‘Antichrist’ Banned From South American Nations
2007-04-24
The governments of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have banned a South Florida preacher who claims to be God incarnate from entering their countries. Government officials said José Luis De Jesús Miranda, leader of Miami-based Creciendo En Gracia (Growing in Grace), might incite violence if he were to enter their nations, the Associated Press (AP) reported. During a previous visit to Guatemala, Miranda's followers attacked evangelical and Catholic churches, government officials said. Last week Miranda declared that the angels would make a way for him to enter Guatemala because he is God. But he canceled his April 21-22 visit after the Guatemalan government declared him to be a terrorist. "Many have told me that I shouldn't pay attention to a crazy man like him, but Hitler was also crazy and look what he did," Julio Morales, the Guatemalan congressman who proposed the resolution declaring Miranda a terrorist, told the AP. "We took this measure because they have burned crosses, images of Christ in other countries and demonstrated in front of an evangelical church in Guatemala, just to create confrontation." A native of Puerto Rico, 60-year-old Miranda teaches that sin is abolished, the devil is destroyed and hell doesn't exist for God's chosen people. Earlier this year he began calling himself the Antichrist because as the second coming of Christ, he rejected the continued worship of Jesus of Nazareth, Newsweek reported. The majority of Miranda's following-believed to number roughly 100,000 people-is in Florida and Colombia, but his 24-hour all-Spanish network boasts millions of viewers throughout Central and South America.Created with ShoutPost
