A series of commentaries by Mary T. Hoffman about: humans and animals and the cruelty inflicted upon them; prayer and grace, and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives; and the problems that plague our lives in this corrupted world.
Articles in our local newspaper concerning animals usually catch my attention. Printed in the editorial page of the December 5th issue was a piece entitled "Florida new mecca for the weird" by Brendan Farrington, Associated Press Writer.
In the opening paragraph, the second sentence states, "A parrot is choked and dunked in a margarita in a bar." The article goes on to review more entries from a new book by Eliot Kleinberg, "Weird Florida". But what really provoked me to writing was the following:
One of the weirdest stories is about the Miami-Dade County courthouse "Voodoo Squad" of janitors who scour court grounds seeking sacrificed animals used in Santeria rituals. Among their discoveries: dead chickens, beheaded doves, a dead goat, cows' tongues wrapped in twine and lizards with their mouths tied shut.
At this point you may be wondering what all this has to do with my title: "Strange Bedfellows".
Perhaps you already know that a couple of years ago (more or less) the Supreme Court of the United States had to decide on the legality of animal sacrifices performed as a part of a religion. To my chagrin, many of the "religious right" threw their support with the Santeria et al. The reason these Christians (?) jumped into bed with demon-worshipers? Fear! Fear that loss of religious freedom for an enemy would perhaps at some future time be used as a precedent for the loss of their religious freedom.
Reading this article set me to wondering how Jesus would have reacted. The Bible makes it clear that cowardliness and fearfulness are not qualities desirable in a follower of Christ. But God is not mocked. What you sow, you reap. Many of the "Christian right" have become very comfortable, and the political power that they have achieved has "gone to their head". They are becoming their own worst enemy. In using their political clout to aid in the continuance of ungodly acts by others (see Deuteronomy18:10-12), they have compromised with Satan who, according to the Bible is God's arch enemy.
They claim to be upset over the legalized murder of innocents in abortion, then turn around and support the slaughter of other innocents. They have veered off the true Christian path and are merely modern-day Pharisees of the stripe that Jesus reprimanded. Do they have so little faith that they think they can buy some time before God finally allows His wrath to come down upon them, as happened over and over again to those believers in the Bible who tried to play games with God? Maybe these are the ones who will one day cry, "Lord, Lord!", only to have God answer, "I never knew you."
In the meantime, the animals have these "Christians" to thank for their "legal" torture in demonic rituals here on American soil.
From my heart,
Mary
Go on to: Taking A Heart-Break
Return to: Heartbreak: Ramblings From a Compassionate Heart
Watercolor Painting by Mary T. Hoffman