I confess: As a young man I was caught up in the “End-Times” web – much like millions of the religious right today. In 1968 for my high-school senior term paper, I wrote how the `67 Six-Day War was a biblical fulfillment which spelled the beginning of the end for life as we know it. I was so obsessed by looking for the Antichrist, I failed to see Jesus Christ and the core Christian principles – “Love your neighbor as yourself; do good to those that do bad to you; give all that you have to feed the poor; etc.”
I believe the fundamentalist branch of the church has gone down the same wrong path and in doing so, has further constricted itself into incorporating all sorts of extreme conservative views which serve to support mythological visions. From experience I recognize the hypnotic spell.
Any person, group, or political party not in total agreement with their apocalyptic world view, therefore, is of the dark side. Democrats are as evil as Communists, atheists, or Satanists – but probably more so, because they wield political muscle in this country and must be destroyed in order for righteousness and the coming messianic reign to prevail where the “chosen” rule over the subservient infidel class for a millennium.
This is the view of Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, Glenn Beck, and several other Republican leaders. This is America’s Achilles Heel, its arbitros. Because around one-third of the nation subscribes to the ideology and are determined to change the course of history to fit the view. Whereas, Cheney fixed the intelligence to fit the policy for an illegal invasion, fundamentalists are fixing the nation into the role they perceive it should serve in establishing a theocratic government for the Millennial Reign.
Name any apocalyptic cult in America. Now pinpoint its politics. Notice any similarities? All are right-wing. All are/were gun-lovers and Second Amendment enthusiasts. All are/were anti-government and believe the government is out to take their guns and desecrate their god. All predict an imminent tribulation followed by Armageddon – which must take place as a welcome mat for the returning Messiah. All are thirsting for fulfillment – which means they must work through the Republican Party because of its staunch endorsement of social/religious conservatism.
The recent religious cult based in California predicted the end back on May 21, 2011. What party did they primarily identify with? The End-of-the-World date-setters for all centuries in American history were on the right, never the left. Now, consider how eschatological theology has ballooned in this country over the last forty years. What effect has this had on politics and the subsequent course we are forced to take as a nation?
The Number One danger to America is the marriage of the religious right to extreme conservatism. Why do so many Americans vote Republican – against their own best interests and that of the nation? Religion. If these millions were in their right mind, does it seem plausible they would support granting tax breaks and subsidies to the obscenely rich to the detriment of the nation they supposedly love?
Their patriotism belongs to ideology, not country.
Meanwhile the debt ceiling crisis is ready to explode over the entire world, and at the core of the Republican intransigence is its religious base. Yes, the people that long for world calamity so their prophetic dreams may come true are energized by the crisis. Republicans don’t care about America; they care about their mythological views coming to pass. Fundamentalists don’t care about the poor; they care about events in Israel and the Middle East making their apocalyptic vision a reality. That’s where their focus is. It’s not Christian; it’s anti-Christian.
Back in Washington – We have a President that still values compromise over accomplishing what is essential for the nation’s welfare. It seems every decision is bent to the right to appease a stubborn adversary. We have an Attorney General appointed by Obama who is determined not to prosecute Karl Rove and others that committed barefaced treason while in the Bush administration. They let them off the hook, and now these same characters are returning the favor by destroying Obama and Democrats in huge PR campaigns not even in the election cycle. The TV ads paid for by Crossroads America, Rove’s group of secret billionaires (Koch, etc.) are aired all across the U.S. without rebuttal.
http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2011/06/crossroads-america-ad-launching-next.html
We face depression for two reasons: (1) Republican bullies; (2) Democrat cowards. Obama fails to see his opponents clearly because he stubbornly views that all issues can be negotiated into reasonable settlement. He places bedrock principles and programs (Social Security, Medicare, fair taxation) on the table as bargaining chips in his primary drive to please the other side in the hope they’ll reciprocate in kind. Naturally, they see him in a weakened position; who doesn’t? As a result, we lose everything – hammered to hell by employing Obama’s concepts. Does he not realize how much the right hates him because it links him to the devil? Does he not realize, by compromising away middle-class rights, seniors’ safety nets, and core Democratic programs fought for by blood and tears for years that he’s losing union support? Without unions, the Democratic Party becomes a shell. What is wrong with Barack Obama?
The cult has overtaken sanity in America. In a few days we shall see whether we throw ourselves into full-blown depression or just a nagging second great recession – both due to Republicanism. The Apocalypse will come as a result of those that believe in it coupled with the spineless that allowed it.