Apocalypse and Christains

[Michaelangelica]

i am continually surprised by the strength of the Christian belief in an immently impending Apocalypse especially in the USA

I feel this undercurrent of thought/ belief informs many political and social attitudes, behaviour and values

How does it influce our social policy?

How does it influence our politicians, lawmakers and elections?

how does it influce our juctice and personal liberties?

How does it influence health care?

How does it influence the flow of money?

If you believe in the apocalypse do you bother voting?

If you believe in the apocalypse do you make more atomic bombs?

. . .

"The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time."

AlterNet: War on Iraq: As Bush's War Strategy Shifts to Iran, Christian Zionists Gear Up for the Apocalypse

 

Unlike mainstream Christians, who tend to read much of the Bible as allegory, conservative Christians see it as the literal word of God, and that word spells out impending doom for this world. A recent poll by Time magazine found that 59% of Americans believe the events described in the Book of Revelations will come true.

Friends at Armageddon

 

It’s hard to believe, but the Bush administration’s foreign policy and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are influenced by the writings of a cave-dwelling hermit who had apocalyptic visions some 2000 years ago.

 

. . .

 

Apocalyptic thinking--especially in the Christian Right--joins other factors influencing U.S. Middle East policy, such as controlling global oil sources, assisting corporate-driven globalization, militaristic imperialism, and more. Why focus on this one factor?

Because the Christian Right is a powerful force shaping politics and culture in the United States, and they are the largest voting bloc in the Republican Party, so they can expect politicians to pay attention to their interests.2 That George W. Bush takes his born-again religion seriously and applies it to his political decisions has been discussed widely.3 That’s why we need to understand apocalyptic thinking.

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. .

. . .

The problem is not religion, evangelicalism, or fundamentalism but rather dualism and demonization by any belief system--spiritual or secular--wielded in order to cast one’s opponents as wholly evil while declaring one’s own group as wholly good. Employing such dualism, a bully can justify aggressive action and disguise self-serving motives behind the cloak of greater good

Right Web | Analysis | Berlet & Aziz - Culture, Religion, Apocalypse, and Middle East Foreign Policy

 

The Cult of the Anti-Christ

May 5th, 2007

 

“The age of warrior kings and of warrior presidents has passed.

The nuclear age calls for a different kind of leadership….a leadership of intellect, judgment, tolerance and rationality, a leadership committed to human values, to world peace, and to the improvement of the human condition.

The attributes upon which we must draw are the human attributes of compassion and common sense, of intellect and creative imagination, and of empathy and understanding between cultures.”

 

- William Fulbright

Building of the Beast Apocalypse Doomsday Nuclear War Blog

 

belief in the apocalypse may not be just among right wing Christians as this article points out:-

The second reality has to do with eschatological interpretations of religious and biblical texts, in particular those of the three Semitic religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Such interpretations have rapidly developed within these religious communities in anticipation of the advent of a messiah to impose justice on earth in the new millennium. Such interpretations of the holy texts firmly put the world to be near the end of time, with countless signs from present-day modern life, replete with debauchery, being cited. For example, the prevalence of mass killings, disobedience of parents, adultery, money politics, earthquakes, epidemics and the pride in building majestic houses of worship which remain empty most of the times, are all small signs of the dreaded ‘Hour’, or in Arabic, ‘Sa’ah’ or ‘Qiyamah’, from where we derive the Malay ‘Kiamat’.The second reality has to do with eschatological interpretations of religious and biblical texts, in particular those of the three Semitic religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Such interpretations have rapidly developed within these religious communities in anticipation of the advent of a messiah to impose justice on earth in the new millennium. Such interpretations of the holy texts firmly put the world to be near the end of time, with countless signs from present-day modern life, replete with debauchery, being cited. For example, the prevalence of mass killings, disobedience of parents, adultery, money politics, earthquakes, epidemics and the pride in building majestic houses of worship which remain empty most of the times, are all small signs of the dreaded ‘Hour’, or in Arabic, ‘Sa’ah’ or ‘Qiyamah’, from where we derive the Malay ‘Kiamat’.

Apocalypse Now?

[REASON]

As I see it, this is an example of self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

Fundamentalist and Evangelical Christians are so desparate to prove that their literal interpretation of the Bible is correct, they are fully supporting a war policy in the part of the world that they believe will create the proper conditions that lead to the rapture.

