Island Advenutre #2

As you may be aware, the local manner of observing my country's most dominant religion varies quite substantially from the "official" version. Within the system of brotherhoods that defines my country's version of the faith, there is one particular group that many see as... odd. The adherents are known for wearing wild clothing and dreadlocks and sometimes being very aggressive as they go around seeking donations. Just as an example, we recently had a report of them swarming a vehicle stuck in traffic, rocking it back and forth, and piling things on the windshield so the driver couldn't see. Consequently they are feared, and everyone I know avoids them whenever possible.

I found out on Saturday that these guys have a meeting place on the island. I found it by accident and ended up trapped between a big group of the them and the ocean. As I stood there trying to figure out where to go, one of them came up to me and started talking to me. He didn't seem to fit the stereotypical pattern. His hair was in dreads but he looked normal enough.

He also knew lots and lots of systematic theology, which is not what I expected. He explained to me all about what he believed. It sounded to me like new age with a very, very thin mask of the religion that he actually claims to follow. He told me that god is inside of me, all around me, and in everything, and that I needed a spirit guide to help me find him. I told him that God says in the Bible that I can talk directly to Him, and that He gives me the Holy Spirit so I don't need a spirit guide. I asked him how he can know whether his spirit guide is telling him the truth or not. He didn't really answer. He told me that I should become one of them so that I could have peace and "eternal life."  I asked him what he meant by eternal life. I can believe in eternal life because I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and then rose from the dead. He doesn't believe that Jesus rose from the dead. What reason does he have to believe in eternal life? Well, he explained that eternal life is kind of a spiritual thing, it starts here on earth when you get in touch with the god within you... I couldn't get him to say what he thinks will happen after he dies.

I hope God works in his heart. Nothing I said will do it. He knew plenty of theology so nothing I said was a surprise. He even quoted scripture to me once. We chatted for about 20 minutes. The one thing that really made me kind of nervous was the fact that the whole time we were chatting, one of his friends was taking video with his cell phone. I have no idea what they are going to use that video for. I felt like I was at an evangelism meeting, and they were hoping to get evidence of my conversion. I just hope they don't cut and paste what I said to make it look like I joined them, oppressed them, validated their theology, or who knows what. Once the crowd had cleared out and I had an exit, I took it.

The conversation was enlightening though. If they are heavily involved with "spirit guides," that (along with an assortment of drugs) could explain some of the really crazy behavior that we sometimes see. And now I know that there is no point in trying to discuss with them the main theological points of the religion that they claim to follow. I don't know that they truly agree with any of them!