The Orange Prophet

Throughout history there came some individuals who were able to preach to people and make them loyal followers. One of their success recipe ingredients was their ability to understand the peoples’ psyche and in consequence use it to their advantage. The Prophet Mohammed, for instance, initially wanted the abolition of the Hajj site because it was the heathens’ worship place. How did hajj then come to represent one of the major pillars of Islam? Well, Mohammed was a strategic man. He knew that the pilgrimage was a key economic route in addition to it being a cultural and ideological dome of the then wealthy Quraish tribe.
Today we have a new prophet. This prophet is gathering the people around him. He certainly did not agree with their cause earlier or their controversial arms. But things do change…
Machiavelli describes a means by which a simple citizen could become a prince which is the popular support of the common people. Another strategy to gain esteem is, “If your allies win, you benefit whether or not you have more power than they have.” Thus, Aoun- the new prophet-has followed history’s lesson and became a Machiavellian Prince of prophetic abilities. He allied himself to Hezbollah, a party representing a growing sect with a “divine” cause and took himself the robe of “cleanliness” and “resistance”. As for the prophetic abilities, splendidly (only in Orange Land), he came to transform from an avid seeker of Hezbollah’s disarming (remember the famous House of Congress speech?) to their protector and godfather. This parallels with a famous Mohammedian methodology. Mohammed, originally, sword fought people into Islam submission and then found out how marrying into other tribes was a more efficient and desirable way of approach.
Except, history has also taught us that fake prophets who were only good in mimicking tactics that worked in previous times and previous situations were washed out as quickly as the steam bubble that disappears into vapor. And even his Machiavellian policies are limp since he chose to take the ones he can milk out now neglecting that if a prince is given to changing his mind, his reputation will suffer and of course, he must have the wisdom to recognize good advice from bad…