Reverse Jeremiahs
Jeremiah preached doom and was hated for it. Reputedly eventually stoned to death *after* his prophecies had all come true. Cassandra had nothing on Jeremiah.
But nowadays preachers of gloom do pretty well by themselves. So much so that its hard to tell who is sincere and who is a grift.
Meanwhile in the middle of dozens of undeniable social and political ills, some of which have serious catastrophic potential, church leaders are markedly NOT preaching gloom. We seem to be in a reverse Jeremiah situation.
So what gives?
Part of it may have been that Jeremiah was preaching to the people in charge, whereas our podcasters and our prophets are talking to the world at large.
It may also be that modern gloom isn’t usually a call to action or change, but a call to despair and apathy and, if any action is taken, lashing out in expressive but unproductive ways. Probably it wouldn’t be popular if it weren’t for that.
But I really don’t know.
Filed under: We transcend your bourgeois categories | No Tag
Zen
October 26, 2026
It really is the best of times AND the worst of times. But it really is both. Neither by itself is accurate.
One thing about Jeremiah that morbidly amuses me, is that when he preaches that Babylon will conquer Jerusalem, he is met with opposition.
After Jerusalem has been conquered, he tells the remaining poor, that if they chill and relax, it will be ok. But they still refuse, and abduct him as they run down to Egypt.
No matter what he said, they opposed it.