A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®

The faith and courage of the most powerful man in Venezuela is currently being shaken. But not to be outdone he has stood up with a rhetoric of his own. Well …

President Hugo Chavez told a gathering of soldiers on Thursday that he’s seeking divine support from the indigenous deities and spirits of Venezuela’s central plains to help him survive cancer.

“Cancer? What is that for me? I have faith in the spirits of the plains that I’ll prevail. I will live and we will win the elections next year,” Chavez told hundreds of troops massed in formation at Fort Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military installation.

Chavez often describes himself as a devout Roman Catholic, although his religious beliefs are eclectic. The former paratroop commander says his unorthodox religious doctrines are rooted in his upbringing in Los Llanos, Venezuela’s sun-baked plains region.

Many people in the region adhere to numerous folk religions, such as a sect that venerates the Indian goddess Maria Lionza.

Oh noble Hugo, save your money and don’t give it to pandering deities and goddesses who offer no hope for the life now and here after. I also see in every way you are very religious. This I proclaim to you about one who is greater than all your gods and even goddess Maria Lionza:

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man (Jesus Christ) whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.