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Last
week, a San Francisco Bay Black newspaper ran a full-page ad announcing,
"Our Savior Has Arrived." When going to the website listed,
it was seen that our savior is none other than Solomon.
His site has this: "Solomon, Allah in Person, is the Spiritual
Head of The United Nation of Islam, which is a different entity than the
Nation of Islam."
Whether
this ad has been run in other parts of the nation wherever the so-called
Solomon is to speak, it is hard to say, but an ad such as this takes us
back in memory to the bad old days of Elijah Muhammad, when he was so
brazen in speech and so assured of a certain ignorance quotient
in certain parts of the Black community that he could tap into that he
ventured to make similar outlandish claims. So smug was he that a sufficient
quotient of ignorance was present in the part of the Black community he
dealt with that he would make shocking claims, if he thought they appealed
to the self esteem and affirmation needy. And he gathered a
number of followers, made merchandise of many, and extremists of others.
Now,
another person, but still in Elijah Muhammad's shadow, has arisen and
claims himself to be something he is not. This strangeness of claim is
not a problem for intelligent people; indeed, such foolishness is only
an occasion for musing; and being so far out of their orbit of acceptable
reasoning, they think such an effort is fatally flawed. But a glib person,
speaking the desired words to a certain class, poses a problem to the
weak and less thoughtful members. Those members cannot or will not see
that before him were others pretenders making claims of a status they
did not possess, leading people to destruction. Their
type of message is intoxicating to some.
There
is a similarity between the so-called Solomon and Bin Laden more
than just their supposed call to Islam. Bin Laden does not boldly say
he is God/Allah, but his behavior is to gather many extremists to himself
and lead them to a jihad of destruction. Solomon says that he is "the
Almighty God Allah himself." And he, too, is attempting to gather
to himself followers; where he will lead them is anybody's guess. But
when one is claiming he is God and appealing to many in our community
to take his claim seriously, he can only lead them to their destruction.
How
unabashed it is to give himself the name Solomon and make no showing of
wisdom, when, indeed, the very name is synonymous with wisdom. Indeed,
after going to his website, reading his speeches and articles, hoping
to learn, it is difficult to appreciate the Solomon affectation
with which he has crowned himself. During the Elijah Muhammad
era, we read his literature and his book; we debated his followers about
Islam, and we were, in large part, unconvinced of insight, as we are about
Solomon.
Appeals
to blind, unquestioned leadership are not a product of just a Black Nationalist
movements. Many Christian churches make similar appeals and seduce their
memberships out of millions in the name of God.
A
few weeks ago, it was revealed in Bankruptcy Court that a Black Christian
minister, Rev. Phillip Goudeaux, and his congregation in Sacramento, California
were swindled out of $620,000 by a religious scam game that had glib talkers
selling worthless ideas that promised quick and significant returns. All
was done in the name of God. The money went to the leaders of that scheme,
while the congregation was poor. This, indeed, is a picture that is repeated
over many times in the Black community among our poor and uneducated,
and also in the Black church--a place where it should never occur.
This
and other types of scams will looked at more closely by IRS and other
governmental agencies starting next year. Because people will do anything
in the name of God, many opportunists take financial and other advantages
of the people.
Rev.
Ike was one of the first in the Black churches to openly flaunt his scammed
wealthy with high life living, Rolls Royces, boats, homes, etc. There
were others before him to fleece their congregations for themselves, but
he was unabashed in the high life he lived with their resources. Jimmy
and Tami Fay Dakker were a few of the White church high rollers. They
not only took the money, like Jim Jones, they took family members to themselves
for sexual liaisons. They were pulled down, but only after having taken
houses and the life savings of many in their congregations.
These
leaders made outrageous claims and led their followers away from their
money and most from God, all in the name of the Lord. Such leadership
blesses the leader primarily and not the membership. Such leadership
is very expense to the poor.
Tragically,
many Blacks are uncommonly receptive to religious scams because of our
church/mosque-oriented nature. We have thousands of churches and mosques;
most are unregulated bodies, allowing the leaders to do as they will.
Anyone can decide her or she is called by his/her god, start a church
or mosque, use the Bible or the Koran to proselytize people into their
cause, and take them to financial, mental, and spiritual Guyana or any
other place of destruction. And all is done in the name of their gods.
In
an Associated Press article, authorities are quoted as saying, "Religious
appeals might be the most insidious of all, based not on logic, but on
faith--faith in God, faith in the pastor, faith that a fellow believer
can be trusted." Such trust will allow a Solomon to declare that
he is god and be taken seriously. In 1989, there were over $500 million
Affinity scams, as they are called.
There
is an obligation of those who are in light and have a greater
insight to share information, and uncover scams and absurdities, lest
many are harmed and some destroyed. Solomon has a right to speak
and claim what he will, but all should question his words, his claims,
his affectations.
Finally,
the poor and unlearned, to whom a Solomon and swindlers appeal, should
be aware that glibness is not wisdom, and wisdom is not all of God. Anyone
claiming he is God should be viewed with a healthy dose of cynicism and
much more--an introduction to a good psychiatrist. []
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