PERSPECTIVErnX2K: aut Christus aut nihilrnby Thomas FlemingrnPut Christ back in Xmas” was the slogan of a popularrncampaign to cloak America’s prime commercial holicla’rnwith Christian decenc). Its promoters meant well, ofrncourse, even though the offending “X” was nothing other thanrnthe Greek letter chi, the first letter of Cliristos, and a commonrnsymbol both for Christ and the cross.rnConsidering the condihon of our seminaries, Christian ministersrncan scarcely be blamed for their ignorance of Greek andrntheologv, but some pastors miglit do well to focus a little less onrnpolihes and social issues and a litde more on putting the “X”rnback into the lives of their flocks. We heard a great deal in 1999rnabout the looming menace of Y2K and Bill Clinton’s plannedrndeclaration of martial law. Right-wing groups were hawkingrngenerators, water purifiers, and cmergenc bags of gold coins.rnIt is not that some concern over tire collapse of the world’s informationrns}stcm is not justified or that there is anything wrongrnin making a buck off human gullibilit}—that is the Americanrnway since Simon Suggs turned from poker to religion and repentedrnwell enough to make off with the camp meeting’s receipts.rnSuggs was walking in the footsteps of his namesake SimonrnMagus, who, after teaming up with a prosfitute, went intornthe miracles trade. Magus’s act was called “the Power of GodrnCalled Great” and his “First Holy Idea.” He feigned bapfismrnand tried to bribe the aposties into teaching him the gig of thernHoly Ghost, until the other Simon showed him up for a fraud.rnIt seems to be our fete to pay attenfion to the wrong Simons.rnA hundred vears after Simon Magus, one Peregrinus, a knownrnpatricide and seducer, turned Christian. As a secular convertrnwith an intellectual pedigree, he was immediately welcomed b}’rnthe faithful, and, by courting persecution, he quickly rose to dierntop uirtil he was caught, apparently, eating food offered to idols.rnHe went on to win f;ime as an itinerant Cvnie whose final conrnwas to hae himself burnt alive as a sign of his divinitv-.rnLucian, skeptic and mocker that he was, felt pit)’ for the poorrnChristians who had been so easily taken in by this transparentrnhumbug. Eighteen centuries of frauds and impostors havernmade us scared}’ more cautious. Today, it is not the quietrnparish priest or Calvinist good shepherd who wins respect bvrnpreaching the Gospel and ministering to broken hearts, but thernempire builders in flash suits, who preach the joy of doom fromrnbehind drum sets or in front of TV screens where the altar ofrnGod used to be, the priests who lead their flock to Medjugorjernto be fleeced, and the well-fed hierarchy of mainline churches,rnwho claim to be Christian while denying the Incarnation andrnencouraging women to murder their imborn babies.rnConservative Christians do a better job of clinging to the essentialsrnof tlie faith, but as Y2K approaches, the hysteria overrnpower supplies and mass looting drowns out any quiet voicerntalking about what the year 2001 represents, which is the symbolicrnanniversar) of 20 centuries of Christ and the Christianrnfaith on earth. Yes, of course, tiie date is probably off by severalrnyears, but Christian holidays are not scientifically determinedrndates: The’ are occasions for worship, reverence, and reflection.rnInstead of reflecting on 2,000 years of Christ among us, wernare sucked into the familiar Cnosfie fantasies which Eusebiusrntraced all tlie wa- back to the Magus: an obsession with the endrnof the world, a desire for power and success, a willful refusal tornsee in man and nature a reflection of the Creator’s intentions, arnpreference for vulgar exhibitionism over flic dignitv’ of liturgicalrntraditions fliat go back to flie earliest days of the Church.rnHow did we get snookered into playing this anti-Christianrngame? Conspiracy flieories are not necessarv when so manyrnChristians and most conservatives are playing for the other sidernmost of the time, concentrating their efforts on putting prayerrnback in schools instead of on dismanfling the public school system;rnor on cracking down on pornographic telcision instead ofrnturning flieir fiimilies and friends away from movies and televisionrnand tow ard the cultural inheritance that is awaiting them ifrnlO/CHRONICLESrnrnrn