After watching a portion of an ID crime series, The Curious Case of the Doomsday Cult, I began to wonder how people can become deceived by false interpretation of the Bible or leaders. How can people who are seeking God's word, knowledge, and truth, get the Bible twisted in so many crazy and even evil ways? I mean, shouldn't there be some kind of built in protection ensuring true understanding of God's word for those trying to learn about and worship God?
It is a scary thought knowing there is a possibility someone dedicated to God and Scripture can become a danger to others through a false understanding or interpretation of the Bible. In the series I was watching, preacher Sheryl Ruthven, a self-proclaimed prophet, beguiles her followers into subservience and uses them to settle personal scores. As her beliefs grow increasingly bizarre, she demands her congregation adopt cats, believing the animals’ souls will save them in the impending apocalypse. Her manipulation drives followers into intense isolation, financial ruin, and bizarre rituals, tearing families apart and exploiting loyalty – all under the promise of salvation. Three of the most infamous American cult leaders of the twentieth century were Charles Manson, Jim Jones, and David Koresh. They used the Bible in a perverted way.
Last year, on the Christian show FlashPoint, TV evangelist Hank Kunneman described “a battle between good and evil”, adding: “There's something on President Trump that the enemy fears: it's called the anointing.” Reverend Franklin Graham is one of America’s best-known evangelists and the son of Billy Graham, arguably its most famous preacher. He is one of the Trump believers, convinced there is no doubt that the president-elect was chosen for this mission by God. I ask what mission? Can I see the mission statement? Does the God given mission of Trump include Elon Musk firing federal employees?
How can there be one sector of Bible readers believing one thing when it comes to political leanings and another section believing something different even though they both claim to be Christian and use biblical scripture to support their beliefs? Believe it or not, both are truly people seeking to be good Christians faithful in prayer, worship and studying of the Scriptures. How could any of them go off the rails?
Paul, the author of Romans, is saying the Law given to Moses by God that all believers of God had to follow, made the person aware of sin. The Law outlined everything that was bad or evil in God's eyesight and should not be done. Now a person could IDENTIFY sin clearly. It was a SIN because it was NAMED a sin.
The LAW OF SIN says SIN seizes the opportunity of you becoming aware of what is defined as a sin to produce in the person a DESIRE to do the sin (Romans 7:8). Knowledge of SOMETHING makes you want to do THAT something. Christians have been using this rationale to keep sex education out of schools. If children learn about it, then they will want to do it. Even knowing all of Trump's lawsuits and felonies, people still voted for him excusing his crimes. One might say, they want to do the same things. They want to be LIKE Trump. UNLEASHED and UNTOUCHABLE. Bulldozing those who dare to make a negative comment. Trump exhibits a long list of vices, sins if you will, defined. Do people desire the same (misogyny, racism, sexual abuse, bullying, lawlessness, compulsive lying, greed, vengeance, calls to violence, threats, boastfulness). All of these adjectives, nouns, and verbs have been attributed to Donald Trump and people still say, "He's, our man."
The Bible warns that out flesh will always want things that are not good for us. The Bible verse 1 Corinthians 15:31 says, "I die daily". The phrase "die to the flesh" appears in other Bible passages, such as Romans 8:13, Colossians 3:5, and Galatians 5:16. The phrase "die to the flesh" means to deny the selfish desires of the flesh and instead follow the leading of the Spirit. In my opinion, it is to daily self-check, constant monitoring of the desires the flesh can have that keeps misinterpretation of Scripture at bay because the Christian is to want no more or no less than what God wants.
Right now, it seems people are just wanting to be the one who WINS. The Right want to beat the Left and vice versa. MAGA want to beat the Liberals. It is like my grandma used to say, "You're cutting your nose off to spite your face." This RIGHT-FIGHTING is causing all kind of self-harm. First of all, the Christians are one body. Division harms the whole. The Right and Left are all Americans. Division harms the whole. This is the FLESH or SIN becoming the driver, making an opening for DECEPTION on a massive and grand scale.
With most religious leaders gone wrong, there is a GREIVANCE. A primary grievance of religious cult leaders is often the perception of unfair scrutiny and persecution from society, including law enforcement and the media, which they feel unfairly targets their beliefs and practices, often leading to restrictions on their ability to freely exercise their religion, even when not engaging in illegal activities.
Individuals define themselves in part by the beliefs they hold and the faiths they share with others and sometimes people CREATE that body of same believers. The power of the Trump Cult (media and others have labeled) should not be underestimated. It is supported by moment by moment contact with other like-minded people. It is fed by these people keeping their faith alive through the wonders of the internet. Social media (Especially X now) have been called an ‘echo chamber’ playing back what any person involved has expressed themselves. But it goes a step further because those repeating the beliefs are regarded as being ‘just like me.’ That reciprocity is one of the key features that makes persuasions authoritative. An aspect well understood by scammers.
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