Before Charles Manson had moved to LA where collected his band who murdered on his behalf, he stayed with my roommate and I in Berkeley, Ca. Bob had met Charlie on the Berkeley campus one night for an impromptu jam session. Bob played his guitar and Charlie found a can for his drum. At the end, Charlie asked Bob, “Do you have a place where I can crash?” We had a couch in our living room, and so Bob invited him back.
Charlie was a talker, and we were glad to listen. He seemed
to be quite “evolved,” so we thought he was cool. He talked about dropping acid
and dancing with the energy of the surrounding trees. He also talked about
killing cops, but that was what the “aware” folks were also talking about, and
so we enthusiastically listened. He never showed any interest in us or in what
we were thinking, but why should he!
We never thought of him as a psychopath. One night, Bob
slipped into my room to excitedly ask me, “Who does Charlie remind you of?” I
told him I didn’t know. Bob continued, “Doesn’t he remind you of Jesus Christ?”
Annoyed, I answered, “Bob, I’m Jewish, and Jesus doesn’t trigger any image for
me.”
How were we not able to see Charlie as the psychopath he
evidently was? And how was his group of women unable to see the encroaching
tragedy? We were possessed with the zeitgeist of the sixties, and the past and
its lessons were no longer relevant for us. Similarly, we can also ask how the
cult leader, Jim Jones, succeeded in luring almost 1000 idealists to commit
suicide. And how was Adolph Hitler able to take control of the minds of a
highly educated nation, perhaps the most educated nation in the world? It seems
that even “education” is no a defense against the insanity of our age.
The Manson girls had been in denial as they were knifing to
death their innocent victims. Is it possible that we too can be similarly
blinded by our social context?
Even now, educated Westerners are celebrating Shariah Law, which
seeks to undermine the human rights that Westerners value, and seeks to even
destroy the West? This too is insanity.
How do we understand this? Historically, Christianity has
stood against social experimentation. It understood that the evils could not be
eliminated but just held in check. There are no perfect societies because there
are no perfect people. We are the source of our own evil, which arises in every
society and utopian experiment. However, it has always been more convenient to
blame society than to blame ourselves.
One reason for this is that we are more sensitive to the
criticism of those who are close to us. Consequently, we feel more judged by
our own society than by others, and therefore seek to destroy it. No matter how
benign our society might be, we are inclined to undermine and deconstruct its
authority. Why? Because we feel judged and undermined by it, even though it has
nurtured and protected us.
Not everyone feels this way. I no longer do. Why not? I no
longer seek its approval. Nor do I have to rebel against the influence of my
parents. Why not? I have found a better source of validation in my Savior Jesus
who loved me so much that He died for me:
·
God shows his love for us in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified
by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if
while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much
more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:8–10)
Jesus has bought and won my heart.
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