The birth of insanity
Jun 20th, 2009 by paulosalem
It is hard for us, modern men, to understand just how all religions and mystic systems came into being. We can understand, maybe, how a given set of dogmas manages to pass from one generation to another. But what about the first followers, the ones who were there and were responsible for all the mess? “How could those people,” we ask, “believe in such a non-sense if they were there to see that it was non-sense?” The belief that those who were there, in the beginning, could not be fooled is often used as a justification for the foundations of religions.
If this initial basis is accepted, the rest is easy. Once the first generation dies, the original miracles and words become indisputable matters of fact (e.g., with whom would you quarrel about Paul’s “revelations” if not with Paul himself?), and are thus crystallized forever. One can never disprove that this or that saint did not really have a revelation; one cannot submit him or her to a psychiatric examination (that would be interesting); one can only guess how things really happened.
But the funny thing about these sacred people is that, despite what previous prophets have said, it often happens that new, more enlightened, prophets come to instruct mankind! Christianism and Islam are both results of this process. However, these are already old events; too old to be seen for what they really are. Thankfully, a new prophet appeared a few years ago in Brazil, my home country. No, it is not me. His name is “Inri Cristo”, and he claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus himself! The new messiah has a church, followers, has written sacred texts and, apparently, has also performed miracles. You can check him out in his website, where plenty of English translations can be found (he came for all mankind, not just us Brazilians).
I’m not sure how well known he is outside Brazil. But trust me, the guy is worth your attention. For he holds all the basic qualities for a messiah, and hence is a very interesting subject of study. Of course, chances are he is not really anything of what he claims, and quite more resonable explanations can be found. Yet, to study such a person and the movements around him now may well shed some light into just how all other belief systems came about. Moreover, Inri Cristo has the added quality of being extremely open about his positions, and in Brazil he is almost a pop star, often appearing in television shows (the unbelievers also like him, for he is such a curious, entertaining and even nice person). I’m inclined to believe that he really means what he says.
Christians themselves, I suspect, scorn at Inri Cristo. What a self-defeating position! The “new incarnation”, as far as we can see, has very similar attributes and feats as the original one (including miracles). I wonder if his existence has caused some people to review their beliefs. And this leads me to my main point. For some years to come, revelation arguments will hold no water. For every time that someone points out the sainthood of his preferred prophet or messiah, we will always be able to point them to Inri Cristo’s website and ask what is the difference.
The available evidence shows that there is nothing miraculous or supernatural about prophets. Apparently, they don’t even need to be conspirators, manipulators or power seeking liars. It just turns out some men are very naive, others are rather crazy, and history is fundamentally blind.

