Basic HTML Version
One
Man's Poison
lsAnother
MarisFaith
by
Paul Graunke
~'And
tJtr.st! ilgns sha/1 folfow tlttm thót
~lft!w,·
fn my name Jhallthtty
Ct{St
out
det~il.t;
thty sha/1 speak wlth nt w tongutS; th<y sha/1
take up -ptn/3; and
1f
jh<y (lrink any d<adl)'
thmg. it sha/1 nat hurt them; thty sha/1 /ay
luvub
Olf
th~
Slck.
a11tl
th~
sita//
r«tJ,~r.,.
(Mark 16:17-18).
On
th~
ba.stS
or
thtSe
words. membcrs o f a
smaU Holiness scct scaucrc:.d
throughouc che
southcasacrn
port
of thc Unitcd States
babblc in unknown tongues: and routincly
handle snatcs
.n
worship servica. To
most
Christians,
t1us
<lan¡crous
ntc
is
sheu folly,
bul 10 Holincss peopk: il
is
lhc:
ulumatc 1<>1
of foilh. In addohon, many lest.tbcor
IIHb
by
drinking water poi.soned wllh stryehnme.
E
ven
blowtorches are used
10
demonstrarc
raíth. The ftame is applied lo the roce and
arm.s
o(
thost who ..h.avc beeo anointcd
by
thc Holy Ohost" Holincss worshippcrs
claom
10
find scnpoural $Uppnn for blow·
1ordles
in
Heb~ws
11:)).)4,
who<h •pcaks
or raoth that "quenched tbe violencc of
1\~
...
The E<:stuy and theAgony
Snake handling and dnnking pnbon are
hoghli&htS of relig¡ow service.s that la.sl up 10
4
and
S
houn. Tbcre os plenty of sing¡ns.
emotiona.l les.tlmOnials
and
6c:ry preadun¡.
M
the lempo and fervor
rise.
membi:"
m
ay
dance
1n
the al.Sie.s or ron
and
wrichc
on
che
1\oor as Lbey ehancr
1n
unknown ton¡ues
-
a·U~atJes!d
..
monifc$1aJions
of the, "power of
lh< Holy Ohos1."
·
At 1he hei&ht of this retigjous eowy. tbe
snakes are relcJ.K:d from wooden
bo)l($.
Usually they are ra11le1nakes or ooppcrhe1ds
- lllhoagh oobras hlve been procurcd ror
an cxotie touch. Only
mcmben
wbo havc
thc faith - who bclicvc tbcy are
anointed
with the spirit - are•allowed to bundle 1he
vtpcrs. Spcct>IOI'S 1nd
child~n.
who some–
umes outnumbe:r believcrs at thcse
spc:c–
tAdes.. stand to thc back or one sadc to avo•d
harm. In addJtton co the $Dakq.
tbcrc
is
us-ually a jar present for tbose who w1.sh
t.o
dnnk
to
tbeir fa1th witb strychninc.
lf binen by snakes ors1ruck with lhe ago–
mz:ing convulsaons of stryebninc polsoning,
WEEK ENDINO APRIL
S.
1975
most members refU$ treat.mcnt. cboosing
rather lO havo tbe faithful pray for their
reoovery. lf death follows. fellow memhers
are dbtre.ssed. bu1 their faith is no< shaken.
They have a ready explan.ation: eithcr
th.e
dcc:e.a.sc:d bad lnsuflicient rauh
or
it
was
slm·
ply God's woll.
Over 40 deaths bave been reoorded from
snakcbucs
m
these scrvaces.
and at
1ea$t
balf
a dozcn rrom stryctmine: Dotcn.s more are
bitten eách r.ear: sorne come perildusly close
10 dealb wholeJ>thers sull'er rew symptoms or
nono al all. (Snake handlin¡ os now illegal on
.sever&l statq and
citi~
but curtotl$1y. tberc
are
ao
l1ws 1p1nst drinkon¡ $1rycllnine).
Faltbor Foil
y!
