The Vision, pp. 235-46<\/strong><\/p>\n What is this mess.<\/p>\n Asher stood on the hill where The Last Publishers offices were located. Below he could see Cheyenne sitting beside the rock herb pond, dangling her feet in the ice spring water. She had changed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Had she, now? Had she really?<\/p>\n I am getting damnably tired of the\u00a0tell, don\u2019t show\u00a0<\/em>in this book.<\/p>\n He recognized in her the same feeling of destiny that he had experienced after his mission trip. Seeing life and death up so close purifies one\u2019s perspective, purging out the mundane and irrelevant, leaving only the eternal. A melancholy came over him as he realized he missed her childish antics, her flirtatious nonsense that came from always assuming that life would just keep on being the same safe, happy place that it had always been.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I don\u2019t buy this, for two reasons. First, Cheyenne does not actually seem any different, and she still does that flirtatious nonsense. Second, I don\u2019t think Cheyenne at all saw things as as safe or happy before as Asher seems to think.<\/p>\n Frankly, this would read more realistically if Asher were a serial killer stalking Cheyenne, and making his own guesses and assumptions about her internal life, all in the name of eventually justifying whatever he does to her.<\/p>\n The bombing and birds, and then the murder of the young Muslim girl had taken something from Cheyenne \u2026 from all of them. Young Magdalene looked like a scarecrow; Bobbie Jo was often visibly sad. Even Dusty and Ben seemed subdued. It was like eating from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Until then they had only known good folks. Now they had stared evil in the face, heard his scratch voice, and seen his deadly deeds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n They live in a town governed by white supremacists long out to get them and their land, but sure. I just. Why can\u2019t Debi\u00a0show\u00a0<\/em>us this instead of\u00a0telling\u00a0<\/em>us it? And I still don\u2019t buy it! They don\u2019t actually act any differently!<\/p>\n Next we see Cheyenne sitting by the herb pond and crying over how precious life is, which I suppose does seem somewhat different from Cheyenne Before The Bombing, but it\u2019s immediately followed by this:<\/p>\n Bobbie Jo and Julie had been crammed into the backside of one of the warehouses packing her herb orders while she lallygagged in Hope\u2019s herb garden. She grinned.\u00a0Oh well, the perks of\u00a0being boss.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n First, this is more evidence that every workplace Debi has known has been awful, but second, this does not seem any different from old Cheyenne\u00a0at all.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Food and Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n Now it\u2019s time for a meal. Everyone goes to the dining hall.<\/p>\n Yancey has questions.<\/p>\n \u201cYo, Malachi, I\u2019ve been wondering about da passage dat speaks about da USA, Russia, and Israel in prophesy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Why is Yancey here?<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I looked up all dose woids you listed, and it appears dat da good old USA might be in for some hot lava. I found verses in Jeremiah 50 and 51 dat seems to say dis. So, whaddya say?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Uh.<\/p>\n Malachi responds:<\/p>\n \u201cThe passage you\u2019re referring to in Jeremiah 50 and 51 prophesies of a nation that is the\u00a0hindmost of the nations,\u00a0<\/i>which means that it is the youngest of the powerful nations. It says it is\u00a0the hammer of the whole earth,\u00a0<\/em>that is, it is responsible for nation building, and it is populated with what is termed\u00a0mingled people\u00a0<\/em>\u2026 many different nationalities forming the citizenry.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Okay. Jeremiah 50<\/a> and Jeremiah 51<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jeremiah 50 starts with this: \u201cThe word that the Lord<\/span> spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.\u201d To me that rather sounds like it\u2019s\u00a0about the past\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>about the future. This is about a specific moment in the history of Israel and Babylon, etc.,\u00a0not about the tribulation.\u00a0<\/em>But try telling evangelicals that!<\/p>\n 9\u00a0<\/sup>For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.<\/span><\/p>\n 10\u00a0<\/sup>And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n 11\u00a0<\/sup>Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;<\/span><\/p>\n 12\u00a0<\/sup>Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations<\/strong> shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n That, of course, is the King James Version. Interestingly enough, that last phrase is translated as follows in more recent translations: \u201cBehold, she will be<\/i> the least of the nations,\u00a0<\/span>A wilderness, a dry land and a desert.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Malachi is just making things up here.<\/p>\n What about Malachi\u2019s comment about \u201cthe hammer of the whole earth\u201d being a reference to a country \u201cresponsible for nation building,\u201d aka the USA? Here\u2019s the bit he\u2019s talking about (in the KJV again):<\/p>\n 23\u00a0<\/sup>How is the hammer of the whole earth<\/strong> cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!