By Robert Clarita
Tarlac, Philippines (10.04.07) - The work of the devil is to multiply the people who will follow their wicked ways through adultery. This is just one of the many intriguing yet logically inclined lines of the Ang Dating Daan (The Old Path) host/leader, Eliseo Soriano, popularly known as Bro. Eli.
Soriano pointed out in his equally known religious program Itanong mo kay Soriano (Ask Bro. Eli), held recently that adultery is generally known as an immoral act since the Ten Commandments were given to Moses and implemented among Israelites. The nature of the work came from the devil as it is his desperate mode in multiplying people who will be adherents to his vicious ways.
The evangelist said that by adultery, a person committing it is influencing the partner of the act, thus one act is already an equivalent to two souls in danger. This is not even to mention if the doer is committing adultery with multiple partners - and this is not impossible, considering the degrading state of morality these days, where statistics of broken family, annulment, and divorce cases are very high.
Many of the families nowadays are facing serious marital/domestic-damage through a partner’s infidelity. An online social statistic watcher, Woman Savers, came up with a research finding that “70 percent of married women and 54 percent of married men did not know of their spouses' extramarital activity”.
In the percentage stated, an individual estimation would range from 38 to 53 million unfaithful partners. Applying this to the multiplication mode of the devil means twice of it then. This is not to mention even the number of adultery cases not included in the statistics given,
The Associated Press (2/22/06) also came up with a report on adultery cases. They studied that 22 percent of married men have strayed at least once during their married lives, while 14 percent of married women have had affairs at least once during their married lives. They also stated that younger people are more likely candidates of infidelity in marriage.
To quote Laura Guiles, a marriage counselor of All Experts Online, she said that “when a parent betrays a spouse, he or she is really also betraying the entire family. The child internalizes that distrust and either plays it out by becoming a cheater too or she will not get close to people.”
It is alarming enough to know that that the multiplication mode through adultery doesn’t just stop with the persons committing it but the affected offspring as well. The seed of infidelity could be planted in the minds of the children through internalizing the effect of the affair in the family, and themselves as well are potential adulterer in the future. Thus Soriano’s words were affirmed.
Use of Language. In the Ask Bro. Eli. Program, the topic turned to Soriano’s style of being frank and bold in delivering truth from the Holy Scriptures. Often, he encounters questions such as why he uses ‘foul’ language such as ‘fool’ before the viewers, like in this event.
He explained to the questioner that he is not using foul language if the subject is really a fool. He said he is just using the appropriate words or proper adjectives for false preachers who are evidently using religion for personal profit, or is referring to the ignorance of some boastful atheists about the bible, and the like.
In the end he said, “Even if I am saying ‘fool,’ you will still join in the congregation I am tasked to lead, if you are really searching for the truth.”
Personal Savior. Another inquirer asked Soriano about the biblical basis of the term ‘Personal Savior’ that many Born Again cults are teaching regarding the being of Jesus Christ in their own biblical interpretation. In an easy swipe, Soriano answered the inquirer regarding the usage of the term ‘personal.’
He pointed out that one’s toothbrush, undergarment, and cosmetics are of personal use and shouldn’t be used by others if hygiene is to be considered. The same logic goes that if ‘personal savior’ is to be used, it will be meaning that Christ is only owned by one person and cannot be shared, which is a very irrational and unbiblical belief.
Citing a verse in the bible, Soriano said that Christ is savior of the true church He founded - not by the individual - pointing to the fact that God places his name in the name his church.
Bones. One of the interesting points discussed in Ask Bro. Eli was prompted by the inquiry of a female student. She asked Soriano if scholars who are studying the supposed bones of known holy figures, like the apostles, are sinning before God.
To this question, Bro. Eli answered that “we are actually learning from the bones!” He justified his response in the fact that forensics, or the scientific analysis of evidence relating to crime, is using bones of corpses to discover how they died when needed in a certain investigation.
Also, Soriano noted that through the discoveries of the bones of the dinosaurs wherein scientists learned through advance technology, these species existed billions of years ago, giving us an idea how old this earth is, refuting some ideologist’s contemptuous thinking of the other way around.
The evangelist said that through bones, non-believers became believers, and it would be favorable for the technical credibility of some biblical figure’s existence if scientists are able to confirm their bones. Perhaps critics of the bible will be enlightened, Soriano said.
Manifestation of Faith. Also in this event, Eli Soriano’s moral concern for society was all the more marked when an inquirer asked him how a person can encourage others to believe in God.
Answering with true sincerity drawn in his face, he said that good manners can influence and entice others to follow one’s own faith. He supported this with a biblical verse stating that one’s manners can really influence others. He cited St. Paul’s words.
According to Soriano, the manifestation of the goodness that one’s own faith can do to a person should be visible in his lifestyle, as this is what other people use as basis of their conformity before believing. Obviously Soriano is doing the very thing he advised as his followers are growing by leaps and bounds, not just in the country but in other nations. Soriano who is now known as the most sensible preacher in our times has his international broadcasts in the TOP channel, various internet broadcasts, including his very recent podcasting program, with the same title, Ask Bro. Eli in Talkshoe.com.
Media Today and Influence. Watching Bro. Eli in his programs is a relief away from the usual programs that major local channels are promoting during the primetime. Fantasy/romance inclined programs and soap operas are the ones being promoted before the viewers regardless of age sensitivity, where serious heavy themes like adultery are depicted as the very conflict of stories in various forms. It is suggested that the devil suggests these kinds of programs to implant the seed of their mode of operation of multiplying.
According to a British social study in Psychology of Communication, media is incredibly powerful in influencing society. Exemplified is Nazism in Germany, or Communism in Soviet Union that would not have been successful had it not been for “massive propaganda machines which kept the public's support for abhorrent régimes.”
This simply affirms the suggestion that media influences the thought of society, as Hovland implied in his treatise on political propaganda and advertising. Accordingly, views regarding morality and perception of certain social issues can be affected through mass media messages.
With media’s manipulation, themes like adultery can be rationalized, and people can become loose without any pangs of guilt. If consummated, it becomes a serious threat to society, leading to the devil’s multiplication mode, according to Soriano.