Many Biblc scholars •cite the soake–
handling proetice
as a
classíc and ttagic
ex·
::r:~:~.~::Pt~~~~,;'·~~:.~..::~·u:·ru~?.
mental
n.~Je
of
interpretahon·
No
passage
•hould be read
in isolauon
from tbe total
contcxt of thc Bible.
Thus. Chñst's words ío Mark 16:17-18
should be underslood in li&h<
~r
the examplc
he set whcn .aslced to test
lt/J
diviniry and
faitb.
In
Manhew
4:S-7
Saun 1old Chrisl 10
prove bun.sclf by jumpíng
Otl'
tbe p>unacle of
tbe Temple - quoting scnplural proof for
this 1e1c "lf thou be
the
Son or God, ea.st
tbyself down: for
·¡,
is
wriucn,
He shaU .&ive
his angels charge
oonccmin'
thee:
ana
in
tbéir hands they shall bcar thee u
p.
lest at
:l':!..c:~mf
thou dash tby fool againsl a
Satan
here referred 10 Psalm 91: 11·12.
Verse: 13
800$
on 10 say: "You will
tread
on
'tbe Uon lnd
lhc:
addcr. tbe young lion and
the serpcnt yOu
wiU
lrample
undcr foot"'
(RSV).
.
But Christ
rcjected
this argumcnt. He
knew he dido'l havo lo dcliberately pul
IW¡
lite in
JCORardy to
prove
1
.spiritual
poinL
He
co~ed
Sata.n's misuse:
o(
scripture
WJ.th
anotbe1 sc:ripture...h
is
wiluen
apin.
Thou
shah n01 1emp1 tbe U.rd tby God" (cilio&
Deuteronomy 6: 16). Oras one commentator
on lhe Oíble pul it: "Don"l pul lhe Lord Ood
1o
a
roolíjh
oes~"
When
a
pcrson deliberately píclis up a
deadly serpeo!.
O<
drino
1
s<ry<:hninc
coek·
t>il. os he
not
puttingGod 101 "foolisb 1es1"'1
In tbe .... or
lhc:
40-odd
people
who
bavc
dícd bccawe of sucb priCiioes, it would
seem that God
is
no more in ravor or sucb
demonstralions or faitb Inda
y
than he was
Íh
the time
or
Christ.
o
'
J~8Jri4
by
Stanll!v
R· Rader
DominoTheory Revisited
ABOAROTHE
G-Il
EN ROUTE FROM TOKYO TOLOS
ANG_.El.ES:
We are approaclling Cold Bay, Alaska - retuming 10 the United States after
eighl weeb abroad and two visots 10 Bangkok, Thailand.
1
have been discussing
the worseniog condilions in Squ1heas1 Asia wilh one of our very dear friends
from ThaiiAnd
- a
man educaled in the Unitcd S1n1es,
a
promin•nt leader in 1he
Bangkok and Hong Kongcommercial circles anda recentcandidate for political
office in Thailand's first truly democralic election.
J
have ofieo discussed condi–
tions in Tbailand and Southeasl Asia with
lúm,
and he and
bis
famtly have been
instrumental in bnnging Mr. Annsuong ioto frequenl contacl with '!he lasl lwo
prime ministers and olher members of lhe Thai
govemmen~
•
1t
was natural for us <o discuss whal wouJd happen in Sou1beas1 Asia sbould
Cambodia's militnry governmen1 of Presiden! 'Lon Nol collapse and what the
efTect
ofsucb a
coll~pse
woul<l be in neighboriog Thailand in particular.
lt
was
Ptiesidenl Eiscohower in 1954 wbo 6rs1 announccd lhe now highly
disctediled dommo 1heory: Should one country in Southeast Asia be "10$<" 10 the
Commuoists, Olber natioñs in tbe ommediale area would topple bke dominas.
Many of
us
had hoped tbat tbe domino theory wu a thiog of the
pas~
and ye1
loday we once again hear 1ha1, should Cambodia fall10 the indigenous guerrilla
forces df lhe Khme.r Rouge, U.S. credibilüy with its other allies worldwide would
suffer, and 1ha1 Olher nations in the imme¡:lialc arca would one by
on~
slip iolo
!be communisl orbil.
