Chapter 42
11:59 AM EST New York - Bear News Studios
When we were all finally seated again in the studio, we were given some briefings, microphone checks done, and all the other stuff they do. Then there was a countdown of about two minutes. I looked over at the remaining panelists and tried to read their faces. The cleric from a mosque here in New York, had shown no emotion on his face since the questioning began. I expected no trouble from the Buddhist. The Hindu, interestingly enough, did not seem much of a threat. They were usually peaceful. I supposed the atheist and maybe the cleric were the ones I needed to be careful with. I really did not want riots in the streets here, or anywhere else today.
John walked over and sat in his chair. As they adjusted his mike, he looked over at all of us and said, “We will start the next set with the representative from the Hindu Culture, Maharaj Hardik Narsi.”
The countdown finished and John did his introduction of continuing the panel and said, “The next panelist is Maharaj, Hardik Narsi. Maharaj, do you have a question for Mr. South?”
The cameras moved to focus on Hardik Narsi and me. Hardik looked at me, then smiled and said, “Mr. South, first off, I would like to thank you and Bear News for inviting us here to be a part of this panel. I can honestly say that I was quite surprised to get a call so quickly requiring a representative to be here; but I felt it was important and I wanted to be a part of this.” He smiled again and said, “Do you know much about the Hindus, sir?”
“Well, Maharaj Hardik, I hope I pronounced your name correctly?”
“Yes sir, you did, thank you.”
“I have a very limited knowledge of Hinduism, but it is my understanding that you believe in reincarnation and your primary God is Agni.”
“Yes that is correct, Jack.”
He called me by my first name, which I thought was interesting.
“Is there anything else that you know about Hinduism, Jack?”
“You have four basic parts to your religion; Dharma, fulfilling ones promise; Artha, prosperity; Kama, sexuality, desire and enjoyment; and Moksha, for enlightenment, which means that a person needs to have complete understanding. So, with my limited knowledge it seems the goal is to reach enlightenment.”
“You are basically correct, but it is a lot more than that. I am not here to teach today, but I want to ask you a question. Do you think you are reincarnated from one of the Bible’s prophets?”
This really surprised me for I would have expected many other questions other than this one, but maybe he had a reason to ask. I did not know how to answer, so as I always did. I closed my eyes slowly, cleared my head and waited to see if I got an answer.”
After a while, I opened my eyes and looked at Hardik, “With all due respect, I don’t know enough about or really believe in reincarnation, other than I know that when I die, God will resurrect my body and make me whole again. So I would suppose that may also be considered a form of reincarnation.”
“I understand that you would not believe as I, but then that brings me to another question. I know your religion of Christianity requires that you believe in your God and in his son for redemption and entrance to everlasting life. So, are you telling all the other religions of the world that unless they don’t convert to Christianity and worship Jesus, God’s son, as described in the New Testament, they are doomed forever?”
I would have thought the cleric would have asked me that question, not the Maharaj. Now I had to answer it and minimize the damage my answer would bring. I noticed that the cleric had perked up. I hoped that he would not jump into this conversation.”
“Maharaj Hardik, I am a witness for the one God, no other god. There is but one God, and the events so far today are just the beginning of the things He will make very apparent to the entire world. He is the one and only God and His son, Jesus Christ was ransomed for the earth from Lucifer. My mission here on earth is to make sure every person in the world has an opportunity to understand this and accept it in his or her own way. I do not intend on attacking other religions. I do not know all that God has wrought in the world over the ages. I do not know how others see God or worship Him, but I do know that Jesus Christ allowed the gospel to offer to what was described as the Gentiles, to give them salvation. As the Lord my God makes his presence known in the world by His actions, through His witnesses, it will be up to each of us to make a decision about who we think God is.”
“Very well put Jack, but I do not understand why your God will destroy or kill as many people as He has today. That seems to me to be quite stern, and the new predictions you have passed on will make the events in California pale with what is to come. It seems He is very, very angry.”
“All I can say to you is that as in the days of Noah, things were similar to what they are today. In that case, God destroyed all His creation, with the exception of Noah and his family, and gave no chance to all the other inhabitants of the earth. This time, He is giving the people of the earth a chance and a choice.”
“So, it’s your God and His son or nothing, I presume? That is what you are telling all other religions of the world.”
He was pushing me to tell him that he would go to hell if he did not believe in Jesus Christ. I knew this, but I decided to answer by letting the chips fall where they may. Therefore, I said, “No, it is God, not a named deity, but the ruler of the universe. I have not met God; I only have faith that He has a plan. Maybe God has manifested Himself to other cultures differently, I do not know. However, I do know for the Gentiles, that yes, it is believe in Jesus Christ or when judgment comes, you will be to his left not his right. There is no other answer.”
“Thanks,” John said, as he stopped the questioning. “We need to go to an update and commercial and we will be right back.”
As the network broke for a commercial, John turned to all of us and said, “We are almost out of time and regretfully there will only be enough time for one more panelist.”
John Roberts, the atheist said, “I really don’t have any questions John. I don’t believe any of this hocus pocus anyway.”
John then looked at the cleric and said, “Do you have any questions?”
“Definitely,” he said.
“Well then, it’s between you and our other guest.”
The Buddhist Monk said, “I’d prefer to bow out John. If you don’t mind, this is not the time or the place for me to discuss my beliefs.”