13 June 2019

Pompeo, Venezuela's Religious Institutions and Evangelical Exploitation


Secretary of State Mike Pompeo got caught on tape and his comments only confirm what many of us have already known.
In addition to admitting that the CIA was attempting to overthrow Maduro during his tenure as head of the CIA, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo now admits that the CIA has sought to utilise religious institutions.
This should make every Christian shudder.
Unfortunately many Evangelicals will not understand that statement and in fact heartily embrace such collaborations.


The US has of course been trying to overthrow the government of Venezuela since at least 2002, but under Donald Trump the project has been escalated. Washington is doing all it can short of invasion (at present) to break the power of Caracas. Its policies have generated a humanitarian crisis and threaten to destabilise not only Venezuela but South America itself.
The danger is exacerbated by the fact that Cuba and Russia hover in the background as key allies to Maduro's regime. Under figures like John Bolton the US war against Cuba has been re-ignited and while Trump is painted as being soft on Russia, the Anti-Moscow campaign has in fact picked up steam under his tenure. This may not be entirely of Trump's doing as powerful forces are at work seeking to manipulate and compel him to pursue the policy.
Running parallel to this, the Evangelical community has sounded the alarm in recent years. Christian persecution is on the rise and it's genuinely a cause for concern. It's getting frequent mention from Western pulpits but in almost every case, the way it is framed is... misleading. But this is hardly surprising. Evangelicalism is caught in a vortex of deceit and self-deceit.
Just this month as the world was marking the thirty year anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, connections were being drawn with the Christians under fire in today's China.... and yet no connections were made with Wall Street and its drive to tap into China's cheap labour platform and the willingness of the Beijing regime to sell out its own people. China was briefly ostracised after 1989 but before long the doors were wide open and the US economy did all it could to exploit its massive labour force... and thus ironically flooding China with wealth and empowering the authoritarian state that rules it.
American Christians can criticise the heavy hand of Beijing but as long as they continue to profit (via securities and pension funds) from Wall Street's relationship with Beijing... they are part of the problem.
It must be admitted that it has become impossible for the average Western person to avoid participation in the Chinese economy. For it is in the end part of the same world/Babel system. However, buying 'Made in China' products, manufactured by Western entities is different from owning stocks in those companies and capitalising on their dividends. While I don't believe Christians should collaborate with the US state to wage the new Cold War on China, I also don't believe Christians should profit from Washington's policies and the wars it would provoke. And as US power is in a state of crisis, Washington is at present seeking to provoke war on multiple fronts.
Returning to Venezuela, the spectre of socialism is often evoked and the Chavez-Maduro regimes are painted as the villains. There's much to criticise about the so-called Bolivarian Revolution and Chavez's phony socialist scheme but Washington's historical role in Latin America and certainly its more recent role in Venezuela is ignored. The events leading up to the Chilean Coup in 1973 are probably the most salient as indeed the US has done all it can to make the Venezuelan economy scream.... just as it did in early 1970's Chile.
And now Pompeo admits that he's happy to use religious institutions to help further this end.
The United States is a Beast power, akin to Assyria, Rome, Babylon and the other evil empires that have haunted history. The Evangelical relationship to it is certainly troubling and has given it a 'spiritual' character that is disturbing and places it solidly in the post-Constantinian bestial heritage, even though its post-Enlightenment form, its outer shell is a bit different.
Pompeo in many ways exemplifies this. An Evangelical, he sees no conflict in professing to be a Christian even while serving the Bestial empire that is Washington. In fact, for figures like Pompeo and many others in the present administration, their 'service' is a badge of honour, even an act of piety. Truly they glory in their shame and disobedience to the commands of Christ. They celebrate their rebellion against Christ and they and the theology they represent are a clear and present danger to the Church. They are infiltrators, wolves in sheep's clothing who sit brazenly in the assemblies of Zion.  American Christianity is largely apostate and the fact that avarice, warmongering, the threat of revenge, unbounded hubris and overt idolatry have been sanctified by a bevy of false teachers testifies to this.
And so should we be surprised that such evil figures (such as Mike Pompeo) will use the Church to their own ends?
