Delusional People

"For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."

2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 [NIV]

Perhaps we are witnessing a singular moment in history. With the ascent of America as the unchallenged super power, some dubious preconceived misconceptions have ascended also. It would appear that this administration is claiming "manifest destiny" again as its mandate to impose its will on the world community. The last time this claim was made it resulted in the enslavement of a race of people who were denied the right of personhood and the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Now again "manifest destiny" has emerged in doctrines such as "pre-emptive war," "regime change," and the vague "national security."

It would appear that the Bush administration and the majority of America’s citizens (if one is to believe the polls) are content to use the name of the Lord to advance their own agendas and to cloak their selfish and evil intents behind a veil of ’religiosity’. We were told that the main reasons for invading Iraq was the imminent threat of that regime to use nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction and the connection of the government of Iraq to the 9-11 attack.. Yet so far, not one trace of anything biological or nuclear or any connection to 9-11 has been discovered. We were told there was incontrovertible proof of these weapons; yet nothing has materialized.

And the sad fact about all of this is that most Americans are not alarmed as to the implications of these truths. Most do not care whether they were lied to or not, all in the name of "patriotism." Most Americans believe that God is on our side and therefore whatever we do carries the divine sanction. Hence comes the importance and import of our devotional text. "For this reason God send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."

Webster defines a Delusion as: a) "something that is falsely or delusively believed or propagated"; b) "a persistent false psychotic belief regarding the self or persons or objects outside the self."

Perhaps the height of arrogance and the depths of depravity is to wrap ourselves in a self-made cloak of superiority and moral certitude. This pseudo-sensed perception of Americans being better by nature than those Muslims or Arabs over there and elsewhere in the world is cause for deep alarm and should provoke from clergy all over this nation a call for repentance before the Lord God Almighty. No nation or people on this earth is better than any other! The mercy of God on this nation so far as it relates to power, prosperity and upward mobility is no indication of living under the grace of God but attests to the unmerited goodness of God our Creator. For He has mercy on whom He will have mercy.

"Strong delusions" have been sent by God upon many of this nation and they cannot help but to believe the lie rather than receive the truth about ourselves, our morality and ethics and our arrogant grasp for superiority. Many believed that American has been destined by God to be NUMBER 1. But the truth of the matter is that life is not a game to be played by rules of our own making nor are the results of the consequences of our evil actions to be edited out of the record when they make us look bad. The truth of the matter is that "all unrighteousness is sin" and God is not mocked.

"Strong delusions" are surfacing in the photographs that have come to light recently depicting a strategy by men in high places to win at all costs. Delusions, when brought to the light of truth, have a way of humiliating the proud and exposing our wickedness to the world. For many have placed blind trust and implicit faith in a government that is not the The Christ, and now when confronted with their blind trust, most act as though they are "shocked" and "appalled" and disgusted" and "sickened" by the consequences of their beliefs.

"Strong delusions" have been propagated by this government; "strong delusions" have been the persistent false psychotic belief of the masses regarding the rightness of the cause of the War in Iraq and our supposedly God-given right to spread democracy and freedom to "those folk over there." We have been deluded into believing that we are the Liberators of the world, that it is our "Manifest Destiny" to democratize the world for the coming of Christ. OH what Arrogance and Evil!!!