Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Freak Show

This out of Miami, FL:


The minister has the number 666 tattooed on his arm. But Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is not your typical minister. De Jesus, or "Daddy" as his thousands of followers call him, does not merely pray to God: He says he is God.

"The spirit that is in me is the same spirit that was in Jesus of Nazareth," de Jesus says.

De Jesus' claims of divinity have angered Christian leaders, who say he is a fake. Religious experts say he may be something much more dangerous, a cult leader who really believes he is God...

De Jesus, 61, grew up poor in Puerto Rico. He says he served stints in prison there for petty theft and says he was a heroin addict.

De Jesus says he learned he was Jesus reincarnate when he was visited in a dream by angels.

"The prophets, they spoke about me. It took me time to learn that, but I am what they were expecting, what they have been expecting for 2,000 years," de Jesus says.

The church that he began building 20 years ago in Miami resembles no other:

  • Followers have protested Christian churches in Miami and Latin America, disrupting services and smashing crosses and statues of Jesus.
  • De Jesus preaches there is no devil and no sin. His followers, he says, literally can do no wrong in God's eyes.
  • The church calls itself the "Government of God on Earth" and uses a seal similar to the United States.

  • ...

    And what about the tattoo of 666 on his arm?

    Although it's a number usually associated with Satan, not the son of God, de Jesus says that 666 and the Antichrist are, like him, misunderstood.

    The Antichrist is not the devil, de Jesus tells his congregation; he's the being who replaces Jesus on Earth.

    "Antichrist is the best person in the world," he says. "Antichrist means don't put your eyes on Jesus because Jesus of Nazareth wasn't a Christian. Antichrist means do not put your eyes on Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Put it on Jesus after the cross."

    And de Jesus says that means him...

    "If somebody tells us drink some Kool-Aid and we'll go to heaven, that's not true. We are already in heavenly places," follower Martita Roca told CNN after having 666 tattooed onto her ankle.

    So if you find your church kinda boring on Sunday mornings, be glad.