Does Truth Matter?

When we got here our friends were wearing some little rubber bracelets. They look like the ones you get for all sorts of causes, but they have a small metal disc, about the size of a dime, on the inside. Don told me that they give you better balance, more strength and greater flexibility. I am a sceptic at heart, but he said that the salesman could do pull ups off of his outstretched arm after he put the bracelet on. I never believe the type of claims that something will make your life better if you take it, or wear it, but Don said it was real. He said that the little disc put out 17 different frequencies that countered all the other radio waves that are constantly bombarding your body. I had my doubts, but I thought if it makes him feel better what's the harm?

Sunday we went up to the Mesa Swap Meet. My in-laws used to winter in Arizona years ago and I remember going to the swap meet with them. Back then it was open-air in the parking lot of a dog racing track. Now it is under cover and it is huge, we spent about 4 hours there and probably only saw 1/3 of it. There is almost anything you can imagine for sale there. Don found a booth with a guy selling a similar bracelet and insisted I let the guy give me a demonstration. He told the guy that I was a sceptic and the salesman said he used to be also. He proceeded to give me a demonstration and he "proved" to me that the bracelet gave me better balance and more strength, but it didn't do much for my flexibility. I thought it was funny that he told Don that his bracelet really only had 1 frequency and the one he was selling had 100. He wanted $35 for a bracelet, along with being a sceptic, I'm pretty cheap and I wasn't going to buy something I didn't really believe in even though his demonstration seemed to prove it. When we got back to the motorhome I googled EFX scam and found a youtube video that showed how the demonstration worked, a complete scam. The video was the exact same demonstration that I had gone through.

Now my dilemma, do I tell Don that he got scammed, or just let him feel better? The more I thought about it the more religious implications I came up with. Don was essentially an evangelist for this product. He truly believed in it. He was promoting it to help others, he had no other motive than helping his friends to feel better like he had. No matter how strongly he believed, it was still a fraud. I really got mad thinking about the salesman preying on some really hurting people that he was working with while I was there. One man who seemed to have a balance issue the salesman put a bracelet on him and promised wonderful results, but it would take a little while. While he was working on me he asked the man if he felt a little tingling on his wrist. The man thought for a minute and then said maybe, the salesman said so you can feel it working, it may take 30 minutes or more in your case. After seeing the youtube demonstration I knew that the salesman couldn't be a believer because he had to use trickery to "prove" its effectiveness. I got even madder thinking about the people who manufacture these worthless bracelets, knowing they are scamming gullible people. Why couldn't they use their resources to produce something that could help people. I know the answer, then they couldn't make as much money. I thought about preachers who are just in it for the money, preaching things that they don't really believe. They think it is just an easy job that gives you some power and prestige. I equated the manufactures with Satan who will do anything to get us off course, he doesn't really care if your a little off or completely evil, just so you don't know the truth. I believe that there is absolute truth, that there is One God, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. I know I don't have all the answers, but I know that they are out there, and I will continue to search for them. Please be sure of what you believe, it is important, don't believe something just because a good salesman played a trick on you. It really doesn't matter how strong your faith is if it is in a lie.