Why do all the right-wing Christian fundamentalist nuts look just like the used car salesman over on Broadway and 4th? Just like a good politician in these profane years since good ol' Dwight, you'll never see a bald-headed evangelical preacher. I think of this now because I just saw a photo of David J. Smith, the voice behind Newswatch Magazine and the nightly radio broadcasts from 908 Sycamore Street in Waxahachie, Texas (75165 -- (972) 937-2227). Pastor Smith has Preacher Hair if I ever saw it. Where I live, the nightly broadcasts begin at 10:00 PM and last half an hour. I wouldn't miss them for the world. They are ever so much more interesting than Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity or Kim Komando. The only thing that can put me to sleep more peacefully at night is Old Time Radio, and you can't find that on many dials these days.
David J. Smith rails on each night in his lilting monotone voice with the slightly rising cadence at the end of each conspiratorial episode of a sentence, discussing the New World Order and the Illuminati and the tie-ins to the Bilderbergers and the United Nations and the Skull and Bones Society. You can imagine how this year's Presidential campaign fuels the fire in his already hyperextended brain. He will regale you with tales about any and all current events.
- Have you ever wondered if Aliens were really Lucifer's fallen angels? I'm sure you have, and it turns out you were correct, sir.
- Did it ever occur to you that the same organization killed Abe Lincoln, JFK, RFK, and MLK? You probably don't go a day without wondering if this could be true, and it turns out that you were not crazy after all!
- (In fact, you could use the hard "c" in Lincoln to finally finalize the acronym conspiracy by using ALK.)
- Does it seem to you that some of the Presidents of the United States you have witnessed in your lifetime were either being used by or were using on you . . . Mind Control? Bingo.
What amazes me about this Smith guy and about his Church of God Evangelistic Association which includes his seemingly popular Newswatch Magazine are the tie-ins with the Bible. I know that the Bible is open to interpretation and that many true believers find every word in it to be the Word of God Himself, but how the Bible can be perverted to serve the ends of a nutcase like David J. Smith absolutely amazes me. And I mean "amaze" in a good way. I think that the further one takes concepts such as this only serves to help educate the general populace about the possibility that it might all be some sort of inside joke. And I mean "joke" in a benign way. As with other seriously troubled Christians, Smith finds most of his material in Revelation. I suspect that he's very happy Janet Reno is no longer Attorney General every time his flock assembles down there in Waxahachie. Texas is where Waco is, too, you know.
I recently watched "Ram Dass: Fierce Grace" on the recommendation of a friend of mine. This friend is my age, but from what I've seen lately, he has had some sort of mid-life crisis which has caused him to search out life-affirming validation in schemes which seemed right in his youth. A film about Ram Dass growing older and having a stroke (NOTE: In reality, it's a film trying to sell Ram Dass' new book) appealed to my friend in a cosmic sort of way, according to the recommendation. So I got the film and watched it and it just made me very sad. There are uplifting moments, such as when the couple who lost a child are reliving a letter that Ram Dass sent them after their tragedy which helped them overcome this event in their lives. You cannot discount anything that can help folks get through the darker days of this often tormented life. Yet, the loss of the child and the letter they received were real. They were true events unencumbered by spin or deceit. So much more of the tale of Ram Dass laid bare in this film could not stand up to that standard.
For instance, there is the tale of Ram Dass going to his guru one day and the guru asking him if his student had any of this acid which had been discussed so much in that time and place. Ram Dass tells his guru that, yes, he has quite a bit of this LSD on hand. I remember reading this story in the Be Here Now book which moved so many folks of my generation back then when love was alive and magic was afoot. The story is retold by Ram Dass in his most sincere tones in this film. The guru asks for all the acid tabs and Ram Dass gives them over to the guru. The guru eats enough LSD tabs to dose an entire village (give or take a hut or two) and, guess what? It has no effect on him whatsoever.
When I read that story in Be Here Now in 1972 I said to myself, bullshit. When I heard Ram Dass tell this story again in "Fierce Grace," I said, bullshit again. You see, here's what happens to folks who think they know more than you. They will tell you stories which are not really true as if they were true, thinking that you are not smart enough to figure out the REAL TRUTH in this World. They think that stories like this (called fables in other days) are the only way that an idiot such as yourself will ever even come close to understanding what is important in this life. When Billy Graham tells his flock that Jonah spent some time in the belly of a whale, he knows in his heart that this is not true. But he thinks that you need a vivid supernatural tale such as this to remind you that it is bad to disobey God when He tells you to do something. Ram Dass thinks that you need a vivid supernatural tale to remind you that you do not need drugs to achieve enlightenment. It's all exactly the same thing.
I don't particularly like liars, even when they are doing it (in their own minds) to save my soul.
"This is Satan's world. Jesus said He had given Satan authority to rule (Luke 4:4-5). Satan is the deceiver of the WHOLE WORLD (Revelation 12:9). Satan inspires people to write history according to his dictates, since he has the power today. His day will come to an end at the Seventh Trump of Revelation 11:15, 18. Until that time arrives, you and I have been taught lies concerning true history."
Preach it, Brother Smith.
You see, when David J. Smith tells you that the UN has secret bases around the United States where they plan to round you up and deprogram you from the ways of God in order to make you part of Lucifer's Army, he is not lying. He fully believes that the unmarked trucks' engines are idling just a couple of blocks over, right now. So I'm in the position of respecting a psychopath for his insane honesty over and above most mainstream religious icons with their benign lies. This can't be good, can it?