Vanity drives us to think we are more than we are while believing that God is less than He is. Vanity takes form in idols. The most vain, who serve idols in order to pretend they are, themselves, gods, have several things in common:
1. They do not let themselves see that vanity destroys their ability and desire to solve problems. The fads they embrace are, in fact, programmed so that we could see the results of delusions and avoid vanity and idols that cause and encourage such delusions in our own lives. “The Environment”, for instance, said in awed tones, shows only their idolization of entities and processes programmed around us. “Protecting the environment” serves only as an excuse for vain foolishness that includes riches and political power.
2. Vanity and its idols allow us to see how irrational those who separate themselves from God will become in order to exalt themselves. When we consider, for instance, that the nuclear reactors they refuse to build will produce electricity for less than two cents a kilowatt hour and also know that the windmills they encourage produce the same amount of power for $1.20/kwh, we see that the corrupted mind is able to prefer and justify that which impoverishes their neighbors by a factor of sixty times in order to serve an idol who lives only within their individual and collective minds.
3. We see, then, that maintaining delusions is more important to them than loving truth or helping neighbors.
4. There is among them an ongoing desire to be wrong and hurtful to their neighbors.
We are then left with questions:
A. Do we pray for them? Yes. We know that The Programmer has the power to send truthful spirits into human minds, reprogramming them from evil to good, leading the lost from Hell to Heaven. It is our duty to encourage those who have embraced lies to seek the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We may help in this by asking God to send truthful spirits into their minds.
B. Will they go to Hell if left to their own devices? Yes. Their minds are clouded by vanity and hate that keeps their souls from salvation by refusing to believe and obey God and by willingly and repeatedly hurting their neighbors.
C. Should we be happy about their fate? No. Those with an inkling of God’s power know that we have been given our opportunities of salvation only by His Grace and Mercy, without which we would be, like them, overwhelmed by our own vanity and reduced to worshipping the same idols. We want others to share in joy and salvation, not be denied it because of their ongoing, willful disregard of His Operating Instructions.
