Great Counterfeits

The first time I was introduced to the concept of counterfeits was while watching Goonies.



That some crooked people made fake money was such a mind-boggling concept at the time, I wondered occasionally if I ever held a counterfeit dollar. When I was in high school, for a fundraiser, they made this novelty million dollar bill that could be framed (but obviously not used) with all the special threads and paper that real money had. But I never really touched anything truly counterfeit until I worked in mainland China, where the store workers are constantly on the watch for fakes.



Fake currency is bad for several reasons. It causes devaluation of regular currency, for one. Secondly...and this is an important point--money not earned is money stolen.



Stolen?

Yep. Stolen.

The paper itself represents the value of something, whether it be the value of hard work, gold, or time. The circulation of fakes devalues the labor of others.

But this is not what this blog really is about. The counterfeit of money is merely an example.

But let's step up to the counterfeit of goods next, before I get to my real topic. Are fake/pirated goods a bad thing?

I lived in China for a while, and piracy of products (as well as counterfeit money) is rampant. Pirated products are cheaper, but look the same. Things such as shoes, purses, and DVDs were half to a quarter of the price as one would regularly pay for the real thing (or the Real McCoy, as they used to call it). Back then I was an English teacher who taught Business English students. So I assigned them an oral report on the topic of Quality: i.e. Good, Better, Best (The concept of Good, Better, Best is a Western way of thinking, which is valuable when talking business). I had them compare like objects, such as a pirated DVD for 4 yuan, a pirated DVD for 8 yuan, and a DVD at full price from the true vendor (about 40 yuan). One student decided to talk about the quality of a pirated adidas shoe (the spelling changed a little so they would not have legal issues) and a real shoe made by adidas. He compared durability--said the pirated shoes did not last very long, and broke at the seams rather easily. The real shoes lasted longer.

SO. What am I getting at?

The world we live in is full of great traditional, physical, and philosophical counterfeits. And since there are so many, and I only have a little time right now, I am going to introduce the ones that annoy me the most, and in later blogs expound on them, one by one.

So, what are these great counterfeits? I'll put out the real McCoy first, then name its counterfeit. Some things have more than one counterfeit.

Here's the list. They are titles, which I will explain later:

Love vs. Lust
Freedom vs. Anarchy
Freedom vs. Permissiveness
Hard-working vs. Career-centric
Equality vs. Neutrality
Equality vs. Sameness
Masculinity vs. Caveman (yes, this does exist)
Femininity vs. Seductress
Politeness vs. Political Correctness
Beautiful vs. Sexy
Equal Opportunity vs. Affirmative Action
Law and Order vs. Policing
Healthy Commerce vs. Economic Dominance
Civilized vs. Social Superiority
Caring for the Earth vs. Worshipping the Earth
Consecration vs. Communism
Progress vs. Change

And this last one I'll start now....

The Son of God vs. Mythic half-deities.

Some atheists really love pointing out that the claim that Jesus Christ was the Son of God is nothing more than the same pattern seen in many polytheistic pantheons of ancient worship...and therefore a sign that his story is totally false. After all, demigods such as Hercules, Thor, Cu Chulainn, Gilgamesh, and Sahadeva are just a few of this legacy of sons-of-gods. And historic people such as the Pharaohs of Egypt and Julius Caesar claiming to be children of the gods has been set as a precedent long before Jesus Christ was born. But this train of logic ignores the concept of counterfeits. You see, it is possible for there to be one true God and the rest to be fakes. It is the same as having a true dollar bill amidst a box full of fakes.

Now the question then is: how do you know the real one from the fakes? Like with the dollar bill, there are characteristics that differentiate the truth from the fakes. So there ought to be a test for the true God, right?

Biblically, there was a story like this. In the story of Elijah and the priests of Baal (cartoon version) (Bible Gateway telling), this question came up. Who was the true God?

This was a really dramatic era where animal sacrifice was standard for almost all religions of the day. Elijah challenged the priests of Baal to a competition, so to speak, where each would make a sacrifice to their god--with one stipulation, that their gods would be the one to burn the sacrifice and not them. 

The terms were agreed upon, and Elijah let the priests of Baal go first. If you are familiar with the story then you know that Elijah made fun of them as the priests of Baal tried everything short of setting themselves on fire to get the attention of their god...and no fire came from heaven for the sacrifice to Baal. Then Elijah took his turn, had people douse his sacrifice with tons of water so it and the firewood were soaked. Then he prayed to his God, asking for the God of Israel to show the people that He commanded him to do all those things. Then, according to the story, fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the altar, and even the stones it was on. Pretty dramatic. 

Does this happen often? No. It was a rather unique occurrence.

Now you might say this was just a story. Not real.

I will submit to you that no one has proof it didn't happen. Only doubt. Miracles in general don't happen for those who doubt.

The thing is, the word myth actually describes things that were once regarded sacred, but are no longer seen as such. So, of course people who do not believe in God will call Him a myth...because to them He is not a sacred being, but just a story.

Now, for those who do believe in God, the question is how can I tell the real McCoy from the fakes? For example, I know this guy who wears a Thor's hammer around his neck and worships the Norse Gods. His faith claims the idea of the Trinity came from Norse Mythology, and the true god is Odin. I didn't think it wise to argue with him, and merely listened instead to what he believed. The comparisons he made between Jesus Christ and Odin were fascinating.

But let me point something out. There are so many similar stories in myth and legend. In literature and psychology they call this an archetype (compare the stories of King Arthur to Star Wars to Harry Potter. Tons of archetypes in those). Some people claim it is psychological, or just ingrained in our DNA. I would like to propose a different reason for so many of these stories:

1. There are eternal truths.

2. There is a great counterfeiter who does not want us to recognize these eternal truths. And why? Because he wants us to be miserable like he is.

The great counterfeiter is also known as the Father of All Lies. I don't like talking about him much, as he is a nasty piece of work. He is the great usurper, who before the foundation of the world tried to dethrone God and take His glory. And he failed.

Now, he is not the kind of person to give up. So, since the foundation of the world, he has encouraged as many counterfeits to truth to propagate in our theology, philosophy, economy, and society. His first and most insistent plan is to make it so when the true Son of God comes among the people, no one would be able to recognize him as he continues to try to usurp God's power and authority. It is that simple.

So, how do you find the true God among the fakes?

Admittedly, I don't think God is going to do fire from Heaven again any time soon. BUT...I do believe you can put a god to the test.

How?

Investigate what that god represents. What does that god produce among the followers? Stability? Peace? Happiness? Violence? Despair? Selfishness? If you prayed to that god sincerely, earnestly seeking truth with a willingness to follow whatever answer you get with an honest heart--and you get an answer...well, someone answering a sincere inquiry is a pretty good sign that god is real.


So, how do I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of the True and Living God? I've never seen Him. But as C.S. Lewis says:  "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
But also, I have received answers to prayers. They may not have been the answers I have wanted, but they were answers I needed. Fact is, when I listen with my heart, I hear what God wants me to know. And yes, I have heard the "still small voice" spoken of in the Bible.

Fact is, whenever I follow the teachings and life of Jesus Christ, my life is made better. Not perfect, but on the path of happiness. It is not an easy path. It is not a pain-free path. It is in many ways a lonely path. Sticking to truth usually is. But the great thing about this path is that God is with you on that path too.

Jesus Christ is the Real McCoy. The real deal.

The rest are fakes.

And the Adversary has put out some doozies. Next blog will be about Love vs. Lust... one of the other big counterfeits.