You may have thought that the Berlin Wall was brought down by the economic and political bankruptcy of the East German government in 1989, or maybe because of the impromptu actions of enthusiastic Berliners who just kind of spontaneously went all nutty and freedomy and sledge-hammery, or perhaps even as a result of delayed echoes from a 1987 sonic attack by Ronald Reagan, but last week we learned that all of these hypotheses were incorrect! What really did it, according to televangelist Kenneth Copeland, was a handful of East German fundamentalists who were "talking to [the Wall] in the name of Jesus," and telling it to fall down for years and years, and "just suddenly one day, thpppppppt, down it went."

This electrifying revision of recent history was revealed by Copeland in a rambling tale told to his teevee guest, noted history-fabricator David Barton. Right Wing Watch explains that Copeland is a believer in "Word of Faith," which is the notion

that Christians can use “positive confession” to speak things into existence, typically physical health and material wealth. During Believer’s Voice of Victory, he claimed that his books and those of fellow Word-Faith preacher Kenneth Hagin were used to bring down the Berlin Wall, to which the self-declared “historian” Barton eagerly agreed.

So remember, if the idea that wishful thinking will alter reality is dressed up with New-Agey affirmations in a hodgepodge of idiocy like The Secret, then that is a Satanic threat to Biblical Truth. On the other hand, if the idea that wishful thinking will alter reality is dressed up with some Bible verses in a hodgepodge of idiocy like Copeland and Hagin's, well then, that is a tax-exempt ministry and a way to connect people with the Lord and bring freedom to Eastern Europe. (Or it may be heresy and witchcraft, depending on which group of fundamentalists you're talking to).

In any case, it seems rather unsporting of Copeland to not give any credit at all to the folks with the sledgehammers. But we will be the first to admit that we sometimes let trivial details like that get in the way of recognizing miracles.

Don’t forget to join Doktor Zoom tomorrow to find out whether this version of the collapse of Communism made it into a Christian World History textbook! (Spoiler alert: No.)

[ Right Wing Watch ]

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