Why the Antichrist Matters in Politics

[Faux pas]

THE end is near — or so it seems to a segment of Christians aligned with the religious right. The global economic meltdown, numerous natural disasters and the threat of radical Islam have fueled a conviction among some evangelicals that these are the last days. While such beliefs might be dismissed as the rantings of a small but vocal minority, apocalyptic fears helped drive the antigovernment movements of the 1930s and ’40s and could help define the 2012 presidential campaign as well.

Christian apocalypticism has a long and varied history. Its most prevalent modern incarnation took shape a century ago, among the vast network of preachers, evangelists, Bible-college professors and publishers who established the fundamentalist movement. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals and independents, they shared a commitment to returning the Christian faith to its “fundamentals.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/opinion/why-the-antichrist-matters-in-politics.html?src=me&ref=general More at link

People who believe in this stuff scare me more than the possibility of 'this stuff' does!

[cleanhippie]

1. What is the difference between the "people who believe 'this stuff'" and people who believe

that a dead man was literally resurrected from the dead?

How is one more insane than the other?


:shrug:

[gratuitous]

2. Pop by our Souper Bowl party some time

We can always use a helping hand in carrying out the message and ideals. Unless you're more content to sit on the sidelines and snipe while your neighbor suffers. It's a curious phenomenon, one that I don't understand, and it appears insane to me, but it's pretty prevalent around here.

[cleanhippie]

3. What on earth are you talking about?

:shrug:


And what does your incoherent babble have to do with the question I asked?

:shrug:

[Quantess]

6. Yeah, I didn't understand your comment either.

Maybe you responded in the wrong thread?

[LeftishBrit]

8. The difference is that on the whole the former do much more harm...

Of course, any belief system can be used for ill; but those who think that the world is about to come to an end anyway are likely at best not to think it important to take responsibility for others' well-being of for the environment in the here-and-now; and at worst to actively seek to hasten the 'end times' to fulfil a prophecy,

I doubt that the majority are truly insane in the literal or clinical sense; but they have been persuaded by strong social influences to take a view that is likely to lead to danger to themselves and others.

[MisterP]

4. Slacktivist's review of Barbara Rossing's "Rapture Exposed"

http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2010/04/tf-down-to-earth.html

[Swede]

5. "When Obama hands Jerusalem to the Muslims" Jack Van Impe

I was flicking the channels,and a video of a h-bomb explosion was on one channel,then Jack came on grinning from ear to ear to make the above pronouncement.

[Union Scribe]

7. That guy's wife looks like an alien in a wig.

That big triangle head with the hollow eyes, just like the drawings. They're clearly here to scout for an invasion.

[LeftishBrit]

9. Oh, I was wondering if this would be a thread about Cheney,