The Apocalypse

That's what Catholics call "The Book of Revelations" in the New Testament. That's the only name I knew it by for almost 20 years. In Catholic school, we mostly didn't pay much attention to it. We learned the Gospels and the Epistles, and a little of the Old Testament. I'm not sure anyone really knows quite how to deal with all the oddities in that last book. I think John was taking some Middle Eastern version of peyote, myself.

It wasn't until much later, when I was in my 40's, that I had the opportunity to study Revelations in a somewhat formal setting. I saw an ad for a class in the book, at a local Methodist Church. I figured, how weird can it be? When I got there and signed up, I realized it was presented by the Seventh Day Adventists who were just using the classroom space in the Methodist church building.

I don't have anything against Seventh Day Adventists, you understand. But they are a little fringy...relative to Catholics, Episcopalians and Methodists. And, as I came to know, they are absolute literalists.

I enjoyed the weekly class, and in the beginning, could not really find any flaw in the logic and persuasive arguments of the minister as he related world events with the Book. Then, one evening, the logic snapped, and he went to a place that bore no relation to what had gone before. His intelligent and reasoned reconciliation of the real and spiritual suddenly went sideways.

He had so carefully shepherded us with concrete examples, and proofs, and logic and reason, that we were quite in the palm of his hand. He seemed a thoughtful, wise and intelligent man of God. It was a jolt, I can tell you when it all derailed. In fact, I thought it was me, that I had misunderstood him. He seemed to be presenting as fact something for which he did not have a shred of evidence, that made no logical sense, and simply didn't track intellectually or appeal to reason in any conceivably way.

When I asked him about it, thinking I'd missed some critical point that would clarify...he answered, "It's a leap of faith."

I looked around and saw that no-one else seemed to notice what had happened. It was a little creepy. I felt like I'd stumbled into a cult recruitment program. I was seeing, firsthand, how people get persuaded of odd or outrageous, or impossible things through rhetorical seduction that begins with appealing to your mind, but eventually leads you in another direction entirely.

Please be clear, I'm not calling Seventh Day Adventists a "cult", I'm just saying that their process of conversion was conducted in a way I'll bet true cults do it. If they didn't creep up on the outrageous after softening you up with the reasonable, nobody would every go for it.

Though in this case the Minister was honestly only trying to save my soul...literally...finding myself the subject of such an effort was disconcerting once I realized what was going on.

I finished the class, though it got progressively bible-thumping, and very much less intellectual. I liked the people, and I like to finish what I start. I even attended the baptism of the class members who were persuaded to join the church. I wish them well. They seemed happy.

Now, why would I tell you this story? It's really just a prelude to the real point of this post. It was in this class that I first was introduced to the concept of The Mark of The Beast.

It was during the "logical" part of the class. And it made an impression on me. The Minister explained it as something (not the number 666 tattooed on your forehead!) required by the worldly powers to survive, to buy food, to run your business, to function in the worldly society.

One can infer, since it is the mark of the BEAST...it is an evil requirement, a lie, a corruption of truth, justice and the American Way or some other nasty bit of business.

I remember thinking at the time that while I really didn't believe in all the mumbo-jumbo of literal-minded Christianity, and certainly looked askance at the seeming hallucinations of The Apocalypse, if such a "mark" ever became required, that would lend some credence to the whole concept. And I figured it'd be pretty obvious if you were looking for it...keeping a weather-eye out, so to speak.

Now I don't want to go all end-of-the-world on anybody, but doesn't this "green", "global warming" hysteria over a Big Lie, with all its requirements and regulations and international laws and treaties, and state after state enforcing laws based on smoke and mirrors, demanding that everyone conform or be forced out of business...or survival...approach the threshold of a beasty sort of "mark".

If you're not "green" you're an abomination...and in more and more places and circumstances, a criminal.

I just heard this morning on the news that there's some new commission/committee/agency/bureaucracy in Europe drafting and enforcing Global Warming preventative regulations. And apparently it's also been recommended by some selection of idiots that American create something similar. A new body of bureaucrats looking over our shoulders, making new laws, demanding obedience, conformity.

I mean, the "mark" doesn't have to be literal, does it? Won't a virtual, or functional one do as well to make us all servants of the devil?

I've always has trouble with authority. I came out of the womb that way. Ask my parents. But I'm getting positively anarchic in the face of this greening/energy/global warming tyranny.

And I'm starting to ask myself how something so patently wrong and clearly false can sweep all of us into its sticky web, reducing our human freedom, requiring pretentious self-righteous meddlers to invade our privacy and take control of every facet of our lives.

Who or what can be behind such a thing, that in the face of more and more evidence that global warming is a false issue, more and more hysteria and limitations on freedom, regulations, commissions, governmental bodies, bureaucracies are created to fight it. And their weapon of choice is total control over every person in the world.

And what force is there behind such a obscene scheme, that prevents people from admitting the truth, from seeing the damage they do, from understanding the profoundly bad consequences inherent in such action, and from recognizing that nothing good, but only harm will come from it? Who or what has that kind of power, that kind of scope? Who can make this many millions of big-brained human beings such unthinking, mindless idiots?

Ok. Mabe it's not The Devil. But something the hell is going on here. The sheer scope of this madness is staggering, the implications are worse, and the results will be catastrophic.

I know we humans can be really, really stupid. But usually we're pretty reliably into survival. This business is getting to the point that we will not be able to sustain life as we know it. Thought through, the things that the EnviroStasi are insisting on, if followed to logical conclusions, will result in us living on a par with our pioneer forefathers. Well, except we won't have fireplaces, or be allowed to cut trees for wood to build or burn, or oil to lubricate our primitive machinery, or be able to cruelly ride horses, or enslave them to pull our wagons, or trap animals for food, or run a mill-wheel which would pollute the river, or...

That Seventh Day Adventist Minister might have got hold of the wrong end of the stick, but I'm thinking there's something very nasty afoot in the world that is creating this tsunami of worldwide suicidal idiocy.

I wear a lot of black. And my new line is: "I like black. It's the color of OIL!"

(Recycle that, motherfuckers.)

The Gunslinger