Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.
Jesus
Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave starred in Ken Russell’s epic film, THE DEVILS, released on both sides of the Atlantic in 1971. Immediately condemned by the Catholic Church, the film remains under a kind of suppression protocol in the United States. Good luck finding it; good luck viewing it.
I was fortunate to see the movie inside the United States, where it grossed a mere two million dollars before being pulled from theaters. I don’t know who in 1971 had the power to suppress important film inside the one country where freedom of speech is protected by constitutional amendment, but someone did.
It’s not right.
The movie is based on the historical record of accused priest Urbain Grandier, played by Oliver Reed. His accuser, Sister Jeanne des Anges (Vanessa Redgrave), convinced French Cardinal Richelieu to burn Urbain alive for witchcraft in 1634. The movie relied on Aldous Huxley’s 1950 non-fiction book, The Devils of Loudun.
The film and book remind viewers how easily religious people sometimes fall into the fiery abyss of their own evil, something that happens too frequently in the history of faith—starting, I suppose, at the crucifixion of the man Jesus and continuing into modern times with, for example, recent accusations by GOP politicians that Democrats are Devils who intend to destroy America should they prevail in the 2022 midterm elections.
Anyone who doesn’t believe it, read Sunday’s New York Times or click the link below.
For Trump’s Backers in Congress, ‘Devil Terms’ Help Rally Voters – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
GOP leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted 3 months after the January 6th insurrection: Democrats want to dismantle our institutions, including the courts, to enact their socialist agenda.
It’s rich—coming from a person who led 146 Congress-folks on January 6, 2021, to vote to overturn the constitutionally protected preferences of nearly 90 million people, some who gave their all to elect Joe Biden president of the United States.
Representative Mary Miller tweeted this summer: The Left tells our children a hopeless message that they do not come from God, they are not born for any purpose, and they cannot obtain salvation. We cannot let them succeed. The Second Amendment Caucus will continue to fight to defend our #2A Rights.
What do reasonable people think when government officials claim to have special relationships with God and Truth, who then hurl at them both slanderous witness and a weird obsession with guns in the same tweet?
My grandchildren endure insults sometimes daily it seems to me from a few mean-spirited people motivated by what feels—especially to their parents—like hate.
Thinkers who publish essays like mine get threats. Can anyone anywhere write freely without some risk to themselves and perhaps those they love? It seems to be the way it is. Maybe it’s always been this way. I don’t really know.
An owner of a pest-control company refused to work with me on a yard project after I answered yes to a question about Joe Biden. I told him I loved the man. He drove away in his truck. He fired me!
Who is able to make this stuff up?
What kind of stones harden hearts against ancient men of sorrows? Isn’t grief the truest hue of truth? Doesn’t all life suffer? Do birds in the sky migrate because they like to travel? I don’t think so. Birds, all of them, die along their way.
Where exactly is this Earth we feed upon, anyway? I don’t think anyone knows—not even the pest-control man who had an answer for everything—his answers, yes—but they were wrong as dirt, weren’t they? Where is life that isn’t hunted? Where is love, which wipes away tears?
The least person in Heaven is greater than John the Baptist. From his time until now, violent people have tried to seize the kingdom of heaven by force.
Jesus
What is happening today isn’t new, is it? It’s the oldest story in history—privileged people condemn the weak to maximize their advantages. Someday, maybe in the next life, love sets things right.
Who believes it’s true?
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
Jesus
Billy Lee