Orangutan With A Dream House?
I was amazed when I read the following article in the Chicago Sun-Times...
"Thais bid farewell at funeral of their beloved orangutan"
Chicago Sun-Times | June 17, 2002
BY UAMDAO NOIKORN
BANGKOK, Thailand--They flocked to his extravagant wedding, avidly followed his spicy love life and over the weekend came to bid farewell to Mike, Thailand's celebrity ape.
Thai fans by the hundreds arrived to take part in Buddhist funeral rites for the gentle orangutan who died Thursday at the age of 17 of complications from water in the lungs.
He was to be buried Sunday beneath his own statue in the Sa Kaew Zoo at Lopburi, 70 miles north of Bangkok, where he and his family were the star attractions for years.
''Mike has helped the province's economy a great deal. He attracted millions of baht [hundreds of thousands of dollars] and created lots of jobs for local residents. This is the best we can do for him to ensure his happy life after death,'' said Yongyuth Kitwatananuson, a local businessman who has promoted Lopburi as a haven for free-roaming monkeys.
Buddhist chants and a bathing ceremony, in which holy water is poured over the hands of the deceased, are to be held in the zoo.
Mike's wife Susu and offspring Lamyai will be present at the funeral, wearing black outfits provided by the zoo staff.
The orangutan first gained fame in 1995, when a matchmaker found him a bride from Taiwan after he lost his first mate.
Mike's lavish 1996 wedding with Susu drew hundreds of guests to the zoo. The ceremony followed Thai tradition, with the couple wearing golden clothing and jasmine garlands. Four human couples were wed alongside them. Yongyuth, the Lopburi businessman, built them a dream house.
Susu produced a son, Monsit, but trouble was brewing. Mike was moved to separate quarters because his handlers feared he was jealous of the attention given his newborn son and might harm him.
Mike moved back in with his family a year later. By then he had taken on a second mate, Mali.
Lopburi has been dubbed Thailand's ''Monkey Town,'' and is a haven for hundreds of monkeys who clamber around its buildings and temples.
Every year, Yongyuth offers the monkeys a feast of their favorite foods laid out on tables.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Has the world gone insane? Evidently so! It's hard to image someone buying two orangutans (Mike and Susa) a "dream house" when there are an estimated 40,000 children starving to death throughout the world each and every day. I recently heard on the news that over half the pets in the United States are overweight. How is it that most of our pets are overweight, but millions of children are dying of starvation every month? It doesn't make sense, but it is true. For people to treat animals better than children is complete insanity. This is the folly and wickedness of humanity. While millions of children are being murdered through godless abortions, people are more concerned about saving the whales. Billions of dollars in charity are donated to "silly" causes, yet millions of children are still being murdered every year just in the USA alone. How long will God continue to bless America in light of such evil?
Notice that the Buddhist religion is mentioned in the newspaper article. What "funeral rites" would any legitimate religion offer to an orangutan? It doesn't bode well for Buddhism, that's for sure. It's just a bizarre fact to learn that any group of people would have such adoration and respect for an animal. It's hard to imagine such foolishness. Listen friend, without God in your heart, anything is possible. My pastor used to say, "anybody will do anything under the right circumstances." He used to warn us to stay as far away from evil as possible to avoid being placed in such circumstances. He used to say, "you can't smoke two cigarettes if you don't smoke one." That's great wisdom and advise. "You can't drink two beers if you don't drink one." Of course, this means you won't become an alcoholic if you never take that first drink. Many people sitting behind bars for murder are wishing to God that they had never taken that first drink of beer. This is wisdom friend, good old practical common sense.
Common sense should teach us better than to elevate an animal to the status of man. An orangutan is an animal, nothing more. To dress up orangutans in wedding clothes and to marry them is the epitome of the absurdity of our day. The world has become a large insane asylum. We are no better here is the USA. Money is spent foolishly and extravagantly on silly things. I'm not against space exploration, but I truly feel we need to pay off our deficits first in the USA. I do not believe it is ethical for a nation to spend money on unnecessary projects and interests until it pays it's bills. If we are trillions of dollars in debt, then we should pay our bills. A large book could be written exposing the wastefulness and throwing away of money by government programs.
The newspaper article also said that "Mike" had attracted millions of people and brought hundreds of thousands of dollars into the local economy. This reveals the empty and fleeting pursuits of a godless society. Are we any better in America, handing over our money to Ozzy Osborne and Harry Potter? It is the height of absurdity to pay anyone millions and millions of dollars to PLAY sports. I detest professional sports, it's unethical. No man should be paid a million dollars a year to play a game. This is just more of the wasteful extravagance in the USA. Where is our industry? It is fast moving to China. Very little is manufactured in the USA anymore. This is a shame. We are enjoying low-cost goods at the expense of exploiting the poor in third world nations. While someone is getting paid less than a dollar an hour overseas, many Americans don't have a decent job. We haven't seen what bad economic times are compared to what I believe is coming in the future. We cannot exploit the world indefinitely.
As believers, we must live in the King James Bible and keep our hearts and minds set upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We are NOT going to take the world away from Satan, the god of this world. Not until the Lord returns will there be true world peace. The antichrist will offer a false, temporary peace during the early tribulation--but it will be short-lived. The antichrist will claim to be god upon the earth (just as the Pope does today). I believe the world is setting the stage today for the coming antichrist. This is known as the "third world order." It is also called the "revived Roman empire" (or, The United Nations). Should it be a surprise that we read and hear of the world's insanity day-by-day in the news. It is this insanity that is preparing the way for the antichrist, a man who will be 100% possessed of the devil. He will possess all of Satan's power. Satan will give him this power. Christ will defeat and put the antichrist down at the end of the tribulation period. The beast and the false prophet will also be defeated. The beast being Satan himself.
Dressing up two orangutans may seem like simple fun; however, these folks over in Thailand were performing Buddhist rituals and rites over these animals when they died. This was far more than mere fun. These lost souls really believe that the animal has a soul. May I say, who's the monkey?
Are you a true believer? Have you been born-again? Does Jesus live in your heart? Do you believe Jesus is Almighty God? He certainly is! Are you ready to face the judgment? You may not be able to stop the world from going insane, but you can certainly keep yourself from doing so. The Bible will light your path, as a lamp unto your feet. The Word of God has enough answers to guide us through this dark valley called life. God doesn't promise us an easier life, but it is better because you can take your burdens to the Lord in prayer and leave them all at Jesus' feet. You can claim the thousands of promises made to us by God in the Bible. You can rejoice knowing that your name is written in heaven and that you are a child of God.
Sincerely, Dave
