Читать книгу Field Guide to the Wild World of Religion: 2011 Edition - Pamela J.D. Dewey - Страница 9

There is no quicker way to get an overview of the extent of the change in American religion than to turn on a 24-hour religious cable network and just watch the passing parade for a few hours. Since few people without an intense interest in religious matters already would have any interest in spending that much time on the topic, the average American is blissfully unaware of the astonishing variety of religious activity that is promoted over the airwaves these days.

This is one reason for this Field Guide book—to give the uninitiated a brief overview of this increasingly wild world, without the necessity for them to do all of their own research. Just who is that strange man on at 1 AM on the Public Access channel, promoting the idea that the Devil himself had sex with Eve in the garden, and was the actual father of Cain, while Adam was the father of Abel? Is that other fellow on his own prophecy show at 8 PM really an expert in what the Bible says about world events? Should I trust his dogmatic statements that bad times are coming very soon, and if I send money to support his efforts at spreading his teachings, God will snatch me away in the near future up to heaven, while all Hell breaks out here on Earth?

Has that man who seems to keep knocking people over by waving his suit jacket at them (a bit like a football player in a men’s locker room snapping a wet towel at other players!) really been an instrument of God to heal thousands upon thousands of people of ailments, even those as serious as cancer and AIDS? Is there documented proof of his claims? Did that man on another video actually discover, as he claimed, the real Noah’s ark, and the graves of Noah and his wife? Did he really talk to angels in person in a cave under the Temple Mount in Israel, where they were guarding the Ark of the Covenant? And did he, as his promoters claimed so convincingly, actually see and touch the real Ten Commandment stones that were inside that ark … not the imitations touched by Charlton Heston in the movie?

All of these ideas and claims and many, many more are believed not just by small pockets of wild-eyed people on the fringes of society today, but by masses of people squarely in the mainstream of American life. You will meet some of the powerful persuaders of the Wild World in these pages, and get glimpses of how their efforts affect not just the minds and intellectual beliefs of their followers, but some of the most mundane aspects of their daily lives.

In the 1950s, most individuals who actively practiced some type of religious faith had relationships with church leaders in their own hometown. They asked for advice from the pastor of their own local church, they trusted him to teach them about God in his weekly sermons and Wednesday night Bible Study classes. If they watched televised preachers such as Billy Graham, it was just as a supplement to their own local church life.

But in the 21^st century, increasing numbers of people look to a man—or a woman—on their television screen as their “pastor” or “mentor.” They don’t study their Bible with a live teacher in a classroom, but with a voice on a tape or CD or DVD in the convenience of their own home. When making deeply personal decisions regarding such private matters as marriage, jobs, and finances, many people who consider themselves Christians may not look for common sense advice from friends, relatives, or local spiritual advisors. They may make such decisions based, instead, on the advice—or even dogmatic orders—on recordings or in written literature from their chosen long-distance spiritual leader. Is that leader a spiritual giant—or a charlatan? Is he or she a humble servant of God—or a strutting, carnal dictator? Many naïve people have never thought to even question whether the individuals in whom they place their long-distance trust are deserving of that trust. For those brave enough to face the possibility of disillusionment, the information in this Field Guide may prove invaluable.

Field guides to natural wildlife are helpful to the person who wants to learn more about the friendly and not-so-friendly—and, in some cases, downright dangerous—creatures out there in the natural wild world. Such books, along with a sturdy flashlight, will allow someone to stay alert and safe in that wild world, even when darkness is closing around them. This Field Guide is intended to provide both data and a source of light, so that the reader may safely explore the contemporary Wild World of Religion. True apostles of Jesus Christ, true prophets of God, and true teachers inspired by God should surely have no fear at all of having light shone on their teachings and works. Such light will only make truly spiritual works shine brighter. It is those who are self-appointed apostles, prophets, and teachers who may have reason to fear light shining on their teachings and activities.