THE WRITING ON THE WALL

FALSE PROPHETS IN PERILOUS TIMES

Valson Thampu

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The one thing we cannot afford in these dark and disturbing times is the luxury of false prophecy and the specious comfort this offers. False prophets are sure to come, said Jesus. And the rank and file are sure to flock to them. This reminds me of Milton’s depiction of Satan in Paradise Lost. Travellers aboard a night-floundering ship, notice what seems to them to be an island. They alight on it and kindle a bonfire to warm themselves. Even as they settle down to the warmth of it, the ‘island’ sinks, dragging them down with it. The Leviathan! But, to those who were in the enjoyment of the warmth, while it was going on, it would have been annoying to be told that the sea was opening up its jaws under them.

There is this story of a monkey that caught a glow-worm and kept blowing on it in order to cause ‘the fire’ to blaze. A squirrel told the money that it was futile to do so. The monkey got angry, and mauled the squirrel. Jesus said, ‘Do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, turn around and rend you’.

Recently, while addressing a gathering, I shared my anxiety that we are living at a time of civilizational decay. Everyone present was displeased at it, as though I said something improper. The speaker, who followed me, endeavoured to reassure the audience that worse times have come and gone in the past, and that everything is established on an enduring foundation. There is no need to worry. Life can go on as usual with some minor adjustments that are not far to seek.

Desperate times demand extra strategies and responses. Prayer and meditation are great spiritual resources. But, when your house is on fire, you need to also use fire-extinguishers. Prayer should make us, as Jesus said, more relevant to life situations. ‘Watch and pray,’ he said. False prophets tell you that fire is under God’s authority and that it won’t harm the ‘beloved of the Lord’. If you still notice fire on your roof-top and worry about it, it is because of the littleness of your faith. What you need to do is to shut your eyes tighter and pray harder than usual.

I believe in prayer and prophecy. But I also believe that I have a duty to understand both aright, as a donkey in the Old Testament did in relation to prophecy. Balaam’s donkey prophesied, because the prophet was propelled by love for money. In times such as this we need donkeys that tell the unpleasant truth, not men who mouth false comfort. The supreme irony in the Balaam-Balak story is that it is the prophecy of the donkey, not the money of Balak, that preserves the life of the prophet.

False prophets are prophets who lie like truth. They preach the spirituality of seeing through shut eyes. Are we in a time of crisis? Is there something sinister shaping up in the womb of time? Consider the following signs of decay that characterised periods of civilizational collapse in the past-

(a) Prostitution of conscience. The voice that cries within ‘this is not the way’ is stifled within. Individuals are at ease with everything: good, indifferent, bad. Violence, rapacity, injustice and inhumanity of every sort leave them cold and indifferent. Like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan, good Christians turn their faces away from realities and responsibilities. One’s conscience can be put to sleep only by denying the realities that surround us. So, people choose to live in denial.?

(b) Triumph of mediocrity. Much of the oppression that exists in periods of decay is due to this. Covetousness displaces merit. Greed supersedes altruism. Profit-seekers infiltrate and annex positions of authority, which are seen as keys to power and profit. Mediocrity is intolerant of merit and values. It is allergic to personal integrity. ?

(c) Truth and falsehood become indistinguishable. For most people, such distinctions become merely academic. Why bother? They tell themselves, so long as we are not affected. Yet, a society is sustained by trust based on truth, which is eroded by falsehood. Personal gain is secured at the expense of social cohesion. The triumph of untruth degrades a society into a moral jungle in which it is only a matter of time before its creators begin to be trapped in its sinister logic.?

(d) Moral cowardice. Even in the social jungle we create, we are not wholly unaware, or ignorant, of moral duties and imperatives. But we lack the courage to act on what we know. We become afraid of our own conscience. It happens to everyone. It was this state that Pastor Niemoller highlighted when he said, ‘When they finally came for me, there was none left to help me’. Making cowardice the social norm ensures that when the wolf comes for you, your neighbours will care more for their skins than for your life. ?

(d) Betrayal of principles. It is a sign of social and moral robustness that people act, not according to their whims and fancies, but in tune with universal principles values and norms. If individual wills are not tamed in this fashion, social and moral anarchy is sure to erupt. Principles are sacrificed either for mercenary gains or because of cowardice. Either way, it shakes the foundation on which the society stands. Cracks develop on the superstructure. Seen in their essence, these are cracks of hypocrisy. Once principles are abandoned, hypocrisy becomes the hallmark of the given way of life. The choice is between truth and hypocrisy.

(e) Baseness of passions. Passions pertain to human vitality and nobility. If degraded, this very vital resource breeds infections of diverse kinds. What is meant for self-transcending nobility begins to feed selfish indulgence. The food for heroism becomes the fodder for cowardice. Baseness of passions enfeebles the moral fibre and creativity of individuals as well as undermines social cohesion. It inhibits the sense of fellow humanity. Man begins to prey on man. Violence invades the inter-personal space. This undermines institutions.

Today we bemoan the crippling of all democratic institutions in our country, including the judiciary to an extent. We seldom ask why this happens. It is wrong to attribute the responsibility for this entirely to a couple of politicians or even to a party. The rot is widespread in the body-politic. The leaders a society throws up are nurtured in its own womb, not brought in from the outer space.

Will cosmetic touches suffice in times such as this? Cracks in the wall may be plastered over for a while, but if the foundations are cracking? Jonah in the Old Testament lived in such a period. The great city had only two possibilities: repent, or perish. Breathing in the scented air of pietistic sentiments did not suffice. A radical change was necessary. An entire people had to be born again. But for this, Nineveh would have found its place alongside Sodom and Gomorrah.

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