<\/span><\/p>\n 24\u00a0<\/sup>I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord<\/span>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The \u201chammer of the whole earth\u201d is a reference to\u00a0Babylon.\u00a0<\/em>As in, ancient Babylon. Man, evangelicals get trippy when they start reading all these bits as prophesy about the future, rather than commentary on an (ancient) present.<\/p>\n Okay. What about the \u201cmingled people\u201d reference?<\/p>\n 35\u00a0<\/sup>A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord<\/span>, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.<\/span><\/p>\n 36\u00a0<\/sup>A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.<\/span><\/p>\n 37\u00a0<\/sup>A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people<\/strong> that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n What.<\/p>\n Now, in fairness, the New American Standard Bible reads: \u201cAnd against all the foreigners who are in the midst of her.\u201d However, it reads this way because we are talking about Babylon, which conquered other nations and sometimes moved entire populations. This verse is in no way<\/em> a reference to the fact that the USA is a diverse country. FFS.<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s Yancey:<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, so how is dis nation suppose to be destroyed?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Malachi tells him to read the verses and makes some references to droughts and plagues and mountains coming down\u2014which I assume we\u2019re to think is probably a reference to Yellowstone erupting.<\/p>\n Cool.<\/p>\n Someone asks why the US would be destroyed when so many other countries are even more wicked, and Malachi says \u201cto whom much is given, much is required,\u201d and then talks about child pornography and killing babies (i.e. abortion), which for some reason makes me think of the three children who died because their parents followed Michael Pearl\u2019s child training advice and beat their kids. You know, Michael Pearl, our author Debi Pearl\u2019s husband.<\/p>\n Why is it that those who style themselves as defenders of children, when it comes to issues like child pornography or abortion, are so often downright gleeful<\/em> about beating children?<\/p>\n Debi includes this passage:<\/p>\n \u201cGod says concerning those who offend these little ones that it is better for them to be cast into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause such offense.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Uh, Debi. Mirror. Look in a mirror.<\/p>\n Anyway, Michael\u2014oh, I\u2019m sorry,\u00a0Malachi<\/em>\u2014then adds that the most immediate reason the US is about to be cursed is that it is stepping away from its friendship with Israel:<\/p>\n \u201cGod kept his promise to bless us while we blessed Israel, and in 200 years we became the greatest nation in modern history.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019m sorry, what? Israel became a country in 1949<\/em>.<\/p>\n These fetishists, it\u2019s\u00a0gross.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Oh, and for line most indicative of the problems in this book, we have:<\/p>\n \u201cWe worry about Muslims, White Supremacists, volcanoes and such.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What even is this book?!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Okay, that\u2019s the end of the chapter, but let\u2019s look ahead and see what else there is \u2026 oh I see, nothing but everyone pressuring Magdalene to call her dad and asking her what the \u201cbig deal\u201d is anyway.\u00a0She is a runaway!\u00a0<\/em>Do they not realize that calling her dad will\u00a0probably\u00a0<\/em>mean she has to return to him? He\u2019s abusive! And why are all these people so mean to Magdalene! Bobby Jo\u00a0pushes\u00a0<\/em>her and tells her to \u201cstop procrastinating and just call\u201d!\u00a0Leave her alone!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n There\u2019s also this bit:<\/p>\n The girls spent a few minutes quietly praying with Magdalene.<\/p>\n They still had their heads down when Bobbie Jo pinched Cheyenne\u2019s bottom. \u201cOuch,\u201d Cheyenne whispered grouchily. \u201cWhat\u2019s your problem, you knot-head? Why do you always pinch or kick me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, cool it. You\u2019re too sensitive,\u201d Bobbie Jo chided.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What even is this book.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Oh and Bobbie Jo gets angry that they can\u2019t go bowling or swimming at the creek, since they\u2019re staying on the compound to ensure their safety, and declares: \u201cBunch of stinking, murdering Muslims!\u201d So there\u2019s that. Cheyenne tells her to \u201cWatch it, BoJo,\u201d but Debi tells us that \u201cCheyenne\u2019s rebuke held little conviction.\u201d So there\u2019s also that.<\/em><\/p>\n One last thing: everyone is chilling on the hill above the house, and there\u2019s a playground back there where \u201ceight little boys\u201d are \u201cbuilding a fort\u201d nad \u201cthe same number of small girls\u201d are \u201cplaying princesses.\u201d Which makes me wonder whether Debi has ever actually watched children or tried to get to know them. These sixteen children\u2014eight boys and eight girls\u2014are apparently all Malachi and Hope\u2019s grandchildren from their first four children, whom we never meet or learn the names of.\u00a0Cheyenne tells Bobbie Jo that once she starts having kids, her parents are probably going to end up with 30 grandkids.<\/p>\n