So I took note yesterday when I read about Raj Patel who is currently being (mis)taken for a god, following a recent appearance on "The Colbert Report" during which he revealed several biographical details that seemed to have been prophesied by Benjamin Creme, leader of Share International.
I immediately thought of a number of fictional "mistaken for god" situations--C3PO, Life of Brian, Capt. Kirk, Dr. Who--and realized that there must some wonderful true stories behind this meme.
A bit of digging about uncovered a few more cases.
There was Steve Cooper, who, while jobless, had the fortune of being mistaken for a Hindu goddess of fertility. He went with it, moved to India, and is worshiped as a god there to this day.
And then there was Neil Smith, a London engineer sent off to Siberia on a business trip where he was mistaken for a rock god, and wound up judging a beauty contest, appeared on the news, met Putin, and had young women faun all over him.
And lest we forget, there are the U.S. Army Rangers:
And of course Act 14:8-18 tells how Paul and Barnabus were mistaken for Roman gods after performing a miracle.
But the most amazingly pertinent story of all is the tale of Capt. Cook, who landed in Hawaii and was mistaken for a god. My god! but what a royal welcoming that fellow must've enjoyed. I believe that this was in 1776, the year that the United States declared it's independence.
And now we have, ironically, in these United States, a Hawaiian who has been heralded as a god and elected as the leader of our nation.
Capt. Cook met his poetic justice when storms crippled his departure from the Kona coast and he was forced to limp back for repairs. The locals saw through Cook's facade--and killed him. Cook's hubris, it could be argued, did him in.
I am scared of the tea baggers. I am scared of twittering idiots. I am scared of the sipsey street irregulars.
What have we become?
C3PO!
ReplyDeleteBTW, Gid, this post has all of a sudden become hot property according to our stats. I wonder what all those folks looking for Army Ranger imagery make of it?
ReplyDeleteAlso, that Steve Cooper guy, according to the man himself, has been diagnosed with gender identity disorder, also known as G.I.D.
ReplyDeleteHey, I feel your pain Gid, my moniker sounds all mystical and shit but for most francophones it's the name of a tasty fish....
What an interesting turn of events -- I just had to know what this fellow looked like . . .
ReplyDeleteboink!
He does look pretty androgynous, eh? My half-hearted attempt to see 'sup with him/her these days wasn't fruitful....
ReplyDelete