The God Factor

I'm sure you've noticed the numerous references to God, the bible, Jesus, faith, prayer, and prophecy when it comes to discussions about the Iraqi dinar.  You see, this investment caught fire a couple of years ago in churches as people of faith were sold on the idea that the rebuilding of Iraq is the fulfillment of biblical prophecies about the end times' Babylon.  Many (if not most) of them had never done any investing at all and had absolutely no knowledge of how currencies are valued.  A lot of them gravitated toward Frank Villa's site and conference calls because he is the most skilled at weaving together bible study, prayer, intel, and news analysis.  IMO many other gurus took their cue from Frank and started marketing to the church crowd as well.  Submitted for your approval:

• Roger Dorman (Dinar Daddy) - "We see the “waters receding”, and the tidal wave will be upon us without any warning.  As I’ve said a few times before, find YOUR “highest ground” awaiting the wave to roll in and to prepare.  Mine is on my knees literally and figuratively thanking my Heavenly Father."  9/17/2010
• Rudy Coenen - "I HAVE REACHEDOUT TO FRANK26, WE HAVE EMBRACED AND AM HONORED TO CALL HIM MY BROTHER IN JESUS CHRIST."  10/1/2010
• Steve "Enorrste" Norris - "there is only one God, and He has revealed Himself in His own Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."  7/30/2010
• Steve Irwin (SteveI) - "Please remember to Trust God for today–and prepare for tomorrow because God seldom does great things in a hurry."  3/28/2011
• Okie Oilman - "THE ONLY DETAILS I KNOW NOW IS IT DID R/V AT 3.68---SHOULD KNOW MORE IN THE MORNING ... WHAT A BIRTHDAY PRESENT---PRAISE JESUS--THANK YOU GOD"  8/24/2011

By now you're probably familiar with the George Robinson "prophecy".  On the heels of the failed May 21 doomsday prediction of Harold Camping, a so-called prophet named George Robinson said that God showed him that the dinar would revalue from May 29-June 10, 2011 at $3.87-$3.89.  (Apparently God doesn't have the rate and date quite nailed down either.)  Frank Villa invited him on to a conference call or two to elaborate about what God had shown him. (They even threw in a little faith healing during the call.  I kid you not.)  Well a lot of Christians jumped all over that and started scooping up as much of the filthy lucre as humanly possible prior to May 29.  And of course, the dates came and went with no RV and to this day their money is in the hands of dinar dealers and the infidel Babylonians.      

Now I have nothing against faith or expressing one's faith in the right circumstances.  But it does seem to me that there's a bit of religious grandstanding going on here.  Can you imagine these kinds of references going on in say, a forum for Google investors or real estate speculators?  What is it about the dinar that attracts people of faith so much?  Well as I stated earlier I believe that a lot of it stems from the biblical references to Babylon.

Okay I'm hardly a theologian or an expert on bible prophecy, but I think I know enough about this topic to make a few cogent points.

First of all, bible prophecy doesn't have to be interpreted literally.  The book of Jeremiah says that Babylon will be destroyed and remain desolate forever so there is no need to insist that it will be rebuilt.  The bible uses a lot of what is called apocalyptic literature.  According to Wikipedia "The imagery in apocalyptic literature is not realistic or reflective of the physical world as it was, but is rather surreal and fantastic, invoking a sense of wonder at the complete newness of the new order to come."  This imagery is used extensively in bible prophecy, and is not meant to be taken literally, according to many scholars.   Prophecy is about as open to interpretation as any subject in the bible.  If you study church history you'll find that the early church referred to Rome as Babylon.  Some believe that Babylon is a reference to Jerusalem or Israel.  Others believe that it refers to the Catholic Church or the apostate church of the end times.  Some people even think Babylon is a reference to the world financial system or Wall Street.  So to assume that it can only pertain to the region of the Babylon of biblical times is wrong.

Second, even if the bible's reference to Babylon is correctly interpreted as Iraq, there's no reason to conclude that it's the Iraq of today.  It could be 100 or 500 years away.  So it's presumptuous to conclude that what is happening today is the fulfillment of the prophecies about Babylon.

And finally, even if the bible is referring to modern day Iraq, the bible also says not to have anything to do with Babylon, (Rev. 18: 4,5) so Christians buying up Iraqi dinar could be helping to fund the rebuilding of the ungodly system of the end times.  Not a good idea.

Jesus told his followers to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves.  Far too many modern day Christians lack the widsom to see through charlatans and quacks.  This is obvious from the response that some of these gurus get when they post their intel about absurd rates and nonsensical bank rumors.  "Thanks for sharing that.  You're such a blessing!" .... etc.  What they should be saying is "break that rate down for me and show me where the money is going to come from to pay us all $4 per dinar."  When a guru says that they're cashing in dinar for 35 cents in Kuwait they should be asking "why would they pay 35 cents for dinar when they could get it from Iraq for a tenth of a penny?"

If you're a Christian I think it should concern you that fellow so-called Christians are conducting conference calls where they start off with prayer and then proceed to spread lies for an hour or two.  You should be offended that people are using the name of God to exploit the poor and the ignorant and vulnerable among us.

The following is taken from www.bible-history.com.

The word "moneychanger" means money-banker or money-broker. They would make large profits at the expense of the pilgrims. Every Israelite, rich or poor, who had reached the age of twenty was obligated to pay a half shekel as an offering to Jehovah into the sacred treasury. This tribute was in every case to be paid in the exact Hebrew half shekel. At Passover everyone in the world who was an adult male and wished to worship at the Temple would bring his "offering" or purchase a sacrificial animal at the Temple. Since there was no acceptance of foreign money with any foreign image the money changers would sell "Temple coinage" at a very high rate of exchange and assess a fixed charge for their services. 

I tihink it's fitting that the only time in the bible when Jesus got mad enough to break out a whip and go after somebody it had to do with ripping off people of faith over an exchange rate.  Interesting, huh?   What do you think Jesus would do today?  

I can't tell you how many times I've seen somebody post "hey let's all pray for the RV" as though they're the first ones to ever think of that.  I've seen SteveI from People's Dinar actually command Iraq to RV their currency.  "So Iraq, listen carefully as you will only get us to do this only one time; Now by the powers invested in me, I hereby authorize and command that you immediately commence the revaluation process."  (5/16/2011)  I've seen posts that ask believers to fast and pray to show God how serious you are about wanting the RV.  None of this has accomplished anything.

Here's my suggestion.  Maybe it's time to leave God out of the equation and just see this for what it is.  A crap shoot.  A long shot.  In other words, gambling.