By Loren Adams, 18 July 2010
Brother George starts his ministry deep in the heart of
Texas — where the buckle meets the Bible Belt.
Why Texas, Mid-America and the Deep South? It’s easy to fool
those permanently steeped in religious fervor. Boils down to who can make them
shout the loudest and perform the holy jig the longest – a religious
psychological fix of sorts. A free market for snake-oil merchants means stiff
competition as to which evangelist can con the most sheep.
Credentials mean nothing in these parts. Homespun charm
outstrips authenticity. Whoever works the crowd up most emotionally becomes the
survivor of the fittest. Doesn’t matter whether the preacher is sincere or
charlatan, educated or not. Ministers more knowledgeable about theology and religious
history get less respect. In fact, the word “theology” is never spoken.
Brother George makes his start by going after another
preacher across town. He calls him “Rev. Flip-Flop” from the “Church of the
Frigidaire.” The congregation goes wild over that derogatory depiction. Cutting
down other denominations, specifically mainline ones, is especially
invigorating to the uneducated holy roller crowd. In their self-righteousness,
they can’t stand the intelligent (whom they call “elite snobs”). Whereas, ignorance earns a premium.
Pretty soon Brother George has a big following. He hits the
airwaves along with Brother Rush and Sister Sarah. What a threesome! Blasting the devil while screaming in
the mike, “Anybody who’s not with us is with the evildoers!” earns a popular
response.
“Can I hear an ‘AMEN’ out there in Radioland?” A chorus of
“AMENS” is heard echoing throughout the studio to the faithful AM audience
beyond. Then they huff and puff some more, curse wrath on “liberals” while
putting fear in the saints.
Sister Sarah is good at givin’ ‘em hell. (Besides, she’s
attractive, despite concealment under holiness garb.) But she didn’t finish school
and only served a half-term as pastor. Book learnin’ just ain’t their cup o’
tea in that neck of the woods, so it is to nobody’s advantage to talk smart
even if one has an education, know what I mean?
Brother George becomes more radical as the days go by. At
one evening service he warns the faithful, “If you quit following me, ya know
what’s going to happen? The devil’s gonna git ya! The Lord Himself told me that the other day. He says,
‘George, you’re my son, and I’ve anointed you to protect this church. Anybody that
abandons you, abandons me.’ So, listen to the voice of the Lord and obey me!
Anyone that strays and walks out the back door is doomed for hell.”
Naturally most folks of the flock remain, but only out of
fear.
Next Sunday, Brother George goes into detail how there’s no
such thing as “Global Warming” — that it was just made up by liberal
environmental whackos. He preaches about the rapture and Second Coming and
explains we don’t have to worry about oil spills, pollution or the world
heating up because Jesus is coming soon to catch His saints up in the clouds
and leave the sinners to face the shit good folk left behind, which in prophecy
means Tribulation and Antichrist.
Israel is Brother George’s pet project. Tolerating Israel a
little “ethnic cleansing” is fine with him. George advocates the removal of
Palestinians to make way for the returning chosen people. He preaches that the
Jews only have entitlement to all the land between the Great Sea
(Mediterranean) and River Euphrates (Iraq) and that Palestinians have no rights
whatsoever, according to his Bible. Then he tells us that any president that
tries to make peace between Israel and its neighbors is of the devil because
he’s not for the fulfillment of prophecy and the Second Coming of Christ.
It gets better. The next week Brother George preaches we are
to read no other book except the Bible; and even if we read the Bible, we must
come to him for interpretation — Because he alone hears directly from God
and knows everything. It's a form of censorship, be we feel obliged to obey
'cause God told him so.
We are ordered to destroy all books, all DVDs, CDs, iPads, iPods,
laptops, computers, Blackberrys, and all movies by bringing them to a special
book & movie burning ceremony. Brother George orders us to not watch
anything on the only TV permitted at church except FOX News, because it is
God’s chosen network — all the rest are “liberal” terrorist evil-doers.
The next week, Brother George tells us he just got a fresh
message from God that the world is flat; that everything we heard in school is
a lie from hell; and anyone that doesn’t believe what God revealed to him is a
“liberal” and of the devil.
Some shake their heads in disbelief but still are loyal to
the church out of fear.
He gets crazier by the day.
The next week, Brother George orders us to sell all we own,
pack up in a caravan, and move the entire congregation to a special compound
he’s established near Waco on land he bought outside Crawford. He tells us that
Jesus Himself told him the rapture is about to take place, but that we have to
be located at that certain spot in order to be taken and not left behind.
When arriving, we discover the “compound” is nothing but
make-shift shacks and torn tents. It’s named “Branch Rapturian Compound” by the
preacher. Brother George orders us to combine all our bank accounts into his
for safekeeping to spend during the Millennial Reign of Christ — after
Israel runs the Palestinians off, the War of Armageddon kills 2/3 of the earth,
and the Antichrist is executed after the 7-Year Tribulation.
Brother George orders us to erect another pole barn which he
names “The Temple of Rapture” where Christ is supposed to catch us and whirl us
into the air.
We wait and wait and wait some more. Nothing happens.
Members get more anxious as the days drag on. “Brother George wasn’t conning
us, was he?” some whisper.
Three months at Branch Rapturian Compound leaves us still on
the ground, with no money, no homes, no worldly possessions. All we have are
the shirts on our backs.
Suddenly we discover Brother George has slipped away. The
most naive ask, “Was he raptured to be with Jesus but we were left behind?” But
most of us experience an awakening. It dawns on us, “We’ve been conned.”
Brother George escapes with all our money, all our
children’s money, and all our grandchildren’s money. We’re left homeless and
penniless. Religion means nothing to him except for power over others and the
ability to con a fortune out of the unsuspecting. Who would doubt a preacher
ordained by God? We don’t want to believe the worst, but are forced to.
Brother George escapes to a Caribbean island offshore to
evade extradition and taxes. His plan was laid years before. Invoking the name
of “God” to manipulate people, using fear to keep them captive, and promising
them eternal rewards by surrendering their life-savings were just methods in
his scam. He was no "Christian," no "conservative," and for
sure not "compassionate." He was a con-man, plain and simple.
As we stand in the make-shift chapel in shock, it’s as if
the name suddenly changes to “The Temple of Doom.”
How many millions have been misled down similar paths to
destruction – whether in politics, finances or religion? Jonestowns,
Branch Davidians, Charles Mansons, right-wing militias, left-wing mystics,
communism, investment scams, medical scams, McCarthyism, ditto-heads, PTL
Clubs, Swaggart crusades, faith-healers, Roswell UFO alien cults, pedophile
priests, Ted Haggard, Al Qaeda, false ideologies, fascism, Nazism, KKK, Bernie
Madoff, imperialism, Kenny Lays, corporate scams, Goldman Sachs, Enron, Nixon,
etc. Doesn’t matter if it originates from Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
Buddhism, Scientology, or even atheism.
Whether it’s a small following, a cult, corporation,
political movement, or a large nation, the results are the same. Those that
follow blindly will be led to personal and collective tragedy. The nation’s
forefathers and the true prophets of old warned of such. Are any still willing
to heed? Are any left to reason instead of accepting blind trust?
Either we identify and prosecute the impostors now or we end
up paying the price later. The nation, meantime, slides further into decline
– the direct result of following cult-like leaders over the cliff. It all
started with a stolen election in 2000 and is resulting in national tragedy
beyond description. If one cannot see the indicators, one is blinded either by ideology
or elitist isolation.
America now stands in its Temple of Doom.