Enjoy my dissection of the latest Jack Kelley of RaptureReady fame article.
Two Non-Biblical Prophecies
The first one is very controversial and I offer no opinion as to its validity ummmm . . . really? You have no opinion on prophecies from nonchristians? You'd think the standard answer to that would be "If it's not what I think is in the bible, it's not true" or my reaction, "there's no such thing as prophecy", except that I've received it from several independent news sources. Just because several people repeated the same rumor/idea doesn't make it fact. If 3 different people tell me the earth is flat, I don't have to accept this as true.I have been able to confirm that Johanwa Owalo was who this prophecy says he was and that it apparently came from a document copyrighted in 1915. It's copyrighted, it must be true! Harry Potter is copyrighted, too. Should I be concerned about Voldemort? Readers are cautioned to conduct their own research before accepting it as authentic. That is not the accepted use of the word "research".
“Q. Is Barak Obama the “Son of Kenya” foretold by the great *giggles* 19th Century actually, since Owalo didn't convert until 1900, he would be a 20th Century blahblahblah. You always name the century by one more than the actual number. 18th Century poets are from the 1700's. Kenyan Prophet, Johanwa Owalo, the founder of Kenya’s Nomiya Luo Church?
It took a little doing, but I was able to find this:
In Kenya there are also several independent Christian churches that have broken ties with other Christian or Protestant denominations. The largest of these independent churches was the Nomiya Luo Church, whose founder, Johana Owalo, was an early convert to Christianity in 1900. In 1907 he had a vision in which he was taken up into heaven by the angel Gabriel. He saw that Europeans and Asians, and even the popes,were not allowed to enter heaven. Later, he converted to Islam and began to preach that mission churches were in opposition to traditional beliefs. His mix of Christian, Anglican, and traditional practices attracted many followers. In Kenya today there are still many mission churches. Many worldwide religious groups have a strong presence. The number of Kenyan clergy has grown in the past years and most of the Roman Catholic and Church Province of Kenya hierarchies are Kenyan
A. Among the Kenyan people of the Luo religion Owalo is believed to be a prophet similar to Jesus Christ and Muhammad, and who in 1912 made this horrific prophecy about the United States:
'So far have they [the United States] strayed into wickedness in those [future] times that their destruction has been sealed by my [father]. Their great cities will burn, their crops and cattle will suffer disease and death, their children will perish from diseases never seen upon this Earth, and I reveal to you the greatest [mystery] of all as I have been allowed to see that their [the United States] destruction will come about through the vengeful hands of one of our very own sons.'
So, some guy from Kenya, who converted from religion to religon and had a few visions, had something mean to say about the US, and we should be concerned about this why? I suppose Osama bin Laden is a prophet now, too? This is what happens when you get prophecy on the brain.
The next one comes from a Forbes.com it was Forbes, it must be true! article dated 10-26-08 by Amir Taheri, author of 10 books on Iran, the Middle East and Islam. He can write! It must be true!
“Q. Is Barack Obama the "promised warrior" coming to help the Hidden Imam of Shiite Muslims conquer the world? The "promised warrior" of the Shi'a is Christian? How awkward.
A. This question has made the rounds in Iran since last month, when a pro-government Web site published a Hadith (or tradition) from a Shiite text of the 17th century. or maybe the 18th The tradition comes from Bahar al-Anvar (meaning Oceans of Light) by Mullah Majlisi, a magnum opus in 132 volumes and the basis of modern Shiite Islam. Plagiarism alert! Kelley directly lifted this exact sentence from an article by Amir Taheri on November 3, 2008. Nice.
I tried to find translations of Bhara al-Anvar (I'm having a lot of trouble trying to teach myself Arabic.) and couldn't find anything. The prevailing wisdom in the muslim community is that if you want to be a muslim, you should learn Arabic. Reasonable, but frustrating for my immediate purposes.
According to the tradition, Imam Ali Ibn Abi-Talib (the prophet's cousin and son-in-law) prophesied that at the End of Times and just before the return of the Mahdi, the Ultimate Saviour, a "tall black man will assume the reins of government in the West." Even having not read the text, I can tell you two things: (1) blacks were not called "black" in the 1600's. I won't repeat what they were called, other than African. So, if the word "black" actually was used, there is undoubtedly some cultural significance to the time and place the Imam spoke from that is entirely different from the way we use that word today. (2) "government in the west" would not have been a reference to the US in the 1600's, mostly because the US did not become a country until 1776. The US did not become a world power until well after that. Yes, I know, prophets see the future, but they use the language of their day. "Government in the west" could have referred to the British Empire (huge in those days) or to some Middle Eastern country west of the Imam's location. Remember: Shi'a and Sunni rivalry has erupted into violence little short of genocide on numerous occasions. The Imam could well have been speaking of some Sunni rival.
Commanding "the strongest army on earth," the new ruler in the West will carry "a clear sign" from the third imam, whose name was Hussein Ibn Ali. Yes, Yes, Yes, Obama's middle name is "Hussein". It's one of the most common names in the world. Millions of men are named Hussein. There's nothing special about that outside of the US. The tradition concludes: "Shiites should have no doubt that he is with us."
In a curious coincidence Obama's first and second names--Barack Hussein--mean "the blessing of Hussein" in Arabic and Persian. "Hussein" means "good" or "handsome one". So, if you're going to translate names, go all the way: Barack Hussein means: blessing of the handsome one. His family name, Obama, written in the Persian alphabet, reads O Ba Ma, which means "he is with us," the magic formula in Majlisi's tradition.” This is irrelevent and bizarre. My last name could be dissected to "will i am", but what the hell does that have to do with anything?
The above paragraph was plagiarized, as well.
From these secular sources actually, Muslim prophecy/tradition is not a secular source. It is a religious source. it appears that people from diverse backgrounds believe that a leader matching Mr. Obama's description could appear in the last days, and that his impact will not be good for America. Time will tell. Lots of crazy people have latched onto the first black US President as a bad thing. And?
The rest of the article is blahblahblah could be the antichrist blahblahblah fasten your seat belts blahblahblah
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