 

So I guess this means that at the right time, when the death and destruction has finally reached so called apocalyptic proportions, Christ is going come down and waft up to heaven all of these warmongers who have supported and perpetuated the insanity all along, and leave the rest of us behind.

 

GOOD RIDDANCE!

[Michaelangelica]

The theme song again (with some interesting observations)

Interplanetary "Day After Tomorrow?"

[charles brough]

You all may note that what you are saying has been a major warning found on Page one and throughout my website since late 2004. (HOME PAGE ). This is a serious threat and while the Bush Administration may end next year, the influence of religion in Government will not. It has been growing since about 1970 after the Vietname war. It is a major factor in our society and in my website I show why it will get much worse before something can replace it.

[Queso]

oh well.

we're waking up.

religion is laying on the ground almost dead cackling "Votary ! . . cigarette . ."

all these holy folk are going to be so surprised as they slip into themselves for the final time.

buaaaaa hahaha

 

vortex in time spirals around mine.

[Inter.spem.et.metum]

No matter what happens, an end is inevitable. For those who think that this isn't true, you are only fooling yourselves. All energy changes form. So everything that comes to be must one day cease to be, it is a natural law.

 

That said, a prophecy is nothing more than seeing the patterns and predicting what will happen because of those patterns. Revelations is simply a logical prediction of what will occur in the future, sooner or later. The entire book is metaphorical in its meaning. All the disasters in the bible are possible, the characters can easily be manifested, and the actions taken by humans in the end days is predictable.

 

Self-fulfilling prophecy...I couldn't argue with that. But that doesn't negate the logical reasoning behind it. Is it preventable? I would say not. On a long enough time line, the survival rate of any species is zero.

[REASON]

 

Self-fulfilling prophecy...I couldn't argue with that. But that doesn't negate the logical reasoning behind it. Is it preventable? I would say not. On a long enough time line, the survival rate of any species is zero.

 

Agreed.

 

My concern is the apparent effort to hasten the time line based on a non-metaphorical, literal interpretation. These people need to be marginalized, not placed in positions of power.

[Michaelangelica]

Apocalypse? Mmm, bring it on

To atone for our mistakes — wars, global warming, whatever - we subconsciously long for catastrophic punishment

. . .

Will global warming, as predicted in detail by what the politicians call The Science, raise sea levels as high as the horses' bridles? For this, too, is (I sense) part of the hunger for apocalypse that characterises our generation. Tens of thousands of the elite of politics, the media and the universities, and hundreds of millions of Western citizens vaguely uncomfortable about the way we live now would actually be a tiny bit disappointed if planetary temperatures started to drop.

. . .

Unease about the way we live now lies at the centre, too, of that most ghoulish modern yearning: a secret desire for an economic crash. I swear I'm not imagining this. Many who have much to lose from tumbling house prices still cannot suppress a tingling sense of rectitude when we hear figures suggesting a drop.

. . .

have not lived long enough to have much sense of whether apocalypticism is a perennial human condition, but seem to remember my boyhood as a time when we thought the human race was improving morally, and the future was good. Half a century later do we really feel that now?

. . .

we feel the faint approaching rumble of the hooves beneath the Four Horsemen. Conquest, Murder, Economic Inequity and Pestilence, the Bible seems to suggest. “US Imperialism, Terrorism, Property Crash, Global Warming,” we think.

 

Patent nonsense. Potent nonsense. One day perhaps there will be a really big bang — everybody dead. But this almost by definition will come when least expected, and probably not in 2008.

 

Apocalypse? Mmm, bring it on | Matthew Parris - Times Online

[Michaelangelica]

I met a Christian down at the lake today. He was going to a prayer meeting tonight (31/12/07 (!)

 

He was pleased that the world was going in all the wrong directions because it had been prophesied.

When I said that's a sad thing to happen to a beautiful planet- he didn't think so.

It would get rid of all the homosexuals and the just would inherit heaven if they were 'saved"

I doubt whether he will lift a finger, or turn off a light bulb, to stop global warming or any other environmental problem. In fact he is looking forward to the Day Of Judgement

This is sick.

He was also indoctrinating his 8 year old grand-daughter.

I feel sad. This is so bad.