M
y
'Thai
friend, bowever, infonns me
that
the military regime of Presiden<
U.o Nol is oot and never has been popular, whereas Prioce Norodom Sihanouk,
wbo suocessfully led the lighl fpr Cambodian independence, was and continues
lo be a hero of lhe Cambodian people.
M
y
friend stales very stcongly 1ha1 it was
lhe Unitéd States govemmenl which decided lo je!lison Prince Sihanouk and to
suppott lhe núlitary lakeover, because the prince was 100 friendly to China and
100critica! ofUni1ed Stales policy in 'Vietnam.
,
Why. asks my friend, does lhe Uoited Stalcs il\Sisl that other nations and
otber peoples not have friendly relalions wilh tbeor ncighbors
if
their neighbors
happeo
lo
have mlernal goveromenl structures and policies thal are difl'ereot
from or in sorne way
oppos~d
lO 1he American dcfinition ofAmerican interests?
Will the Unilc4 Stales never learn that il caonot wage
<~nd
win a polilical war in
a
foreign coun1ry?
Does
America not realize lhal its presence in Cambodia aod
Thailand bas caused more rather thao less dill\cullies for the cntire area?
Does
a.nyooe in the Urutcd Stales
ually
believe,
he
asb, lhat sbould the unpopular
Loo Nol govemmenl fall, the govemmen.ts of South Korea, Vielnam, 'Malaysia.
Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and TbailaQd would be seriously lhreal·
ened'?
'
.
-
M
y Thai friend poses some valid questions. ShoÚid Americans. in fac1, nol
examine lhc domino theory
a
Uule more fully? Should we nol examine American
in1erventioo
a
liule more seriously? Should we nol ask ourselves bow we rtcon·
cile our supporl of repressive elilist govemments from lime 10 time around the
world whcn our own country was founded oo complelely difl'erenl prinetples and
has
~en
tbe source of irlspiration 10 so many millions of people for almos<
200
years?
•
•
What nalions besides China have we "losl" lo commuoism in Sou1heas1
Asia, for example, since 1945? Whal exactly ·did we lose when wc "lost" China in
1949? What Wi l! we really
1~
if
t.hc govemment of Loo Nol should fo.ll? Wbal
would we gain ifi1does nol fall?
As Mr. Armstrong travels 1hroughou1 the worid bringing
tus
message of
peace and hope 10 mankind everywhere.
a
message wbich. if beheved an4
followed. would create beuer unders(anding among people and nations every·
w'bere, we sce only .too well 1hn1 the domino 1heory, as weU
as
many olher
lheories lhal
ha
ve conuolled lhe minds ofmen 'in the entire postwur period,
ha
ve
produced much suspici!>n, much fear, mucll conftict and coofrontation - and
cerutinly no peace
betw~en
ncighbors anywbere.
lt
seems lhJl the time has come wheo we musl really begin lo face lhe world
as
it is. lt is also lime
that
the American-people be given the real inside s1ory
behind the rise and fall of governm'enls.
· · All of usare becoming too well aware
of
lhe tendency of our govemmenl to
back lbé' wrong govemmeol in o1her places around lhe world. and, once our·
govemment has done so aod placed American pres1ige an'd credibilily oo tbe
line, il is 1hen forced to do whalever i1
can,
including military inlervenlioo
if
necessary.
lO
·avold the loss of prestige and eredobility lbat would follow if lhe
govemment
ll
has ba.cked (in facl. somelimes instaUed) should fall
lt
is clear 10 this observer 1hat we mus1also begin 1!> pay more hced to 1he
advice and counsel of other people
(s~ch
as
our Thai friend) - pcople who know
lheir own countries, 1heir own cultures and 1he minds of 1heir 'pcoplc and are
acculely aware of whal lbe relalionships of their peoplc and
lh~
of lheir
neighbors should be.
15