Black Magic and Train Wrecks

Have you heard about the train wreck in Ohio? A freight train carrying hazmats derailed and first responders, because they were afraid the toxic cargo would become a bomb, opened up the tank cars and began burning off the chemicals releasing noxious smoke into the surrounding area.

One of the most bizarre things about the disaster: there was actually a movie made about this exact event, filmed at this location, only last year! In fact, some of the people who had to evacuate their homes actually served as extras on the film set.

The coincidence has people bugging out. Naturally. That’s really weird. But some people see more to it than just coincidence.

I usually avoid things produced by the InfoWars conspiracy theory company because they tend to be fear-based, often slanderously use innuendo and rumor, and don’t often advocate for attitudes and actions that conform to the Way of Jesus. However, that being said, when I collaborator sent me this video, it stirred some thoughts that I thought were valuable. Watch it for yourself and process it with me below as part of our Sunday/Being meditations:

Greg Resse is saying that the occult — practitioners of black magic — are ultimately behind the train wreck. He’s claiming they’re also somehow able to communicate to us through Hollywood (InfoWars of course has theories about that) to show us the disaster before they make it happen. The theory then follows that when we don’t react or speak out against the disaster we see in media, we give our complicit consent to it and give the forces of evil some sort of authority of moral protection as they do their dastardly plan. (Some of you may notice at the end a reference to the Twin Pines scene in Back to the Future which we already explored as in a video on apophenia.)

First Reaction: Before you read any further, post your reactions in the comments below. I’d like to hear your raw thoughts before we dive into this more.

You may think Resse is totally crazy. Or you may think he’s actually on to something. Either way, there may be something really important to consider here. Think about this quote from Martin Luther King Jr:

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.

Another oft quoted, but somewhat controversial quote, hits the same vein: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.“

Is saying and doing nothing when we see evil ethically or morally wrong? Is it implied consent for that evil to occur?

While may religious texts offer warnings against complacency, here are a few from the Bible:

Justin Yun tells us how Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the relatively few Germans to stand up to and speak against the rise of Hitler. Eventually, it cost him and several of his collaborators their lives. He said:

Silence in the face of evil is evil itself: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.

Brazilian Philosopher Paulo Freire writes, “Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.” Both of these vices both point to the clearest teaching on this matter in the parable of the Good Samaritan:

Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”

He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”

But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.  By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’  Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”

He said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.

Luke 10:25-37 WEB

Whether or not confrontation of evil in word and deed is resistance to unseen forces of demonic evil wielded by the hidden and elite occult or not, I leave up to you. But what do you feel from your own character that you are compelled to confront? How should you speak up and for whom? What actions should you take to resist the darkness and deny consent? Post short thoughts in the group feed and longer reactions on the Forum.