Religion: The Desire for an Apocalypse
That title sounds ludicrous, but please don’t believe this is a marginal viewpoint. We are fully aware of Jihad (Holy War), but rarely publicized is the Christian belief in The End of Days. The very basics, as I understand them:
Þ Jesus will return to earth when certain preconditions have been met, such as the establishment of a state of Israel on its ‘Biblical lands’ (you see, that is why right-wing Christianity gives so much support to Israel)
Þ But wait, the legions of the Antichrist will then be deployed against Israel, and their war will lead to a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon
Þ But it’s alright, because before this almighty battle kicks off, all ‘true believers’ will be lifted out of their clothes and wafted up to heaven during an event called the ‘Rapture’
Alongside keeping a careful eye on your children, I would suggest staying up to date with http://www.raptureready.com/, so you know when you might be needed.
OK, but why am I wasting your time with an American freak-show. Because, as noted above, we are not talking secondary politics here: this is about as mainstream as it gets. An enormous amount of people now subscribe to these teachings and the recent Left Behind series of books, describing a ‘fictionalised’ (!) account of the Rapture, sold tens of millions.
Make no mistake, huge chunks of the US are just as nutty and as dangerous as any Muslim looking forward to those sweet, sweet virgins!
And remember, some of the most devout (I love how that word replaces ‘fundamentalist’ in polite company) followers have been the men sat in the White House, with their finger on a rather important button. Why would George W have listened to a polite request from Europe to calm his Middle East aggression, when he has tens of millions of voters (and more than a few lobbyists) urging him to carve up those lands for a far more important outcome?!
In fact, why would anyone do anything to improve the world … if it’s all about to end? With nutcases in charge in the West and in the East, this is more serious a problem than we give credit to.
