Sister, Sister

 

  On May 31^st, 1848 the home of John Fox began to experience strange rapping noise. Mrs. Fox, described as gullible and excitable, told the neighbors about the unusual phenomenon. They of course wanted to hear for themselves. The noises seemed to center on the two daughters Margaret, age 8, and Kate, 6. The noises seemed random and mysterious until someone suggested a simple code, which allowed the raps to answer questions. Slowly the family and visitors to the house were made to understand that a disembodied spirit was generating the sound.

  An older married sister, Leah, returned for a visit and discovered the local interest in the strange raps. She quickly organized a Society of Spiritualists and took charge of her young sisters, promoting their occult powers. For a hefty fee, audiences could commune with the spirits and ask their own questions.

  The girls became the center not only of a Victorian fad, but also a religious cause. The new religion attracted celebrities like Horace Greeley, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Mary Todd Lincoln, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  By 1888, there were eight million Spiritualists in the United States.

  It however was a fraud. On October 21, 1888, Margaret Fox would confess it had all been a prank by the girls to terrify their superstitious mother. They used a few simple tricks, like snapping their toe joint to cause the sounds. The older sister had turned the kids' trick into a major religious movement.

It Wasn’t just these sisters that fooled people into false beliefs. Over the centuries many used ruses and deceit to establish faith in the false. Jesus warned about it (Mark 13:22), and Paul cautioned Christians to not fall for it(2^nd Thessalonians 2:9).

  Real religion is found in fads and gimmicks. It’s found in faith and truth.  It is sad to me how people will jump right into hoaxes and conspiracy theories yet will reject the thousands of years of evidence of the Bible.  Don’t buy into the fake bit. Seek real truth.