How to fail at religion by not really trying

Throughout the series, we heard about the man who was in charge of the island, the one even Ben answered to. His name was Jacob. He was given as the one ultimately responsible for everything done by the others. But was he? Some things attributed to the command of Jacob:


Killing 18 soldiers who attacked the others

ordering the murder of Danielle Rousseau and her baby Alex.

abducting various survivors of Oceanic 815


Ben claimed to get his orders from Jacob, but only later after falling from power, he admitted that he never saw Jacob. So how much of what Ben did was from Jacob? It's likely, given that Ben manipulated things to make him self God/cult leader of the island, that very little of his administration had anything to do with Jacob.

The lists -- yes. Jacob is in the habit of choosing people. He hand picked -- literally -- Kate, Sawyer, Jack, Jin (and maybe Sun, though I didn't see him touch Sun), Locke, Hugo, and Sayid. My guess is that those names were on that piece of paper in the big wooden ankh. And the tailies who were taken based on lists -- they are now seen at the temple and they seem to belong there -- so it seems those lists were really Jacob's choices.

But how they were abducted is another matter. We know, for example, that Ethan and Goodwin deceived the Survivors at Ben's command, not Jacob's. Ben even mandated the over-extension of Goodwin's assignment to ensure his death at the hands of the survivors to remove competition for Juiliet's affections. That's about as far removed from Jacob's lofty big-picture aspirations as you can get.

The point here is that just as countless ungodly things are done in the name of God, so Jacob;'s name is invoked for many things unrelated, or even contrary to his purposes. Recall also how, when Locke met Richard Alpert in 1954, he said, "Jacob sent me," when no such thing had happened. It was just the obvious way to get the stamp of approval. Replace "Jacob" with the name of any popular deity and it sounds a lot like much religious history.

Also note that Ben thought Jacob lived in a cabin when all along he lived in that statue. It now appears that Jacob's cabin was a kind of holding cell for Jacob's Nemesis. So whoever was getting directions from "Jacob's cabin" wasn't getting directions from Jacob at all, but from his nemesis in Jacob's name. Recall how this was shown explicitly when Christian Shepherd said that he spoke for Jacob when he is either on the side of Jacob's Nemesis or IS Jacob's Nemesis.

Now notice that Charles Widmore is opposed by the Man In Black implicitly (his dupe John Locke opposes his arrival as a threat to the island, the smoke monster directly attacks Kemy's men (though sparing Kemy himself, presumably to allow him to strap on the device that will destroy Widmore's freighter and virtually everyone aboard it). But Smokey is opposed to Ben as well (think of his judgment under the temple wall).

At the same time Charles Widmore is not favored by Jacob, either. This is evidenced byu the fact that Ilana & Bram who are on Jacob's side, are opposed to Widmore (Bram tells Miles that he is on the wrong side by working for Widmore). Ben was not favored by Jacob, either: Ben was never allowed to see Jacob and in fact never seems to have known where he lived. Then there's Jacob's famous (and fatal) response to Ben: "What about you?"

So Ben & Widmore were fighting each other for power and mastery, completely apart from the rivalry between Jacob and his Nemesis. This seems analogous to political struggles that take place in the name of religion, but really have nothing ot do with said religion(s) at all. Ben & Charles seem almost completely oblivious to Jacob and 100% ignorant and oblivious of Jacob's nemesis -- they don't even seem to know he exists. And that's why Jacob's helpers see Widmore as if he's working for Smokey: by being wrapped up in their own egos Widmore & Ben both become unwitting tools in the hands of evil. By ignoring spiritual reality, we become evil's greatest patsy.

Not that Smokey has any regard for them. As shown above, there's ample evidence of Smokey being opposed to Ben & Charles. "You're cheating," Locke (the real one) tells Ben. "If you had any idea what this island is capable of, you wouldn't have chicken in your refrigerators." Those words came from the real John Locke, but they seem inspired by the being that influenced Locke's mind all his life and ultimately copied his body.

(to be continued)