Using Christ for Satan's Purposes

The town I live in, like most towns in southern Idaho, has a population which is probably 55% beige, 40% Hispanic, and 5% various other colors and nationalities. More or less. The neighbors on my right are of Mexican descent; the neighbors on my left are highly Caucasian and LDS. Both households are filled with good, decent, and friendly people, and so is my entire neighborhood, for the most part. (I haven't met the bad apples yet. I've only been in this home for seven months.)

That being said, I found an interesting card on my car the other day. It's about the size of a playing card, and is reminiscent of the old-sized baseball cards.

 

I read and speak enough Spanish to get the gist of it, and I have translation help for the rest (as I said, my community's heavily Hispanic).

This card, with the image of both the Virgin Mary and our Lord Jesus Christ, is for "Healer Esmerelda", whose "special of the month" is "palm reading" and prophecy through an "amulet".

On the other side, the eyeballs (supposedly "Esmeralda's", I assume) sit below her title:

"Clairvoyant and Spiritualist"

 which, of course, is discussed in the Bible in many places. 

For example, here's Deuteronomy 18: 9-14, where God through Moses is addressing His People →

"When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall NOT learn to follow the abominable practices of these nations. There shall not be found among you...anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has NOT ALLOWED YOU TO DO THIS."

So, I'm pretty sure that "Esmeralda" shouldn't be using Christ or His earthly mother as advertising fodder for her un-Godly practices. 

Here's some of that backside text, if you had any doubt: "By means of the lines on your hands and the Tarot (cards), I will tell your past, present, (and) future"... And then, be cast into Hell...

"Suffering from unknown ailments? No advancement at work? Unrequited love? (Do you) suffer from nerves, alcoholism, headaches, (or) sexual impotence? Cannot stay in the country? (That may hint at the audience for this...) (Do you) dare to be loved? Your (business - misspelled in Spanish) does not advance?"

If it were me, my answer to all of those problems would be, "Then come to Jesus. HE is the solution for all of these and many other problems, the most important of which is "How do I avoid an eternity cast into Hell for disobeying God's command to flee from people like this?" Don't condemn yourself to Hell for an abominable sin! But, of course, that's not Esmerelda's solution, despite the tacit "recommendation" of the Lord Almighty on the front side. She offers dream interpretations, palm reading, tarot card readings, and much more. The one that I don't get (maybe someone out there who's more familiar can help?) is this phrase: "Amarres y Endulzamientos $50", which is coming back from Google Translate (neither of us knew either word) as "Moorings and Sweeteners"? I don't understand that one, especially in context.

And of course, "immediate results" and "results in 72 hours"! And frankly, I believe her. Why? Because it's fairly clear that it's the devil's work going on here. And Satan wants his product to sell, so he's going to make it work! What kind of temptation is that if it's a ripoff? (Of course, some of these folks ARE just hackneyed con-artists. There's no real reason to fear those poor slobs. The worst you'll lose is your money with them. With someone like Esmeralda, presumably, you risk your very SOUL.

Why do I say that? Because of the symbology of Christ on the card. 

Look, advertising fortune telling is as old as the Torah, since we're looking at forbidding it in the Torah right now. "Do not turn to mediums and necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I Am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 19:31). "If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I (GOD) will set My Face against that person and will cut him off from among his people." (Lev. 20:6). 

But the ones you need to fear are not the frauds, although they can be annoying - throwing away money always is. It's when you throw your soul away to the devil that things get rough. And if there were ever a clearer sign that someone was from the devil than trying to use the symbology of Christ in a satanic function, it would have included a serpent in it. Adding the Virgin Mary, at twice Christ's height, is a very Catholic touch, again displaying who the target audience is - immigrant Mexican nationals in particular, especially those who might be desperate for one reason or another. The candles on the back, the prayer-candle design on the flowery front, even the amulet around Jesus' neck (the size of a gong! Can you imagine the Lord hiking the Judean countryside with a dinner plate around his neck?) all add to the impression that this chick is consecrated by the Catholic Church itself. But not even the Catholics would touch this deal with a ten foot pole. 

WARNING to ALL - WATCH OUT for anyone who USES his or her CHRISTIANITY as a badge of honor, ESPECIALLY while showing outward signs of NOT being a Christian at ALL! Whether it's the obvious connection to banned practices, or a politician claiming to be born again yet divorcing his wife for a younger model, or the evangelical wing of Congress arguing that they need to cut services to the poor.

Jesus Christ is in what you DO, not what you SAY. If you're Christian, it shows - you can't help it. 

I guarantee "Esmeralda" ain't no Christian!