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Permalink Reply by ZachsMind on June 21, 2010 at 11:25am

In a word, yes Evangelicals are against peace in the Middle East, but it's a little more complicated than that. They think they are for peace, but they are for peace on their terms with no compromise and no mercy for the opposing side. They want to see an undeniable smiting from the heavens that will destroy the enemy. Only then will peace be assured for those who believe like they.

I've long held an idea that's difficult to quantify without sounding like a conspiracy theorist. However, it's also difficult to look at the history of mankind and not come to this conclusion. When prophecies are made, there are individuals in humanity who look at these prophecies and want to believe in them very much. They get together in groups and discuss these prophecies and their implications, but reality doesn't always mesh well with what they believe to have been promised will occur according to these prophecies. So they plan in anticipation of said prophecies. They use their accumulative abilities and resources and act towards the common goal of assuring these prophecies will come true.

Let me use a more practical and materialistic example for comparison. In the stock market, if you get some kind of foreknowledge that tells you in the future a certain stock is going to skyrocket, and nobody else knows this but you, you are going to buy this stock in anticipation of the knowledge you have uncovered. You may share this knowledge with others in order to get them to buy this stock too, because that will only further reinforce the stock going up. You will support the company in question because your foreknowledge told you that stock was going to become valuable shortly. You believe the foreknowledge you have been given is unquestionable, but when days and weeks go by and the stock is still the same price, or goes up & down like all other stocks, you have already invested time & resources & you have told others and you have a lot riding on this. You will do anything you can to assure that what you believed would happen is going to occur.

I am concerned this same mentality is affecting how people behave about activities in the Fertile Crescent. Promises were made. Prophecies were interpreted. Isaiah. Daniel. Revelations. Thousands of years have gone by and still their god has not fully made himself known in a way that all humanity accepts. Some think god appeared in the flesh thousands of years ago, but others are still waiting for that first time. Their entire world view is so centralized on these prophecies, and if they do not come true then their belief has been a lie.

I came to accept that the bible is a lie, but it was easier for me. I honestly don't want to see those prophecies come true. They're terrible. For me it's comforting that there's no Judeo-Christian god, cuz when you actually sit down and read the bible, that guy is a schizophrenic jerk. Some see their god in a different light. They think his curious behavior is because he plays favorites, and of course the Believer assumes so long as s/he behaves properly, s/he will remain one of those favorites. They think it's going to be terrible for their enemies, but that they will be safe. Their god will protect them, and cause harm to anyone they hate.

When I was a child, all my elders said we are now living in the end times. History indicates that we have been living in the end times since Jesus was allegedly resurrected. Two thousand years. Generations of humans telling their children that any time now the book of Revelation will fall upon humanity. How many more thousands of years must pass before people see that these prophecies are not coming true? I fear that some people don't want to face that, and will actively make choices that will cause at least an illusion of these horrible prophecies to come true, because if god won't do it, they'll act as his hands and make it happen. That's a chilling & disturbing prophecy.

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Permalink Reply by Shine on June 21, 2010 at 12:41pm

I just watched this movie on Netflix this weekend:

Waiting for Armageddon

It's pretty much an hour and a half of evagenlicals mangling history and sociopolitical topics. I would have found it quite funny had I not known that these people were all voting.

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Permalink Reply by George Whitney on June 21, 2010 at 2:10pm

This is the BEST reason to separate church from state and never to elect a born again president like George W Bush. Someone who is steeped in such ridiculousness as the Rapture would be very dangerous with the power of the presidency.

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