Demons, Tuna and Armageddon
Continuing on from part one of my Hawaian adventure …
I enjoyed my boat trips down the wondrous Napali coast of Kauai, especially when my Whitianga friend Graham was skipper. Things were relaxed and tips were sometimes shared with crew members, a contrast to trips with the other skipper who was harder to work for. I was lucky in some ways, however, to be able to rent a room in his house beside the Hanalei River. He took me on several marine adventures, one being a fishing/surfing trip to the forbidden island of Ni’ihau, where only Hawaiians were permitted to land at that time.
The surf was not good so we took a chance and paddled onto a beach that was covered in rubbish that had drifted in on prevailing currents and washed up there. Surfboards, body boards, life rings, glass fishing buoys from Asian fishing boats and myriad other debris littered the beach. We gathered a few souvenirs and gingerly paddled our way back to the boat, hoping for no encounters with the many sharks purported to inhabit Ni’ihau’s waters. The next day we went tuna fishing and landed two large yellow-fin tuna, which the captain sold to a restaurant in Hanalei on our return. He was an avid seaman, who used to chase birds in his boat to find the baitfish the yellow fins fed on and when they swam away from him at a speed faster than his boat would go, he would swear at them and claim they were demons possessed by the devil, sent to torment him. Needless to say, I saw them as just fish, pretty much as far away from demons as you could get.
As you can imagine, we had very different personalities and being an American christian he sometimes questioned what I am sure he considered were my heathen ways. Like the time he refused to lend me the dinghy to cross the river to attend a Halloween party because he thought Halloween was of the devil, and another time I had a date with a woman and he asked me, “What if Jesus returns tonight and finds you with a woman you are not married to?” I quickly reminded him of Jesus’ failure to enact the second coming while the captain was living with his former girlfriend during the previous few years. And if he did return, I would be consigned to hell’s fires anyway for not accepting him as my personal saviour. Oh well.
We also had interesting discussions about how many people his god had killed, as told in the old testament, through floods, fire and brimstone, plagues, etc., for disobedience, worshipping a golden calf, sexual immorality or complaining about food. These victims of god’s wrath are estimated to have been in the millions and yet, I was told as a child that god loves us. Please forgive me for pondering on whether god himself was breaking the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill”. It’s not that I am doubting the commandment. After all, to my mind, we shouldn’t kill each other, not even in times of war. “Ah, but what about in situations of self-defence or to protect family or friends?” I hear you say. Well, I will let you know if or when I am faced with such a situation. Mind you, in that case I could be confronted by other biblical admonitions like “resist not evil” or “turn the other cheek”. My god, it must be difficult to live a biblically literal life of piety. Another subject of discussion was along the lines of, “If god is perfect, why would he create beings that he considers to be imperfect, i.e., humans, and especially homosexuals, adulterers, etc?” My flatmate’s reply was that gays are not born gay but choose that lifestyle – a discussion subject for another day, as it could take some time. So, he and I had some interesting chats which eventually led to him asking me to leave his house. I thanked him for his hospitality and wished him well.
At the time, I didn’t think very deeply about the consequences of American christian beliefs. But now, with the dire state of politics in the world, I can’t help wondering why America is led and controlled by christians (except for their present president, who seems more like a demon to me), many of whom are evangelicals who adhere to a literal interpretation of certain biblical prophesies, one being the belief in the war of Armageddon, the rapture and the second coming of Jesus. There seem to be certain conditions necessary for these events to come to pass including the expansion of Israel to occupy its ancestral lands and the return of the Jewish people to Israel. It seems similar to today’s wars that Israel is prosecuting. I must say it is a bit scary to me that these prophecies seem to be receiving a helping hand in the form of mega-financing from American christian groups and the US government provision of arms and ammunition to help in the fulfilment of these prophecies. (Check out on Youtube a 2-part series called “Praying for Armageddon” parts 1 and 2 if you are interested in this stuff).
It is unclear whether these biblical prophecies are meant to be taken literally, in which case we are in for one hell of an American christian-backed war in which most of us will probably die; or whether they are metaphorical, referring to strategies of contemplation and meditation leading to a higher spiritual goal, in which case we can relax a bit and actually practise humanity, compassion and love for our fellow humans by not killing, by at least trying to turn the other cheek and by breaking down the divisions we have created and becoming more unified as a species. I guess it’s all up to what you choose to believe. Being a peace loving, non-religious, Kiwi, I would choose the peaceful way and one way to achieve that would be for America and Europe to stop arming and financing Israel. But hey, war is good business, so the chances of that happening are about equal to pigs growing wings. Of course, stopping the genocide in Gaza seems like wishful thinking. The old testament talks about “an eye for an eye,” but if that principle of refraining from excess retaliation were followed, Israel would have left Gaza after the deaths of 1400 Palestinians. They have exceeded this number by at least 5000 per cent. It is time to stop. I know there are many who would disagree with me, and say that it is more complicated than I imagine, especially my old American flatmate in Hawaii, but I for one am not praying for Armageddon. I just want the killing to stop. I’d rather go fishing than burn in a human-induced nuclear holocaust or the fires of hell, if such a place exists.
Anyway, after leaving my skipper’s house I stayed in a friend’s caravan and did gardening to pay the rent. Hawaii was my first and only experience of America. I learned a lot about myself there, but apart from my skipper flatmate I didn’t really get to know any Americans. On our first meeting, some of them suggested we get together at a later date, but it never seemed to happen. I guess they were busy with work and family. I have never felt a desire to go to America again. Amen.
Words by Ross Liggins
Coromind: Coromandel’s Collaborative Magazine
Help us take Coromind Magazine to new heights by becoming a member. Click here
Change the Weather for Your Business: Advertise with Us.
Advertise your business in the whole Hauraki Coromandel in the coolest Coromandel Art Magazine, from Waihi Beach/Paeroa /Thames up to the Great Barrier Island.
Advertise Smarter, Not Harder: Get in Touch