We already know the Catholic Church has come out against Maduro and while Evangelical participation in the American backed coup is not as noticeable it would be a mistake to think the United States isn't working in those channels as well. With funding and support from the United States, a large-scale Evangelical Right-wing political movement has arisen within Latin America. Fueled by the ideology of Dominion its agents have sought to influence culture, steer judiciaries and attain high office. The Evangelical community in Venezuela was hostile to Chavez and thus to Maduro as well. American Evangelicals have been gunning for a Venezuelan regime change for the past two decades and have vigorously supported any US move to that end.
Javier Bertucci and groups like the Evangelical Council bear watching. They are but some of the more overt individuals and organisations that are likely conduits of American money and influence. There are many more and Pompeo has all but admitted his government is willing to use these parties to further American policy aims. It's hardly anything new, but it's rare to hear it admitted.
Will this story be told? Leaving aside the bad theology, just look at it practically. How will the governments of China, Russia, Iran and other nations filter this information even as the US seeks to start wars with them? How can they ignore the Evangelicals and Catholics operating within their own borders? Once again, the evil doctrine of Sacralism rots the Church from within (causing it to embrace a false gospel and false kingdom) and compromises its testimony with the larger world. Evangelicals are not a pilgrim people. No, they're agents of empire. To Beijing, they're a fifth column, a political movement and indeed the reports out of China over the past few years only confirm this. And yet thousands and even millions more who have nothing to do with any of this will nevertheless suffer. The machinations of Wang Yi, Bob Fu and others will lead to them being persecuted and already there are dozens more of these compromised figures at work in the rest of Asia, Africa, Latin America and I fear in places like Russia and Iran.
The present happenings in Venezuela are but another chapter in a sad story that spans many decades. If Maduro is able to hold on to power, what then? What will happen to these groups? And will their suffering be a result of the gospel or the result of collaboration with an empire committed to violence, an empire that rains bombs on the world, an empire deeply resented by all those who refuse to bow to it?
There are many villains but from the standpoint of the Church, the greatest foes and threats come from within... those who would pervert the Church's mission and very identity and those who would give Christ's enemies occasion to blaspheme. Nebuchadnezzar may have been an agent of the Beast but Saul son of Kish was the very picture of antichrist.
It is these deceivers, men like Pompeo and the hordes of false leaders who are compromised by money and power... it is they who will give account for this. Maduro, Guaido and all the other manipulators and power-mad will also pay the price and answer for the suffering they have caused. But who bears the greater burden of guilt? A lost man like Maduro, or a professing Evangelical like Pompeo? The former is a lost man putting his hope in the world. The latter professes to glorify God with his deeds but instead promotes violence, war, avarice and evil.
As depressing as all of this is to consider the saddest aspect to this story is the next chapter that is unfolding before us. Christian persecution is on the rise and yet in some cases, in fact in many cases, it's no longer persecution but the consequence of politics. Peter warns against Christians suffering as a result of meddling and intruding into the affairs of others. Paul states very clearly to the Corinthians that we the Church have little to do with those who are 'outside'. Indeed he goes on to explain that we are to live as those who are in a world that is passing away. The Apostles are not concerned with reforming the social order. They do not challenge slavery but neither do they endorse it. We are called to speak truth and expose evil but the context of our message is prophetic, proclamatory and serves as a warning regarding the coming doom.
The theology of Dominion rejects the teaching of the Apostles and instead seeks to reshape this aeon, this age and to reign over it. They teach that it's our duty, our Christian obligation to meddle in the affairs of others, and to take over their houses so to speak. Rick Santorum envisions an Opus Dei-like state in which the government is deeply involved in the family structure, even in the bedroom. And Evangelicals zealously supported him.
This directly contradicts the attitudes expressed by the Apostles toward both the outside world and toward power and the course of this age in general.
It's the error of Babel revived with a Christian gloss. Rejecting the repeated exhortations to come out of the world, to love not the world, to live as pilgrims and exiles, to lay up treasures in heaven, to set our affections there, the theology of Dominion teaches that politics is piety and the struggle for power (and as a consequence wealth) is godliness. Pompeo represents this way of thinking and indeed the larger Evangelical project has theologically codified this doctrine and made it the orthodoxy of our day. And they have spread it across the globe and are on the cusp of not a worldwide revival as some of them would have it... but a global apostasy. This is certainly not the first episode or manifestation of this sort of thing in Church history but it may prove the greatest and we might hope it is the last.
