He lived in an age of outward piety and inward hypocrisy. What was shamefully hidden in his day is out of the closet in ours. We have television to bring us the nourishment of fantasy as well as the data we need to live well. We have a global civilization where acts of charity can be international in scope. Remember, the rabbis have always taught that a life of mistakes and sins and even occasional evil deeds can be totally redeemed by one single act of charity.
Charity is that powerful.
An internet-charity where fantasy is coin of the realm. Such a thing could never have existed even three years ago. To understand why the world didn't come to an end in July 2000, you have to understand that what did happen in July was a consequence of things that have happened at crucial intervals throughout the last few thousand years. Events portended by astrology don't happen at random like popcorn popping. What happens at the conjunction develops at the sextile, is challenged at the square, develops at the trine, quincunx, and the results of all that are confronted at the opposition.