He Says He’s Not The Messiah

By Miss Cellania in Religion on Mar 30, 2010 at 1:50 pm

Author and food activist Raj Patel says he is not the Messiah. But after his appearance on the TV show The Colbert Report, he found himself to be an object of worship for a religious group. Patel only wanted to plug his latest book called The Value of Nothing.

Their reasoning? Patel’s background and work coincidentally matched a series of prophecies made by an 87-year-old Scottish mystic called Benjamin Creme, the leader of a little-known religious group known as Share International. Because he matched the profile, hundreds of people around the world believed that Patel was the living embodiment of a figure they called Maitreya, the Christ or “the world teacher”.

His job? To save the world, and everyone on it.

“It was just really weird,” he said. “Clearly a case of mistaken identity and clearly a case of people on the internet getting things wrong.”

Patel has issued a denial of holiness on his website, where he compares his situation to the Monty Python movie The Life of Brian. Followers have traveled thousands of miles to see him. Link -via Metafilter

(image credit: Eliot Khuner)

Tags: cult, messiah, prophesy

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Juice
Mar 30th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
He’s a very naughty boy!
amazed
Mar 30th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
He IS the Messiah, I should know, I’ve followed a few.
DOuglas2
Mar 30th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
“the EU and the USA can subsidize their farmers to the tune of billions of dollars a year, while farmers in developing countries are given no such support and are cast into the winds of the free market” Raj Patel
http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/10819?in=02:52&out=03:29
marishka
Mar 30th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
At least he’s level-headed enough not to believe them. Imagine if the Share thought it was someone who’s slightly off their rocker!
meg
Mar 30th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
The comments on that post are truly horrific…from accusations of this being a marketing ploy between him and Benjamin Creme, to people screaming that he’s the anti-Christ! People these days…just leave the guy alone! His books seem good enough (haven’t read an entire one yet), and he seems sane enough, so I’m going to definitely give him the benefit of the doubt on this…
Lauren
Mar 30th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
… or is this an Improv Everywhere thing?
Prairie Dog
Mar 30th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Just to set the record straight, since it might come up, I am also not the messiah.
zav
Mar 30th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
I have been wondering recently, IS Prairie Dog’s denial of being the messiah, proof that he IS the messiah? I think it must be so.
trix
Mar 31st, 2010 at 2:10 am
Attention !!!
Raj Patel could be the false messiah or the false prophet.

To all Christians read the 2. Thessalonians Chapter 2.
The rapture of Jesus Christ is coming soon.

Here are the links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Oo4HmvK2U

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/267526/march-15 -2010/i-can-t-believe-it-s-not-buddha—raj-patel

http://www.share-international.org/
rahul sharma
Mar 31st, 2010 at 2:51 am
jesus was great no one rises finger on it
knowledge is power
Mar 31st, 2010 at 4:23 am
Raj Patel is being used as a mouthpiece for maitreya. Don’t be fooled by any of these smooth talking liars.
B.M.
Mar 31st, 2010 at 5:07 am
“Cast off the shoe, follow the gourd” “How shall we fuck off, my lord?”
Necronomic Recovery
Mar 31st, 2010 at 6:12 am
So much crazy in one little post…
Bababooey
Mar 31st, 2010 at 7:29 am
Whatever. Religion is all superstition anyway. Jesus is just Santa Claus for adults.

Those of you who wear crucifixes – when Jesus returns, don’t you think the LAST thing he’s going to want is to look at a cross?
ViralVestibule
Mar 31st, 2010 at 8:03 am
We just need to ask his mother if she’s a virgin.
Me
Mar 31st, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Ah yes, the perpetual pre-trib search for the antichrist continues… This guy doesn’t strike me as evil and he’s not a politician…. But I suppose if he gets fatally wounded and miraculously survives, it’ll be a dead giveaway. ….Oh wow, poor guy, I hope people don’t start trying to kill him over this!
Rich T
Mar 31st, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Shut up, big nose.
thelibrarianne
Mar 31st, 2010 at 8:36 pm
I’ve met Raj Patel when he spoke at an event sponsored by the nonprofit that I work for. He’s a great speaker and quite a figure in the food policy world. He also swears like a sailor and signed his book Stuffed and Starved for me with the inscription “With deep f****** appreciation for the work you do, Raj” at my request that he swear in his inscription. So basically, he’s awesome. I’m not sure he’s the messiah, but if he is, I’m glad I got to drink a beer with him.
brycemeister
Mar 31st, 2010 at 11:56 pm
That last comment rocked.

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