[charles brough]

Does anyone know of any serious sociological research, or in all the social sciences, that deals with this growing want and expectation for some dramatic resolution of world problems over which the public has grown so disillusioned? My impression is that they regard it is a "subjective" subject and avoid it. I have been told in the socioprano forum by one of its academics that there is no statistical evidence of any more decline and that the crime rate may fluctuate but is actually on the long term not changed.

 

My feeling is the subject is avoided academically, if it is indeed avoided, because no one wants to deal with the issue of the decline of our secular system. It is a very touchy subject! Yet, it is even repeated often now in the TV news broadcasts that "democracy" is not always the best system for a country!" At one time, we idealized "making the world safe for democracy." It was even written in the late 1990 that world democracy was in sight and it would bring "the end of History" (Fujuyama).

 

The growing disillusionment is real, not subjective. It is the other side of the coin to the growth of religions fundamentalism. People have to have a common world view and way of thinking and if the secular one is perceived failing them, they intuitively go back to what at least worked once before. . .

[Michaelangelica]

Does anyone know of any serious sociological research, or in all the social sciences, that deals with this growing want

 

Not alot

Did abit of googling and found a few.

It seems to me why would you bother with voting, defending human rights, encouraging democratic ideals, defending the environment etc etc if pretty soon we were all going to hell in a bucket?:doh:

 

Apocalypse Culture

by Adam Parfrey

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Two thousand years have passed since the death of Christ and the world is going mad. Nihilist prophets, born-again pornographers, transcendental schizophrenics and just plain folks are united in their belief in an imminent global catastrophe. What are the forces lurking behind this mass delirium?

Powell's Books - Apocalypse Culture by Adam Parfrey

 

Some interesting stuff buried in a long article here

Canadian Report on Doomsday Movements (CESNUR)

Characteristics of Doomsday Religious Movements

 

Although the large number of groups which could be considered a Doomsday Religious Movement presupposes a variety of beliefs, there are some commonalities in both doctrine and action which can be delineated in order to anticipate which groups might pose a physical threat to public safety.

 

1. Apocalyptic Beliefs: Movements often believe in doctrines which are similar to that of mainstream religions, yet the convergence of some of these doctrines expressed through rites helps to shape a violent theological world view characterized by an inherent volatility.

 

Dualism - The belief that the world is fractured into two opposing camps of Good and Evil, which confers a profound significance on small social and political conflicts as evidence of this great cosmic struggle, and which could precipitate a violent response.

 

The persecuted chosen - Movements view themselves as prophetic vanguards belonging to a chosen elite but feel persecuted by wicked and tyrannical forces, which push the group to make concrete preparations to defend their sacred status.

 

Imminence - Because movements believe the apocalypse is unfolding before their very eyes, the “last days” are experienced as psychologically imminent and pressure them to take immediate action to ensure their salvation.

 

Determinism - Since a group devoutly believes it will be the ultimate winner of the final battle, if it believes a catastrophic scenario is being actualized, the group may feel it has no choice but to try to trigger the apocalypse through violence.

 

Salvation through conflict / enemy eradication - As salvation depends entirely upon direct participation in the apocalyptic struggle, a group is always on the verge of anticipating confrontation, which justifies action to eliminate evil and eradicate enemies.

 

 

There may have been some good stuff here but I couldn't get to it

Y2K, The Apocalypse, and Evangelical Christianity: The Role of Eschatological Belief in Church Responses | Sociology of Religion | Find Articles at BNET.com

[Michaelangelica]

Is this part of it?

Have yanks been brainwashed by their government via Hitler, CIA, Cold War, 9/11?

PANIC! A cultural history

All In The Mind - 29 December 2007 - PANIC! A cultural history

Choose your audio player

[Michaelangelica]

New Year’s Resolutions

Stop paying attention to apocalyptic visions. Most everyone has their own version – for many Christians, it’s the Rapture. Science fiction-reading geeks have the Singularity.

Deep Greens have Peak Oil and the ecological footprint.

Greenpeacers have “Our Stolen Future”.

Neocons have the Long War. I recognize this tendency as identity politics. David Brin points out that human nature always conspires against Enlightenment.

Another perspective is that perhaps there is a bit of a human longing for catastrophic events.

There is probably a nasty fall of one sort or another waiting for us humans, but hoping for it just to be able to say “I told you so” is the coward’s way out.

Impact Analysis: New Year’s Resolutions

I thought he was on track until "There is probably a nasty fall" -see my post today on placebos.