In the last days of Earth, there are three powers that combine their efforts to destroy God's people; the Beast, the False Prophet, and the One who incites them, Satan. The spotlight is shining upon the False Prophet at present. I have watched, listened, and been fascinated by the effectiveness of the current propaganda output of the religious entites. Perhaps, it is time to make some observations that will aid those attempting to understand the situation.
As a teen, even I could see the hypocrisy of the Hippie movement. Divorce yourself from the mainstream and live on love? Right. But when these "down with the man" folks wanted to travel, they stood along the highway and begged a ride from those who were involved and working. This brings me to a movement that is much more pernicious.
These folks are of the opinion that America can be saved via politics. They probably will not say it like that, but it is the stark truth. Fundamentalists say they believe in the inerrancy of the Scriptures. However, they "fundamentally" reject the power of the Word of God. In the fight against Darwinism in the late 1800's they were appalled by its introduction of the theory into public schools. They urged believers to vote for people who believed as they believed. During my lifetime I have seen the fundamentalists organize themselves into a political machine. Members were encouraged to run for elected office for the purpose of implementing correct Biblical creation views as perceived by the fundamentalists. Members were even trained in how to run for office.
Question: where was the power of the Gospel in this approach? To be sure, it gave the movement a sense of power when their people were elected, when their beliefs were championed in the public forum. But where was the power of the Gospel? The movement believed in the power of the vote, in the power of mobilizing membership to go to the polls. But this had little or nothing to do with the course set for the church. Neither Christ nor His followers ever gave a commission to Christians that they must use organized political influence to promulgate the Good News of salvation. Never.
Even a novice history student of the church in the Middle Ages can readily see the folly of a church-state alliance. It does not work well for those who "wish to think." There is a dangerous cultic mentality within today's fundamentalists that is selfish, bigoted, devoid of compassion, and which hides these qualities behind a curtain of self-righteousness.
Are you not aware that some of the current terms being bantered about in churches have their impetus within the fundamentalist camp? This is the very same organization that fought so heartily against desegregation and civil rights for minority peoples under the unfurled flag of Christianity. From these very pulpits was proclaimed the righteousness of the segregation status quo. The Bible was made to say exactly as the racists wished it to say. And because many of the people were already of the opinions being preached, the speakers were hailed as proclaimers of the Word. When, in reality, these false prophet ministers were expressing their own darkened views and presenting them as coming from a God who created us all.
This same movement, under the banner of fundamentalism, fights against sharing the enormous wealth of America with struggling nations. "Let them take care of themselves. We have needy people right here in America." Does that not sound like Judas Iscariot? Or should we say, does it not sound like the Entity that had entered him. "That money could have been used for the poor." The hypocrisy is a pungent stink in the nostrils of those who also hear the same mouths speak against reaching out to the poor. "Do not help those people. Socialism!"
The fundamentalists are of the same mentality as they were when President Franklin Roosevelt began his New Deal. The nerve of a president to include within the federal budget helping the poverty stricken and coming up with a plan to help elder citizens by establishing Social Security. The fundamentalists cried, "Socialism!" Without this brand of "socialism," many elderly people would be sitting on street corners begging for food. But today it is not popular to attack the Social Security program. Many fundamentalists and their parents are blessed by it. Evidently, it is only socialism if it helps someone else.
These fundamentalists are fundamentally wrong. These teachings and principles are not Christian. They are thinly disguised anti-Christian pronouncements made while holding aloft the Word of God. Do not follow such leaders. It will not end well.
Picture credit to Byron Sullivan