ONE TIME THE LEVEL of seismic activity we recently experienced would have inspired a sizeable number of predictions and prophetic statements. Now, not nearly a buzz from the Hotline to Heaven.
It could be because pastors with the prophetic gift are weary of casting the pearls before swine. After not being taken seriously before, they may have decided to only share the new Armageddon schedule with their congregation.
Hopefully, the memory of previously prophesied dates of doom that never happened, will not cause us to miss out on a real real weather advisory from the Met Office on high.
Bad weather is like a bomb planted in a public space. In the aftermath of the explosion you can get a bunch of terrorist groups claiming responsibility. They try to use the tragic event to get some publicity and gain some leverage. Spiritual terrorists do the same thing. In the wake of a tragedy or with the threat of a natural disaster, spiritual terrorists use fear to radicalise you into their religious beliefs or force their doctrine on to society.
A bomb is much easier to manage than the wind, rain or sea. A series of unexploded prophecies of hurricanes, floods and tsunamis has hurt the cause of evangelical Jihadis. Of course, one day, they will be right. A big hurricane, a gigantic earthquake, or a tsunami is coming. It’s just that no man knows the minute nor the hour. It could be next year, the next hundred years or tomorrow. Be prepared. The end is near.
But the end of what? Near from which perspective? Spiritual terrorists and propagandists will like you to believe they have the definitive answers to these questions and that they have insight into the operations of natural disasters. There are some people who really do.
After the 2006 tsunami in Indonesia, it was feared that all the indigenous Jarawa tribe, who lived in the forest of the South Andaman Island, had perished. However, all 250 of the Jarawa survived. They survived by using the knowledge gained from their oral scriptures or “myths”.
A Jarawa tribesman told a camera crew that sometimes the earth and the sea fight over territory. When the Jarawa see the signs of the battle in nature, they head inland to higher ground, till the sea and the land have settled the argument.
Natural disasters are called natural because they are . . . natural, not man-made. Except when they are. Looka irony.
Some people deny global warming. If God is going to rain fire down from heaven for the sins of man, certainly this would be a good way to play it out: Our sins against the environment, and our unsustainable disobedience to the laws of nature bringing about our destruction.
Many knowledgeable people suggest that the Cahill gasification plant will be destructive. Most of the public, Jews and Gentiles alike, seem to agree it is a bad idea. Most, of course, except for the party faithful and the beneficiaries of the financial blessings bestowed by the deal. If it is a disaster, economic, environmental or otherwise, would it be man-made or natural?
You could argue natural. If the allegations of greed, corruption and fraud being at the root of the project were true, the coming disaster would be the result of naturally occurring and predictable deficiencies in human character. How many of you could swear, that were you a politician, you would be incorruptible? How many of us are incorruptible now? This also seemed to be the essence of the rebuttal by the Minister of the Environment, during the Budget debate, “If you live in a glass house don’t throw stones.”
We expect corruption in politics like we expect a hurricane. Much of the devastation can be lessened with preparation. We can prepare for the inevitability of corruption with integrity legislation. What does it say that successive administrations have failed to put any in place? Are we waiting for a political tsunami to come and lick down everything first?
We avoided a national disaster recently. It was coming in the form of an nationwide shutdown. Some people saw the unions as terrorists. Some saw them as heroic. Whatever your view, take note of the power of the people, when united and assertive. A unified and organised group of people is a force of nature, for better or for worse. Too often the people give up that power by supporting the gas that politicians spew. Corrupt politicians use us as fuel to burn and turn into energy for their own benefit.
Putting the incompetence, indifference, or infidelity of whatever party is in power aside, it seems to be the accepted role of a party in opposition, to be the prophesier of impending doom, due to the unrighteousness and unworthiness of the ruling party. This is so they can eventually take charge of the disaster in progress.
Hurricane season sometimes seems to start fresh every five years. It’s a cycle that we must break.
There is truly a need for new wine and new wineskins. New blood is good if it can put aside or update old ways.
Adrian Green is a creative communications scientist.
Email Adriangreen14@gmail.com
