From Ignorance to Innocence - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 4. DANGER: TRUTH AT WORK
the Christian congregations gathered. All the priests – who are enemies of each other, continually
fighting, arguing about who is right, who is wrong and who is closer to Christ and God and who is not
closer, and who is really orthodox and who has just gone astray – they all gathered there together.
All the priests, with all their congregations, before the county courthouse... for what? To pray against
the Antichrist, to save Wasco County.
Now who is the Antichrist in Wasco County? And Wasco County needs to be saved from the
Antichrist? I really enjoyed it, that they are all praying for me – because I don’t think there is anybody
else who can claim to be the Antichrist. But I am a little crazy. They say I am anti-Christ, anti-Buddha,
anti-Mahavira, anti-Krishna, anti-semite.... Anything – just put ”anti” before it and it refers to me. And
in reality I am just for myself and not against anybody. I don’t care a bit about Christ, so why should
I be anti-Christ? I don’t care about anybody! They never cared about me, why should I care about
them?
These people go on.... The journalists asked the priests, ”Who is the Antichrist?” and they were not
even courageous enough to utter my name. They just went round and round answering, ”We are
just praying so that the county is saved from evil forces.” But why only Wasco County? Are all the evil
forces gathered here in Wasco County? They should have gone to the White House in Washington
and prayed there. because if all the evil forces are gathered anywhere, there are two places: the
Kremlin and the White House. And if the world is going to suffer, it is going to suffer from these two
places: the Kremlin and the White House.
But the strangest thing about these priests is: in the second world war in England they were praying
to God, the Christian God, for England’s victory, for Winston Churchill’s safety; and the Christians
in Rome, where the pope is, in the Vatican, were praying for Mussolini’s safety and his victory – to
the same Christian God. Not only that, Adolf Hitler was being blessed by the Christian bishops, and
they were praying for his victory – to the same Christian God. Now what happened to that Christian
God? He must have committed suicide! How to decide? – all are his people, and his agents are
praying. In whose favor is He going to decide?
And Christians don’t see the point that when Adolf Hitler is in power, then the Christian priest prays
for Adolf Hitler. He is just a coward. He could not say, ”I will not pray for you and the ideology
you stand for. I am going to pray that you should be defeated.” But no, brave people don’t become
priests; they have other, better things to do. These are cowards. And these cowards go on poisoning
other people’s minds; they make other people cowards. They have destroyed the whole of humanity
and made it into a madhouse.
So if the masses are against me, it is expected. It cannot be otherwise, it is natural.
What is unexpected is that there are a few people all around the world who are able to stand with
me, who are courageous enough to put their prejudices aside and listen to me, who are intelligent
enough to recognize the truth when they come across it – whatsoever the cost and whatsoever the
consequence.
In fact, nobody before me has had such intelligent people as I have got around the world, people of
such caliber, so receptive, so willing to go through the fire test.
Yes, it is walking on fire when you go towards truth.
From Ignorance to Innocence 53 Osho