Um... er... hello?

[pyat]

From cargoweasel and velvetpage


Yes, it's the Day of Prayer for the World Economies.

Ug...

From Exodus, chapter 32:
... So all the people took off the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"....

...7 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; 8 they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" 9 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people; 10 now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them..."

Comments

[aprivatefox.livejournal.com]

... You really can't make this kind of symbolism up.

Words fail. I mean if you're even -passingly- familiar with the book of Exodus, that's... ... ...

Aaargh.

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

Maybe they think that if they just try hard enough, they CAN serve both God and Mammon.

[redregon.livejournal.com]

as long as they base their worth on money, their prayers will never come to god's ears (opinion.)

blessed are the meek, of which i would gather none live in babylon.

[seritaph.livejournal.com]

That's just... awful.

Who thought this was a good idea?!?

[momentrabbit.livejournal.com]

And lo, did Moses look down upon the calf, still smoking from the heat of its shaping, and smelled he of their charred sacrifices, and cried he unto the heavens "Oh, My God! What thy funk? Barbeque!"

And Ceiling God watched them masticate.

[archai.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, I seem to have fallen out of my chair. And why do my sides hurt?

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

*choking*

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Heeheehee. :)

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Well that's a tad worrisome...

[archai.livejournal.com]

Y'know, while I understand that they were probably praying for a bull market, the choice of symbolism COULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE BETTER.

[neosis.livejournal.com]

...

Actually it's worse than that. They're praying that God will (somehow) take over the stock exchange and make it pay out in Christianity. Seriously. They're praying that both Bull and Bear markets will be replaced with "Lion" markets so that all the good Christians will automatically make tons of money on the stock exchange and everyone else won't.

The insanity is so profound that it defies understanding.

[archai.livejournal.com]

Surely you can't be serious.

Surely.

SURELY.

[redregon.livejournal.com]

this is both disturbing and slightly heartening at the same time... i applaud their wishes but i really don't think that prayer will be the deciding factor... personally, a part of me wants the market to crash. a chance to rebuild the world in a better, more stable manner that's less reliant and driven by pure greed.

Wall street, in my not so humble opinion, can be easily compared to the city of babylon or even Sodom (not the "anti-homosexuality" slant that some choose to use.)

[easyalchemy.livejournal.com]

What I like about a lot of modern Christians is how pagan they are. It's like, the old gods won.

What I don't like is their staggering hypocrisy and overwhelming stupidity. Y'know.

[archai.livejournal.com]

In my experience, the more pagan variety is distinctive mainly for their contrast against the staggering hypocrites.

[relee.livejournal.com]

Geez, Moses sounds pissed. Like he's gonna open a can of whoop-ass all over those stiff-necked dudes.

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

Deuteronomy 8:18 - "But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day"

Malachi 3:10 - "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,' says the LORD of hosts, 'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.'"

Matthew 25:27-30 - "Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I am not sure that the investing in the stock market counts as investing tithes in the store, nor do I believe Jesus to have been particularly keen on usury...

And, in any case:

Luke 18:22
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Luke 16:13-15
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."

Matthew 6:19
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal."

Proverbs 23:5
"Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle."

[lee-in-limbo.livejournal.com]

It is a shade questionable. However, I'd bet that most of the people you see there are both atheistic and are merely wishing for luck (which they somehow expect a non-corporeal entity they don't worship to somehow grant them). It's New York City. They live and die by the stock market. It may be biblical fallacy, but then, New York City is kind of a religion unto itself.

Lee.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Nope, the meeting at the bull statue was organized by Generals International (a prophecy organization), the 700 Club and various evangelic prayer groups. I imagine there were a lot of gawkers (like the one person holding up a cell phone camera), but the folks there are earnestly praying over the bull.

From the Generals International website:
...for this reason, we are meeting with intercessors at the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank and its 12 principal branches around the U.S. on October 29, 2008. We are also going to intercede at the site of the statue of the bull on Wall Street to ask God to begin a shift from the bull and bear markets to what we feel will be the “Lion’s Market” or God’s control over the economic systems. While we do not have the full revelation of all this will entail, we do know that without intercession, economies will crumble.

