David Hasselhoff est-il le Messie ?

BERLIN, Germany - A new religious movement is sweeping Germany and is swiftly gathering converts right through Eastern and Central Europe.

The core belief of this religion is that a new Messiah, following in the footsteps of Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and Shiva, is walking the Earth at the present moment. This messiah is none other than American actor, and sometimes singer, David Hasselhoff.

Hasselhoff became famous during the eighties starring in a television show with a talking car called Kit. He also starred in Baywatch during the nineties, and has become infamous as a figure of glee over the internet, with his face being transposed on original photos, placing him seemingly in unbelievable and hilarious poses.

As a singer, he failed to achieve real success in his homeland, but has been a sensation in Germany, garnering millions of fans and massive record sales. Now, it appears he has ascended to even higher levels of acclamation, becoming the central figure of worship in a new religious cult.

The cult seems to have developed a little over three years ago in Hamburg. A small number of Hasselhoff fans erected a shrine to their idol in an inner city apartment. Like Jim Morrison's grave in Paris, the shrine soon began to attract devoted fans from across the world who lit candles, watched Hasselhoff television performances and listened to his music.

In early 2005, a book was published claiming that Hasselhoff was actually the new Messiah, carrying the torch of enlightenment once held by such religious figures as Jesus and Buddha.

The book quoted a variety verses from the bible, Koran, Torah and other religious texts they claimed heralded the emergence of Hasselhoff as the new Messiah at the turn of the millennium.

They also pointed to an obscure piece of text attributed to Nostrodamus, which they believe predicted Hasselhoff as a great spiritual leader.

The text is roughly translated as:

And he shall rise from sand and waves wearing red underpants
To bring spiritual understanding to a longing people
At the time when one thousand transforms to another
And all that see him on small screens shall learn
The mysteries of the universe.

"It clearly refers to Hasselhoff," Dirk Schweinsnorger, a Hoffian Priest, told Brainsnap. Nostrodamus knew the importance of this great man, and soon the whole world will understand too.

While the converts to the new religion remain relatively small in world terms, it is growing swiftly, claiming over ten thousand members, the majority in Germany. Indeed it appears that some German members of national parliament may actually belong to the religion, though none have admittedly it openly.

And how does the man himself, David Hasselhoff, feel about the religion? Does he truly believe he is the new Messiah? When asked by Brainsnap, he gave this enigmatic response, "They that reject me now, who shall say they will reject me in the future. I go to prepare a better place for you."

Are these the words of the new spiritual leader of the Third millennia or simply the strange ramblings of a poor actor with a seemingly plastic face and an ego problem? Only time will tell.

Source : brainsnap (28 Novembre 2006).