It’s only one experiment, but the results are spectacular, and you can easily run the test yourself.
I got the idea a while ago, remembering this story I heard as a kid – a story that has haunted me ever since. The story was so big, so crazy that I imagined it with a dramatic backdrop – earthquakes, signs in the sky, vast armies marching across the countryside. Well, it’s been a strange year in America, but not that strange. Still, I thought I would give it a try.
I began at a restaurant I’ve frequented for years and, yep, it worked. Then I tried the bank. And then the grocery store. Finally, the church.
I’ve been running the experiment for weeks now and it works every time. It works so well that I’m reconsidering that old bible story, which describes a massive social shift – a movement to unite behind an idea and bake that idea into the daily processes of life. If you show support for the idea, your life is allowed to continue, much as before. You don’t have to believe; you just have to go along.
Well, as good experiments sometimes do, my experiment proved me wrong. I thought that story could not happen here, or that it would at least be accompanied by earthquakes and armies. I thought it would take longer, or that we would think harder, or be more inclined to resist, or be more loyal to old neighbors than new rulers.
In fact, my experiment proved that the story I feared has already come true. I have been turned away from the restaurant and the bank, the grocery store, and the church; turned away by old friends who doubt whether the idea behind the current story is even true. I don’t blame them for turning me away. That’s the way the story works. You don’t have to believe, but if you want to participate in this society – to buy or sell or bank or worship – you do have to go along.
And go along, we do. The book of Revelation tells of a “mark” that will be required by the government “to buy or sell”. We’re not there yet, but if the story seems far-fetched to you, take off your mask and try.