World News Korner

Four reasons that Christian Fundamentalists are looking forward to the End Times.

Courtesy of Alter Net:

1. They don’t think they’ll be around for the worst of it. Modern American fundamentalist Christians believe in something that has never before been part of Christian tradition: the Rapture. The idea is that the true believers will be whisked away into heaven before the ugly parts of the end times begin. The idea was invented in the 19th century but only took off in the late 20th century because of pop culture products like the Left Behind series. As Christian writer and critic of evangelical culture Fred Clark explained, it’s an “escapist fantasy” and a way to avoid having to consider the possibility that they may die.

Christian writers don’t really hide that this is what’s going on with end times hope. As blogger Nathan Jones said, “It is an amazing hope to have because we can know that as terrible as it is getting out there, believers in Christ don't have much longer to worry about it.”

2. The end of the world would mean they get to have the last word. One thing that’s indisputable is that if the apocalypse does come and it unspools as Christians predicted, they will have won the argument! As Doug Weaver, a professor of religion at Baylor, explained to the Washington Post, “I think history will tell you that end time predictions increase when people are being persecuted or feel persecuted.”

While conservative Christians are most definitely not being persecuted, watching their privileges decline often makes them feel persecuted. When you feel put upon, mocked and persecuted, the desire to show your opponents you were right all along can become overwhelming. So much so, that you’re willing to wish for a fiery apocalypse just so you can say I told you so.

3. It provides a distraction from and an excuse to avoid the real problems in the world. The appeal of apocalypse fantasies is mainly that they help believers avoid the fear of death. (A secular version of this can be found in zombie apocalypse stories, which work because the audience identifies with the survivors, not the people who die, i.e. zombies.) However, belief that the end times are near is used by conservatives all the time to direct their followers politically.

4. They want to see the non-believers punished and themselves instated as the rightful rulers of all mankind. In 1980 , Pat Robertson laid out this hope bluntly, predicting that World War III and the end times were upon us, saying, “sorrow and bloodshed that will have no end soon, for the world is being torn apart, and my kingdom shall rise from the ruins of it.”

Or as Fred Clark said in his criticisms of the apocalypse fantasy books in the Left Behind series, “The authors' real message for those they regard as unsaved is to thumb their nose and do a little victory dance.”

This eagerness to see the non-believers punished is so strong in the Christian right that many are unwilling to wait until the so-called “Tribulation” described in the Left Behind books, and to a lesser degree the Bible, is upon us. That’s why, after any great tragedy, there is a rush of eager-beaver pastors willing to say this is what people have coming for being sinners, from Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson blaming “pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians” for 9/11 to John Hagee blaming the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on gay pride parades.

Now take a moment to remind yourself that THIS is the mindset embraced by numerous politicians currently creating policy for ALL of us, and of course standing in opposition to policies that would benefit the planet and its people.

And we also recently learned that we could count Justice Antonin Scalia among the superstitiously driven powerful men whose decisions have everlasting impacts on our nation.

Those who believe that the Rapture is nigh upon us, and further, that they themselves are among those who will leave this polluted overburdened orb for a chance to party with the Prince of Peace himself, should be kept as far away from politics as possible.

As Bill Maher pointed out last Friday:

"If you think the world is about to end that's your right. But you don't get to vote on next year's budget, because it doesn't concern you."

Personally I have to wonder why you would hire one of these simple son-of-a-bitches to do ANY job?

Why show up to work on time, put in 100% of your effort, or treat others with respect if you think your Greyhound bus to paradise is about to drive up and whisk you off at any moment?

I would MUCH prefer to work alongside an Atheist who is grateful for his time on this earth and wishes to protect it for future generations to come. A person who does the right thing, BECAUSE it's the right thing. A person who treats even the least among us with respect because he knows we are all in this together and, without a omnipotent deity watching over us, we need each other to survive and flourish.

But hey, that's just me.

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