Martin Burke - The False Prophet

The Prophet

Martin Burke

Age:54

Address: Albany Hotel, Room 315, 228 N. Tejon, Colorado Springs

Profession: The False Prophet

Martin Burke, according to his own words, was called by God 22 years ago to fill the role of the False Prophet as prophesied in the book of Revelations. Martin didn’t want to do this. God forced him. In the intervening 22 years, Martin has mentally suffered under the responsibilities of this burden and he now explains: “I’m unrecoverably crazy, but I have lucid moments”.

Martin is in constant communication with God. And God calls him Marty. He asks that we do the same. When Marty has a question for God, he looks over his shoulder and asks it. He usually nods a few times in silence as God responds, then he smiles and repeats the communication.

When questioned about the negative connotations of being the False Prophet, Marty replies variously: “It’s my responsibility to keep virtue within reasonable bounds”, or “in all fairness to the Devil, you’ve only heard one side of the story. God wrote all the books”. Another time he said: “There’s no use in exalting the humble and the meek. They don’t remain humble and meek once they’re exalted”.

Marty’s logic was compelling to the Boss’s Left Hand Man. Marty was asked if LHM could do a series of taped interviews which would then be transcribed and placed on the Internet. Marty was overjoyed, and apparently God was too, since Marty reported that God ordered him to co-operate. He asked only that he not be edited or censured in any way. These interviews are a result of over 100 hours of taping.

Marty asked that we give a brief background: Marty stayed for a time at the Pikes Peak Mental Health facility. He voluntarily checked himself in to get sanctuary because God, he explained, was trying to burn him. The hospital gave him sanctuary, but refused to let him leave. In 1985 he escaped and spent three years on the run. Colorado attitudes toward the mentally twisted changed in the three year period (mostly, it became no longer profitable for the hospital to have Marty) and he entered a period of peace, reflection and tranquillity. He pondered and came to profound understanding of such issues as attachments, the nature of time, war, cruelty, evolution, chaos and order, and other puzzling concepts.

Marty’s claim to be The False Prophet presents a dilemma. Since the false prophet’s purpose is to mislead, can anything that he says be trusted? Can we invert everything he says and get to the truth? Can we even believe that he is false? He, after all, says that he is false and such honesty would go against the grain of a true false prophet. Since he’s not happy being the False Prophet, could he be rebelling against his dharma and actually be telling the full truth? We don’t have the slightest idea. We asked Marty all of the above questions. He had these answers:

“Belief follows the path of least resistance.”
“A person’s virtues are the means of deceiving them.”
“The sublime is necessarily obscure to weak minds.”
“It isn’t lying you should concern yourself with. It’s inaccuracy.”

With a wink and a conspiratorial grin, he leaned close to LHM and added: “I’m not naturally honest, but I am sometimes by chance”. He leaned back, frowned, leaned close again and with finality announced: “Remember, the best liar makes the smallest lie go the longest way”. Considering who he claims to be, the thought was chilling.

The Interviews

via marty1.