Musings of a Catholic Convert

Did you figure it out yesterday? 

You know two men could be standing in front of you wearing identical looking shirts.  They both have a Tommy Hilfiger trademark symbol stitched into the "chest pocket" area of the shirt.  Same color.  Same size.  And let's even say that the two men are actually identical twins!  One of them - let's call him Tomax - is wearing a knockoff and the other - we'll call him Xamot - is wearing the real Tommy shirt.  How do you know which is which?

There are actually two correct answers to this question.  I'll give you the easy one.  Tomax's hair is parted on the right side of his head and Xamot's on the left.  Also, there is a scar on Xamot's right cheek, and Tomax has no scar.  See?  Simple.  

Know let's make a stretch and assume you didn't know how to identify Tomax or Xamot.  You'd have to use the shirts then, right?  So how would you do it?  How do you spot the fake shirt?

I'm going to tell you how tomorrow.  There are ways to tell.  But for today, let's assume you cannot tell them apart.  You might say, "Who cares?  It doesn't matter to me if one of them has a counterfeit product."  You might even be persuaded to buy into the lie that this isn't hurting anyone and that it is harmless.  Somebody is saving a buck, right?

What about the real merchandiser who stocks the actual Tommy shirts?  What is he saving?  What about the manufacturing plant that produces the goods?  Are those plants and their workers saving a buck too?  What about the families supported by those plants?  How is their savings?  And what about the shirt itself?  Is it made of quality material?  Is it going to last?  Is it made of safe fabric, or could there be something potentially harmful?

The picture on the left shows two feet that were chemically burned by a pair of cheaply produced sandals (not name brand even).  Several people were injured by these products and countless emails were circulated warning of the very real problem (I checked it out, because we got so many emails).  The quality of manufacturing materials DOES matter.  

And that is just a shirt or a pair of sandals.  What about baby formula?  What about medicine?  People can be seriously injured by counterfeit products.  It is a big deal, beyond the fact that it is theft on several levels, which in itself is a grave sin. 

Let's make another application to this.  What about false teachings?  What about fake Christians and the things they teach through their living and speaking?  Do you think there is potential there to cause harm?  Eternal harm even?  Absolutely.  All paths DO NOT lead to God.  All theological viewpoints are not equally truthful.  Someone is wrong.  Everyone is not right.  And it matters on an eternal scale.  How do you spot the fake?

I'll tell you tomorrow.