Please gather with your prayer groups and networks at financial institutions around the globe. Intercessors are already going to some of the stock exchanges in other nations, but do not assume this is so and make sure that the one in your nation is covered in prayer. Also intercede for the banks and financial institutions in your area.

They were also praying at the Toronto Stock Exchange, I'm sure, but the TSE doesn't have anything so curiously iconic and ironic as a golden bull.

[lee-in-limbo.livejournal.com]

OMG. And these are people that preach old bible values. I wonder how they manage that without having actually read the book. Very nice.

Or as the locals would probably say, 'F%^&ing tourists.'

Lee.

[bodhifox.livejournal.com]

It makes absolutely as much sense as anything else about the world economy does. And I get tired of Christians thinking their god is the only one. Maybe some bull god *will* make the market go back up.

Gilgameš and the bull of heaven

3-6. In the great courtyard, without there being any combat, a man ……. She perceived the canopy, the canopy ……, holy Inana perceived the canopy, from the palace of the abzu, she perceived the canopy ……:

7-12. "My wild bull, my …… man, I shall not let you go! Lord Gilgameš, my wild bull, my …… man, I shall not let you go! I shall not let you go to dispense justice in the E-ana! I shall not let you go to pronounce verdicts in my holy ĝipar! I shall not let you go to dispense justice in the E-ana beloved by An! Gilgameš, may you be ……, may you be ……!"

13-18. (Gilgameš speaks:) "I shall certainly not try to take over the portion of Inana in your ĝipar. Ninegala will not …… because of my valorous strength. But Inana, lady, don't you block my way, either! My wish is to catch (?) mountain bulls, to fill the cow-pens. I wish to catch (?) mountain sheep, to fill the sheepfolds. I wish to …… silver and cornelian."

19-30. The queen spoke with a snort; Inana spoke with a snort: "…… say to you. …… say to you. ……, Gilgameš."
7 lines fragmentary

31-36. (An speaks:) "Its entrails (?)……. Its hide ……. Its blood ……."
1 line fragmentary "Inana, it will muddy the waters; it will …… cowpats. My one beloved by An, ……."

37-41. He let her hold the leash; An ……. {"My child, who does it belong to?"} {(1 ms. has instead:) "My child, what use would it be?"} "It will stir up the waters, it will leave …… cowpats ……! If the great bull is let loose, …… Unug! If the great bull is let loose against Gilgameš, …… Unug! I will not give her that which bears my own name."

42-45. (Inana speaks:) "Maybe it will muddy the waters, and will leave gigantic cowpats -- but let my father give me the Bull of Heaven, so I can kill the lord, so I can kill the lord, so I can kill the lord, Lord Gilgameš!"

[anidada.livejournal.com]

Shame they're not Mithraists. *wistful*

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

Makes perfect sense to me. As James Kunstler observed, the true religion of America is the worship and pursuit of unearned wealth. The stock market delivered an awful lot of unearned wealth over the last couple of decades. Therefore the stock market is more of a church than, you know, the church. It'll be good for Christianity when America conclusively loses its superpower status.

[taluagel.livejournal.com]

YES! I am totally making that golden bovidae my object of worship!

[brand-of-amber.livejournal.com]

This is terrible and funny. But I also have to wonder if there is something else going on here, it feels so freaking ridiculous that I'm wondering if its a hoax, or a staged thing, or being reported badly. I mean, people do stupid stuff all the time, but stuff this symbolic of idiocy doesn't just grow on trees.

So yea, kinda a sense of stunned blankness here, along with a hope that its a hoax.

[slothpuck.livejournal.com]

I know already how the economy will improve, and it has nothing to do with God. After reading all that I somehow think there's going to be a BIG upsurge in straightjackets.....

Really, let God control the economy. Right.....x.x . Maybe not straitjackets then?

Brain death nurse, reach for the power switch.

SP

[rowyn]

Their prayer points 1-6 seem pretty reasonable, and #8's not too bad.

That choice of locations, though .... O_o

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Agreed, actually. :)