Christians in the developing world have already been infected by this false doctrine, this filth that perverts the Kingdom of Christ and rejects its otherworldly eschatological identity. Satan's offer to Christ in the wilderness is one they (and their Western teachers) heartily accept and indeed they serve the wiles and machinations of Satan even while they think they do Christ service.
Their pseudo-Christian Kingdom is built through politics, the struggle for power, war, markets, usury, hubris, propaganda, innovation and cultural conquest. It is a counterfeit Kingdom in every way.
And while rich Western Christians stress over losing their tax exempt status and pensions, those in the developing world are paying a larger price. They are caught up in the wars and the basic struggle to survive. Their Western leaders are using them and betraying them. They cash in on a financial system that spreads poverty and inflates commodities and they profit handsomely from nations placed in financial chains through Wall Street forced austerity and obligations to pay off loans... loans which in many cases the poor did not want and which often do not benefit the countries receiving them. The corrupt in their own lands grow rich as do their Western masters. It literally sickens me when I see that not only are Evangelicals heavily invested in the US financial system but scores of denominations, 'ministries' and the like are also heavily invested in Wall Street securities. And many happily send their children off to work in these sectors and fight in the wars it creates.
As the poor of the world flee strife and war, as they try to escape the violence generated by the clamouring for resources and the insatiable thirst of the wealthy and powerful economies, the West grows fatter and richer. The Western system and the compromised apostate Church that is wedded to it literally feed off the life-blood of the poor.... the lands where many Christians live and yet even as they are being betrayed by their Western teachers, they are being doubly-betrayed into finding in answer in the sword, in the coin, and in the lie.
And Mike Pompeo is one of these figures in the West that exemplifies this insatiable and excessive system. He is walking parable. Selling his soul for power and to feed his gluttonous soul he would use anyone and betray anyone to get what he wants. And yet in his twisted heart he may indeed think that in using Venezuelan Catholics and Evangelicals, he's serving God. Because the end justifies the means. Indeed, he holds to that satanic creed, that ethical imperative that all 'Christian' politicians, power brokers and financial wizards heartily embrace.
But Pompeo is not alone. Behind him there is literally an army of like minded Evangelicals and 'Christians' in the political structure, the military and intelligence apparatus and in the denominational and ministry sphere.
While some in Evangelical circles battle over issues like 'Social Justice' the larger point is missed. Despite their differences in style, they share the theological spectrum. They're all part of this same understanding of the Kingdom and the Church's role vis-à-vis the culture. Whether that manifests itself in political terms as Centre-Left or Far Right... really makes for very little difference. And ultimately once they're in power, ideology more or less goes out the window. The instinct to survive takes over and for most politicians that involves a move toward the Right and away from any actual trust in the democratic process and the vox populi which they disingenuously pretend to care about.
At present a large number of Evangelicals glory in the 'Christian influence' at work within the Trump administration. They are literally glorying in what ought to be their shame. They are blind and led by blind guides. I tremble, unable to even imagine where things are going to be at in another ten or twenty years. Whatever the result I am fairly confident that things will be worse than they are now. Though many are excited about the New Calvinism and the growing state of Evangelical activism, I see little to be encouraged about. For every supposed gain that's made, a dozen poisonous seeds are being planted. The garden may appear to grow (by their estimations) but they fail to see the weeds that have already sprouted, the weeds that will choke them. These weeds are the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. They are foolish and hurtful lusts that will drown them. And the hosts of political, theological and financial leaders that sit atop the Evangelical colossus are going to bring the whole house down, destroying themselves and decimating the flock in the process.
And as the Beast once more turns against the Bride-turned-Whore that rides it back, the faithful will suffer, the truth will be buried and chaos and confusion will reign. And if Christ doesn't return it will take generations to recover what was lost and to see through the fog and miasma generated by the collapse. God's will be done, and indeed He is glorified even in this, even in a remnant remaining faithful in the midst of such a falling away... but that doesn't mean that there aren't consequences, a price to pay... and those who must answer for what they've done.