Glenn – No Beauty In The Beast – Israel Without Her Mascara

8NO BEAUTY IN THE BEASTwho look at these things with an open mind however, there is no way to avoid noting that there havebeen people in the past who have made predictions that have been validated and vindicated withfrightening accuracy, not the least of which have been those which foretold the arrival of the freedomfighter from Nazareth, Jesus Christ.Therefore, what we find ourselves doing over the next few hours is discussing my understanding of theevents that took place 2,000 years ago in the land known as Palestine, and in particular the social, politicaland religious struggle that took place between a peasant carpenter named Christ and the gangsters runningthe state of Israel who opposed him. We find ourselves discussing the roots of this contention that, as ofthis date I have not yet heard being discussed, as well as what kind of relevance this contention has hadnot only on the last 2,000 years, but also more importantly on today. We find ourselves discussing thewarnings given in the prophetic vision that was experienced by a man named John on the island ofPatmos, the vision of the Beast who would appear at the end of time for the purpose of destroying all thatChrist the freedom fighter had envisioned.In short, this is my attempt at bringing into practical, visible terms and images the cryptic and oftenmisunderstood and even moreso misapplied picture which humanity is facing now concerning the eventfor which the world has been waiting now for 20 centuries. And whether this beast is personified as the“man of sin,” as he is called by the Christians, “Dajjal, ” as he is imagined by the Muslims, or as the“Messiah” by the Jews, the image of the beast is the same. And although all three of the main faithsemanating forth from the Holy Land see the same picture, for two of them he represents an image of evilwhereas for one of them he represents the long-awaited savior.I have already experienced a certain amount of reticence on the part of fellow Christians concerningthings I have written or said on this topic, individuals who are obviously made very uncomfortable bythe manner in which I have depicted the two main persons within this issue, Christ and Antichrist. Thisis understandable, since man is by nature an animal very much susceptible to the laws that govern inertia,and whether the issue concerns mass and matter or whether it concerns philosophy makes little difference;a body at rest tends to stay at rest. And although I will say that this tendency is understandable, I will notgo so far as to say that it is excusable. What I have seen on the part of people such as these are uncritical,knee-jerk reactions to ideas that are not that revolutionary concerning this man, Jesus of Nazareth, whowas without question a revolutionary himself. What reactionary individuals such as these have done,unfortunately, is to lump my argument in with the many other arguments that are offered today by thosewho have a vested interest in defaming Christ and his legacy. Again, I will say that this reactionism isunderstandable, since a good portion of those in the Christian world have developed this ‘siege mentality’when it comes to what have become the ever-increasing attacks on their faith and therefore are justifiablysuspicious about anything new being introduced.Being on the receiving end of the criticism though offers me a different vantage point, and as such Icannot help but consign all of this reactionary business to the category of unjustifiable guilt by associationand which possesses absolutely no validity. This is even moreso the case since (and especially so in lightof today’s events) I hold this man and his deeds to be insurmountable in their excellence and perfection.Were it not for the fact that I view the opinions of such uncritical individuals with pity, I could be ledtowards being seriously offended by their accusations, particularly since one of the things I am trying toaccomplish within the text of my argument is the elevation of this man before the eyes of the rest ofmankind. I will take it one step further by saying that it is because of this uncritical foolishness that hasbeen embraced by those in the Christian West, a foolishness rooted in the refusal to see Christ in thisobvious light that we find ourselves in the mess that we have today.