Hidden Evil.

When we consider our place in the world - our struggles, our suffering, our attitudes - we think that we are dealing exclusively with powers and authorities, other people's failings, even God.....

But there is a hidden influence which affects us negatively behind these things.

That is Satanism in our popular culture.

Satanism has infected rock music since the late 1950s and is an undercurrent in sports, movies, T.V., and literature.....

Satanism is negative, hedonistic, anti-christian, and vicious.

They will tell you to do all the wrong things.

And your suffering will increase.

So watch out for anything backwards or upside-down, anything dark, depressing, or to do with death, the devil, or hell.....

They may be the results of modern Satanism.

But the good news is that there is a good influence that can counter this evil.

That is God.

All goodness comes from God.

God will guide you in the right direction.

And your happiness will increase.

You will experience joy and peace.

God will touch your heart.

And you will find your way home.

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Victimization.

Rene Girard has observed that society creates a scapegoat in order to deflect any sense of evil or culpability.

And he says that we victimize the scapegoat.

This was evident in Nazi Germany.

And it is evident today.

Society and even governments will victimize a minority group in order to gain the approval of the majority.

But this is evil itself.

And it should not be tolerated.

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Scapegoating.

One of the most harmful psychological phenomena in out time is scapegoating.

When confronted with evil or culpability we switch the blame onto a scapegoat.

Usually some outsider or minority group.

Rene Girard called it the scapegoating mechanism. 

In our time there are three scapegoats:

Gays and lesbians and trans-gender people.

Liberals and Socialists.

And immigrants.

This is perpetuated in the media.

And it is used for political purposes.

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Shame and Guilt.

Where does shame and guilt about sex come from?

Negative attitudes about sex based in fear have poisoned the Church for millennia.

Sex is dirty, sex is shameful, sex is bad.

But it is interesting to note that in the Bible Adam and Eve "were both naked, and were not ashamed."  Genesis 2:25 (NRSV)

It was only after the serpent tempted them and they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that they were ashamed.

It is interesting to note that Satanism links sex to toilet training - its "dirty and sweet" - and perhaps this is where shame and guilt come from.

Shame and guilt and fear are associated with death and this is the basis of Satanism.

So perhaps Satanism in rock music and sports induces this shame and guilt and fear about sex.

And these things create the pollution which bedevils sex.

This is one of the great mysteries of life.

May it be resolved in our lifetime.

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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AFL.

Players in the AFL are terrified of being called poofters.

The all male environment of men and boys, fathers and sons is undergirded by love.

Luke Hodge called it "man-love".

And so there is a constant fear of homosexuality.

And their fear makes them victimize homosexual men.

But fear is no motivation.

Fear locks us up inside a fortress of stone.

And we suffer.

So the AFL should work to reduce the players' fear of ridicule and normalize same-sex affections as friendship and brotherly love.

Because when the fear is gone there is love.

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Love and Fear.

There are only two things in the world:

Love and fear.

Conservative Christians obey the laws of the Old Testament out of fear.

Fear that they will be punished if they transgress.

And so their motivation is fear not love.

But God says: "Fear not!"

Because there is no fear in Him.

God is Love.

And Love should be our motivation.

Because there are only two things in the world:

Love and fear.

And when the fear is gone there is only Love.

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