WE ARE shaken by the quakes in Davao Region and North Cotabato this past week. But we are shaking our heads as well on Pastor Apollo Quiboloy.
The self-proclaimed “Son of God” and “Owner of the Universe” claimed last week that the earthquakes is a punishment on “Kapa Country”, particularly the towns where the pyramiding scheme KAPA had its base of operations.
Maybe it was his idea of a joke. For netizens have turned the pastor to a meme. Whenever strong rains and floods hit the city, and even these recent earthquakes, they blame him for “pushing the button”.
So he turns the joke on us, reminding us he will press “the vibrator” to make the world crumble.
Maybe the quake hit someone in the head.
Didn’t we just get angry over the tsunami prank? Now how do we react to this pastor’s joke?
But there have been many jokes from those in authority that we just allow to pass.
Maybe let’s get Biblical. This is just like the story of a kingdom, where its ruler swelled in pride, and even criticize God while believing in his own priests.
That kingdom got hit by plagues, with rivers turning red and no longer drinkable. Pests and sores making people sick until these broke its pride.
The gist of that story is not about karma or vengeance. It’s a moral about the trappings of power that result to pride and neglect.
Lately, we see diseases that could have been eliminated crippling our children. We see farmers losing out to the gods of the neoliberal market. We see indigenous lands and schools being sold to the gods of plunder. We see lives lost to senseless killings.
Quiboloy doesn’t raise a finger to stop these plagues. He does not speak truth to power, or call out injustice.
In fact, he is part of that power. We should remember his ties to the people in power and how he peddles to that power by making predictions of who will run this country.
The Book warns us of people who make earth-shaking claims of saving the people. Be warned of this kind. They are not just called false prophets. They are also called false information, and the way they are misleading people from truth.
That’s what is plaguing us for the past three years. It’s time to shake our thoughts and find the cracks in this system.