jesus would return in the lifetime of himself and the other apostles. Some would say “Obviously at that point St. Paul is at error”. Neil Savedra said that “last things” such as God’s judgement on earth is “not important”. And many “higher criticism” theologians agree that the “Olivet Prophecies” were not given by Yeshua the Nazarene, but were tacked on later from another source. And there is also a contradiction about whether the antichrist would enter and profane the Temple, or whether it would be destroyed Centuries before the antichrist. One way or another Jesus is in error because BOTH statements are attributed to Jesus. So Jesus is not innerent. And Walter Martin says things about “New Testament practice is not new testament doctrine”. There’s a real Orwellian statement for you. So the people in Acts were just “wrong” for failure to baptize in the name of the Trinity but Jesus only. This was one of those “wrong practices” Walter points out. And of course they were communal- - - or “Communist”. This too is “new testament practice” according to Professor Martin. But some would say “But it’s only voluntary- - it wasn’t compulsory or conthiscatory like the Bolshivic government was”. Wrong again. If you sell something and give money as a gift to the Church they will ask you “Where did you get it” and also “Have you got any more you are holding out on?” The right to privacy is another problem with some churches, like breaking a pastoral confidence. There was an example of this in Inheret the Wind with the example of “The little Stephens boy- - - who drowned” and therefore the person couldn’t believe in God any more. This incident was related by the main character in open court in public, as a justification for the adage “People who don’t believe in God usually have some kind of personal issues”. Nowadays the term “Having issues” is a euphamisum for “Mentally Unballanced”. I found this out when I started going to the Fullerton mental health clinic in 1999. And some would believe that gay people are not entitled to their confidentiality but if a pastor finds out a member is gay he prints it up in the next issue of the Church newspaper. Well right now it’s close to dinner time. But I’ve made my points. The Christian church indeed has a lot of “Issues”.

The bottom line is that the fruits of right wing Christians are bitter and inedible indeed. John Mc Cain today on Meet the Press seems to have backed off from his almost human, rational moment of the other week. He said “Look, Standard and Poor’s had downgraded US securities. Don’t kill the bearer of bad news. It’s because they know we haven’t gotten serious with our national debt problem”. Well, that’s just not true. Others have said “Nobody questions the objectivity of Standard and Poor’s”. Yes they do. S & P made a clerical error of two trillion dollars in their accounted, and the President, to his credit, has endeavored to point this out. What Mc Cain may be right about is that he claims the President never came up with a concrete plan. They would not be able to have claimed this about a President Marcus. Because I HAVE made several, decisive, concrete proposals as to how we could trim our deficit, and then some. Romney now says that he is against the debt ceiling deal. He would rather that we default. It would seen that Allan Greenspan said that there is “zero probability that the US would default on its debts”. Someone else said “If it were possible I’d give the US a quadruple A rating”. These people regard it as moral to move corporations overseas where the people work for pennies an hour, including young children. Suddenly the term “economic nationalist” is a dirty word. At the same time wars of choice are considered sacrosanct. At least in the early days of Calvary Christianity, you kind of got the idea that those people, being former hippy peacenicks, regarded War as a bad thing, if not actually evil and even Satanic. But this notion was soon dispelled. John Mc Cain also complained today that President Obama is improper in his sudden withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan because the Talliban will secure victory the moment we leave, if they haven't already. President Obama will probably end up listening to these war mongers. He has yet to draw a moral line- - on anything. President Obama once said "We are going to be as slow and deliberative about getting out of Iraq as we were impulsive and careless about getting in". I happened to think what if the fire department came to a burning building where I was trapped inside, I'm not so sure I'd want to be "slow and deliberative" about getting me out. To me it's a clear case of "get that fire axe swinging". This whole idea of wars of choice and "perpetual war" is alien, and in the long run, mentally unhealthy, for American society. Dylan said he could see through their masks "like I can see through the water that runs down my drain". Abraham Lincoln once said "I don't absolutely have to have God's blessing, but I must have Kentucky to win". Now George Bush 43 says “I don’t listen to my father, I listen to my Heavenly father” when he pursues his perpetual wars of choice, and Obama has followed right in his footsteps. Bob Dylan spoke against these people in the song Masters of War when he wrote "Like Judas of old, you lie and deceive. A world war can be won, you want me to believe". Actually these people still DO believe in this “end times” stuff but not in a micro way, for their own lives, but rather for a macro way. They don’t want to go to Hell but they wouldn’t mind turning the rest of the world into anuclear contaminated inferno after they’re gone. They think some cosmic hand is going to cone down and save them at the last moment. So they don’t care about the earth of energy conservation or ecology. They don’t care about people in other less priveledged economic classes, other than make the security gates a couple feet higher. They expect A plus police protection and care little whether or not local budget cuts cause phones in poorer precincts to ring off the hook when locals call 911. Their views on “eminent domain” are that property rights for the rest of us don’t exist, and if they want anything they can hire some lobbyist to secure it for them. And they sure do value squirreling their money away in some off shore account, and are suspicious of the idea of an honest business where there is actual risk. Likewise on their talk shows they avoid risk at any price - -and shield themselves away from any information that hasn’t been filtered to their liking. As such as have “information ghettos” today, which are actually Mis-information ghettos. If there are space aliens out there, now would not be at all a bad time to make yourselves known. I hardly see how we could do any worse.