The Devil Went Down to the UN
By Gary Vance
Created Sep 22 2006 - 4:31pm
Apparently the President of the United States left a lingering foul odor at
the podium of the United Nations on Tuesday. The inimitable and
irrepressible President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, interpreted the stench as
a sure sign of proof that Bush is the devil when he said, "Yesterday the
devil came here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today." Recent
disturbing revelations about Bush's tendency toward unseemly devilish gastro
exploits lend some credibility to Chavez's observation, however it may be a
bit of an overstatement to call him the devil.

I am modestly qualified, as a Christian minister and student of the Bible,
to recognize the demonic when it manifests in the material world. George W.
Bush is certainly a major player when it comes to evil, but I don't believe
he is the devil. The Bible portrays Lucifer as a spirit being who rules over
the hordes of hell and has powerful influence in our world. He has countless
minions who do his bidding both in the spirit sphere and the physical plane
where humans dwell.

The Bible does offer ancient prophesies about a futuristic evil leader
called the Antichrist who would exert incredible totalitarian control over
the nations of the world. I recently stumbled onto a website dedicated to
the notion of Bush being the prophesied Antichrist (www.bushisantichrist.com
[1]). I find the idea very troubling, being a native born Texan like the
Dixie Chicks and Molly Ivins, to think the Antichrist might come from Texas.
The website does offer some interesting reading. However, like Bush is fond
of saying about global warming, the jury is still out on this one. Or is it?
Perhaps President Chavez was bringing God's verdict to the nations with his
pronouncement.

Chavez loves being the fly in Bush's ointment as he went on to give a
powerful speech advocating for the gathered nations to rise up and oppose
the global imperialistic agenda manifested through U.S. hegemony. Something
about the bold flair of Chavez chastising Bush reminded me of the hit song
from The Charlie Daniels Band in 1979 entitled The Devil Went Down to
Georgia. The song tells a story about the devil challenging a young Georgia
fiddle playing phenom named Johnny to a fiddling contest. The lad wagered
his soul against a gold fiddle the devil was playing and won. Part of the
song's appeal is found in its parallel to the classic underdog story of
David and Goliath.

A similar drama is unfolding on the international stage as Chavez is vying
for a Venezuelan seat on the Security Council against the wishes of Bush. He
is calling for the non-aligned nations to coalesce and oppose the
imperialistic super power gone bad. He pointedly exposed U.S. hypocrisy on
terrorism when he mentioned the failed American backed coup attempt in
Venezuela and the fact that we are giving shelter to a known and convicted
terrorist named Luis Posada Carriles who bombed a Cuban airliner thirty
years ago. He indicted the United Nations for the impotent response to
American aggression and suggested Venezuela as a new location for a true
world body to gather. Seldom has such boldness been demonstrated on the
floor of the United Nations.

One of the verses in the Charlie Daniels song goes like this..
"Johnny you rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard.
'Cos hells broke loose in Georgia and the devil deals it hard.
And if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold.
But if you lose, the devil gets your soul."

Hugo Chavez is truly calling out a giant and there is a lot more at stake
than one gold fiddle. The Bible has a lot to say about the struggle of good
versus evil. I'm not worried about who ultimately wins because I have read
the back of the book. Call me a fool, but I am betting on Chavez even though
he only has a rock and sling.

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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson