Antichrist Part 3, “Antichrist? Didn’t he in the film, What was the name?”

In Part 1, I related the history of the development of the idea of Hell in Persia. The creator God Marduk defeated the monster and exiled him. The “place of exile” idea was transmitted to the Hebrews, to Christianity, and to today. This concept of Hell was greatly modified between AD 1000 and AD 1600 by “embellishments”, lurid paintings, and the invention of the printing press.

The printing press allowed two major works of FICTION to generate widely accepted ideas about Hell that are not contained in scriptures. This is an illustration of the real power of mass marketing and good advertising.

In Part 2, I explained how some few people find Hell to be useful and do things for them like provide employment, or sustain one’s position. I explained how this is done. I also explained that war is as close to Hell as it is possible to get. General W. T. Sherman said it correctly, “War is Hell.” War is an excuse for violence. There has never been an end to war because for male humans, war is “fun”. War is addictive. War provides a wonderful adrenal “rush”. Like coke, crack, and meth heads, we endlessly spend huge sums to “do” war just one more time.

In this Part 3, I want to explore the another aspect of the concept and portrayal of Hell, the Devil, Lucifer, the Antichrist. My dictionary says that the Antichrist is Christ’s great antagonist expected to cause chaos in the last days before the Second Coming. That same book calls the Devil, the foe of God. Close enough for government work. The Antichrist is the Devil, or his minion.

What we are really talking about is one of those great delusions that transfix humankind. It is a delusion that rivals anything ever produced by the extremely skilled computer graphics geniuses of Hollywood. Those workers are artists in creating a fantasy in which people gladly immerse themselves for escapism entertainment. As this material is unfolded you will see from time to time the entertainment aspects and values in the story. A large part of what we will be examining is little more than wishful thinking.

Wishful thinking that has been translated from generation to generation without a healthy dose of cold reason. Nor a basic cautionary, “Fooled me once, my problem. Fooled me twice, . . .” Here we are talking about examples of constantly repeated “foolings” for centuries. How could humans be so stupid? How could human beings be so subject to wishful thinking, conjecture, and mass hysteria?

What do we have so far? A world view based on a future hope derived from a spurious and unknown source. A source that promises hope of relief from tribulations. That “the Savior” is coming, possibly in their lifetime to “save” them. This is the expectation, an immanent arrival of Jesus Christ. His Second Coming. This, as it has proved to be many times, fantasy affects national and international politics and little things - like disastrous wars.

We don’t really know who originally created this fantasy story, but it has proved to be durable. It is durable because it taps into our very human, very animalistic, deep seated veins in our psyche.

To understand this phenomenon, we must look at the human psyche. What is it that gets people’s attention? What interests us? What do we fear? What are our hopes? What turns us on? What is it that drives us to do things to ourselves and others that ordinarily we would not do? Even things that are not in our own best interests?

There is something deep down inside each of us. It can manifest itself as an iron willed determination to survive. Survive anything in spite of all obstacles. Much of our literature and entertainment is centered on this theme. Many will die, but some will survive. What “special” qualities are the ones that determine individual survival?

The Second Coming scenario is based upon references in “books” that were written by men in the same way that movie scripts are written by men. They describe things that they did not see with their own eyes, and they created stories that entertained while trying to meet the emotional needs of their intended audience. Both are legitimately and correctly called fiction and fantasy.

So what were the emotional needs of their intended audience? The audience was the early Christians of the first, second, and third centuries AD. Particularly during the time of the worst persecution of the Christians by the still strong and vibrant Roman Empire. In such circumstances, people seek out “acceptable” entertainment to “escape” temporarily from their constant worry and stress. In the same way, in modern times, attendance at movies has historically gone up in hard, and stressful times.

At that time, and today, it was / is required of the audience to exercise an ability that is expected and accepted and that makes the “story”, or the “movie” a success. It is required that the audience temporarily suspend their natural doubts and reason. They have to “make an allowance”. They have to “go along” with crazy ideas. They have to accept “magic” to perform “impossible acts”. They have to be willing to “believe” in “special powers”.

They have to do this for at least as long as the movie, or story lasts. They have to be willing to become involved with one or more characters. Characters that were created by the script writer. Characters brought to “life” and “reality” by the professional skills of the actors. They have to go along with the “story telling” of the director. They have to go along with the professional skills of two or three hundred other highly trained and practiced artisans.

Please note the multiple connections to the inner core of the human psyche noted above. Obviously authors by use of words that describe have the power to tap the human psyche. Producers of movies by use of color, sound, motion, photography, and spoken words by a focused and specialized group have also learned to use that power to tap the human psyche.

(c) Copyright 2006: George Wallace recently published a book on religion which lashes out at nearly all of the comfortable ideas about God, the trappings of organized religion, and the priesthood. His pithy comments and suggestions for a return to a God-centered personal religion will interest everyone. This article may be freely reprinted so long as all copyright attributions, and the full content of this resource box are included. www.OhGodIsThatYou.com

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