Famous False Modern Gods

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Any person, thing, or power, other than God almighty, that is considered and worshiped as a substitute, is a false god. There are many invisible false modern gods, like wealth, beauty, sex, power, skill, fame, fashion, security, nationalism and many others. In some cultures, idolatry is as much a modern practice as it was in ancient times and many gods are worshipped in countries like India, Japan, and many African countries. Amongst the multitudes of the living and non-living, visible and invisible things and thoughts, the most notable false gods are human beings, who from time to time have claimed to be gods incarnate. False god-claimants have been on the historical records since ancient times, but their emergence has not ceased in modern times.

1. Francis Herman Pencovic

Francis Herman Pencovic
Francis Herman Pencovic

Francis Herman Pencovic was born on March 29, 1911 and died in Chatsworth, California on December 10, 1958. He was raised in Utah as a Mormon. In April 1948 he proclaimed, ‘I may as well say it: I am Christ. I am the new messiah’. After this proclamation in 1951, he changed his name to Krishna Venta, by which he was known by his followers. He founded WKFL Fountain of the World in Simi Valley, California. The acronym WKFL stands for Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith and Love. Members of the group were uniformly dressed in robes, were barefoot, and male members wore beards and kept long hair. Members were required to donate all their worldly possessions to the group prior to joining. The followers believed that Penovic, as he said, came from the planet Neophrates. The group came into prominence when the members were the first to help victims of Standard Airlines Flight 897 R, which had crashed in Simi Hills. Some rebellious members killed him along with ten others in a suicidal bombing.

2. Wayne Bent

Wayne Bent
Wayne Bent

Wayne Bent, known by his followers as Michael Travesser, was born on May 18, 1941. He was formerly a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and left the religion, along with some companions, in 1987. Afterwards he referred to the church as one of the ‘daughters of the great harlot’. Bent claimed that in 2000 God told him ‘You are the Messiah’. After that Bent proclaimed, ‘I am the embodiment of God. I am divinity and humanity combined.’ Bent is the leader of the community known as The Lord Our Righteousness Church, which is sometimes also known as Strong City. The community initially comprised of fifty people, who migrated in 2000 from Sandpoint, Idaho to Union County, New Mexico. The community believes in modesty of dress and the women wear long skirts. National Geographic Channel broadcast a documentary about the cult. Bent was found involved in sexual crimes and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.

3. George Ernest Roux

Cavaillon
Cavaillon

George Ernest Roux, also known as the Christ of Montfavert, and sometimes as George Christ, was born on 14 June 1903 in Cavaillon. He published three religious books in 1947, and in February 1954, he proclaimed that he was Jesus. On August 1973, he claimed to be God. He denied the existence of the devil, original sin, Jesus’ virgin birth and resurrection. He wrote a letter to Pope Pius XII to recognize his reincarnation officially. He founded Universal Christian Church, later known as Universal Alliance. Before founding the alliance, he had tried an artistic career in Paris, and had written a novel, a poem and a one act play. He married Jane Robert on April 12, 1928 and had six children with her. In the Second World War, he worked as an inspector in a post office and also healed people. He died on December 26, 1981.

4. Mitsuo Matayoshi

Mitsuo Matayoshi
Mitsuo Matayoshi

Mitsuo Matayoshi was born on February 5, 1944 in Ginowan, Okinawa prefecture, Japan. He studied at Chuo University in Tokyo and returned to Okinawa after graduation. He was a trained protestant preacher and ran a private school. He proclaimed the he was the only God Matayoshi Mitsuo Jesus Christ. In 1997, he founded the World Economic Community Part, based on his conviction that he was God. He claimed that he would do the last judgement. He was against permanent residency and naturalization of the non-Japanese immigrants and wanted them to go back to their homelands, even if they were born in Japan. He wanted to be the Prime Minister of Japan and also the Secretary General of United Nations.

5. Father Divine

Father Divine
Father Divine

Reverend Major Jealous Divine, also known as Father Divine, was born in 1876 in Hutchinson Island, Georgia or Rockville, Maryland and died September 10, 1965 in Philadelphia, U.S. Father Divine claimed that he was God and he is among the first few modern cult leaders and god claimants. Not much is known of his early childhood. He refused many offers to write his biography, saying it would not be useful or feasible to interpret his godly aspects by human beings. Father Divine contributed towards the economic independence and racial equality of his followers.

6. Yahweh ben Yahweh

Yahweh ben Yahweh
Yahweh ben Yahweh

Hulon Mitchell, Jr. was better known as Yahweh ben Yahweh, meaning God son of God. He was born to Reverend Dr. Hulon Mitchell Sr. and Dr. Pearl Mitchell on October 27, 1935 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, United States, and died on May 7, 2007 in Miami, Florida, U.S. He believed in the black supremacy, and founded a movement called Nation of Yahweh, in 1979. It was headquartered in Liberty City, Florida. He preached that all the prophets of the Bible were black and they would gain knowledge through him after believing in him as God. He also emphasized that all the white people were infidels. He was convicted of conspiracy for the murder of white people as an initiation rite to his cult. He was also convicted of beheading in one case.

7. Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia

Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia

In Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, Haile means power and Selassie means trinity, and together they stand for the Power of Trinity. He was born on July 23, 1892 and died on August 27, 1975. His official title was His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Elect of God. He had a large following of about 500,000 members of the Rastafari Movement, which began in Jamaica in 1930, after his coronation in Addis Ababa. According to the Rastafari, he was the God incarnate, although Hail Selassie himself never claimed it.

8. Prince Philip

Prince Philip
Prince Philip

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, the Duke of Edinburgh, was born to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, and Princess Alice of Battenberg on June 10, 1921 in Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece. He is considered God in a village of Yaohnanen, home to the Cargo cult. The prince himself never knew of their belief until it was brought to his attention by John Champion, the British resident Commissioner in Vanuatu. The Commissioner requested on behalf of the Yaohnanen that the prince send them a signed photograph of himself, which was accepted. The Yaohnanen believe that the prince is the son of Mountain God, who married a powerful lady and would return to their village.

9. Vissarion

VissarionSergey Anatolyevitch Torop, known by his followers as Vissarion, was born on January 14, 1961 in Krasnodar, Russian. He founded the movement Church of the Last Testament, also known as Community of Unified Faith, headquartered in the Siberian Taiga. On August 18, 1990, when he was 29 years old, he claimed for the first time that it had been revealed to him that he was Jesus reincarnate. On August 18, 1991, he announced it publicly it in Minusinsk. Vissarion claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus. He has about 2000 followers in the small settlement of Petropavlovka and about 5000 followers worldwide.

10. David Shayler

David Shayler
David Shayler

David Shayler was born on December 24, 1965 in Middlesborough, England. He attended John Hampden Grammar School in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and graduated from the University of Dundee. He worked as a journalist at the Sunday Times. He proclaimed ‘I am the Messiah and hold the secret of eternal life”. He also claims to have divine powers that can influence the weather. He is known for unsuccessfully plotting to kill the Libyan leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi. He also believed that the 9/11 attack was partly an American fabrication.

Conclusion

Having no company at all is better than having a bad company and similarly, having no god is better than having a false god. The reason is that worshipping false gods tarnishes and hardens the hearts, rendering them unable to accept light. Contrarily an atheist, who does not worship any god, has always the chance to be exposed to the light of truth. The difference between God almighty and the false gods is that the former is the creator, while the later are created by people for their ulterior purposes. Moreover the worship of God almighty is pure love and ecstasy while that of false gods is mere addiction and a neurological disorder.

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