April 5, 2003
NO, NO, NO... WE INVOKED GOD... S/HE'S ON OUR TEAM!
An article on the BBC website raises an interesting point about the United State's attack on Iraq. Tom Carver, the BBC's Washington, D.C. correspondent, asks:
If one in three U.S. Christians consider themselves evangelicals; and
If many evangelicals believe that the second coming of Christ will occur in the Middle East after a titanic battle with the anti-Christ; and
If President Bush believes his own rhetoric ("We are in a conflict between good and evil. And America will call evil by its name." AND "There is wonder-working power in the goodness and idealism of the American people."); and
If President Bush is among the 59% of U.S. citizens who believe that what is written in the Bible's Book of Revelations will come to pass; then...
Does President Bush believe that he is playing a part in the final events of Armageddon?
A stretch? Perhaps. Worth exploring and commenting on? I believe so!
Posted by Mikal at April 5, 2003 10:55 PM
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I just had to comment on this one because this type of discussion will always get a rise out of me. There has been an actual term dubbed for Bush's religious affliction, his "Messianic Complex". As Bush clearly uses religion more and more in his speeches, many are left to ponder his true "vision".
A pretty good article from Counterpunch attempts to shed some light on it. http://www.counterpunch.org/hill01042003.html
"That Bush would attack so many vital systems on so many fronts from foreign policy to the environment may seem confusing from the point of view of realpolitik but becomes transparent in terms of the apocalyptic worldview to which he subscribes. All systems are supposed to go down so the Messiah can come and Bush, seemingly, has taken on the role of the one who brings this to pass."
Funny, my posting today had religious intent as well.
The comments below support the Bush-Messiah comments above. Please feel free to check out the full, somewhat 'out-there', theory cooked up by William Henry.
http://www.williamhenry.net/shock_awe.htm
"Could it be that the "Shock and Awe" attack Bush - and that old lady, Old Glory, America - is preparing to let loose on Iraq is the awaited return of Shakin aw or Shakina?
"Is the gathering of souls in Iraq the gathering light of Shakina or Shock `n Awe?
"When the first flash of Shock `n Awe comes on that moonless night will it be interpreted by Iraqis as the coming of the god of thunder, Yahweh, over the sacred city of Baghdad?"
Personally, I feel that the parallels are being drawn by the players and a few observers. But, I'm not going to believe it until I start getting pelted with firey rain and chased by some mad, purple dragon.
I feel that Bush uses religion in far too much of his policy and I feel that alienates those that believe that religion should be separated from government. I welcome anyone to believe any faith they chose, but I caution those that tie God to government (that's what the Taliban did and we see how well that went).
The thing to remeber about evangelicals is this: their positions - policy, doctrine, political - stem from certain "faith" suppositions. Those usually are not negotiable. Every position then is a domino or landslide effect - it all flows seamlessly in their minds. It is very difficult to stop a landslide at any point. In fact, youmust either prevent it or let it ride to it's inevitable (absurd?) destination. When evengelicals & fundamentalists are open to examining their faith suppositions, they usaully re-evaluate them and either leave religion behind or become more mainstream liberal Protestants. That is what I did - and it took me a number of years to do so. If I weren't gay & had that perpective from which to evaluate, I might never have changed. I know, as a friend lieks to say that we must "keep hoep alive," but we shouldn't establish unreasonable expectations.
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