Is Bush trying to bring about the "end times"?

[BushOut06]

As we know, * is an evangelical Christian, a sect of Christianity that believes in an apocalyptic "end times". Many fundamentalists believe that the Second Coming, aka "The Rapture", cannot occur until certain events have transpired. One of these events is the "Tribulation", a seven-year period of time which will see the faithful persecuted, the rise of the anti-Christ, and a final battle between good and evil. This is where we get the word "Armageddon", which refers to a location in Israel where they believe this final battle will take place.

One of the key elements to this apocalyptic belief is that the entire world will turn against Israel. I've heard many evangelicals claim that the United States is also one of God's chosen nations, and that the US and Israel will stand alone against the rest of the world.

What are the chances that Bush is formulating his foreign policy around this belief, and perhaps even trying to hasten the "end times"? It certainly wouldn't be the first time that humans have acted to bring about some ancient prophesy.

[H2O Man]

1. Yes.

Indeed, he is.

[MasonJar]

2. Do not believe for one moment that W is a Christian or a disciple

of any other faith. He has never done anything right in his life; this is just another typically outrageous failure.

[liberal renegade]

10. he's succeeded

very well at being an evil little bastard! It's mind boggling that we can't quick his ass out. WTF?

[bdamomma]

24. all we need is one incident to flame the crowd into action

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

[Faygo Kid]

3. I don't buy the "evangelical Christian" stuff from Bush

You are certainly correct about this as the motivation - often the primary motivation - of his followers. And I hate questioning someone's religious beliefs, but I think his are pulled out of the drawer when it's convenient. I don't think he gives a rat's ass (and I am sure Cheney doesn't) about abortion, race, gay marriage or the other social issues, one way or the other. I think he and his ilk just use those issues to pander to the base. Power and being worshipped himself, that's what George W. Bush is all about, with delusions of grandeur. Look at the cover of the new New Yorker. Bush fiddles while we burn. That's George W. Bush.

[AndyA]

4. The Bible says that no man will know.

So how is it all these evangelicals know?

They don't. They've been wrong so many times, I can't keep track.

Despite all the gloom and doom we hear these days, there is still a lot of good in this world. People rescuing stray animals, offering food to the homeless, a shoulder to cry on, and reaching out with love to complete strangers.

Look at the flood of assistance from ordinary people after Hurricane Katrina, the devastating Tsunamis, even the recent ice storms here in the midwest.

Good will always overcome evil. It's just that an evil such as Bush and Company hasn't been seen in some time, but he and his cronies are on their way out, which will open the doors to hope and a resurgence of peace and understanding in the world.

[caraher]

9. Actually, there's a slippery reading...

I saw some preacher explaining this by saying the Bible says no man knows "the day or the hour." Which he proceeded to interpret not as a caution against speculation but as an affirmation that one might know the year, month or even week all this stuff will go down.

There's also some line in that book about the devil quoting scripture for his own purposes, isn't there?:evilgrin:

[BushOut06]

13. Yeah, because they've been soooo accurate at predicting the year

How many times have these wingnuts been convinced they knew the year? I can remember in my own lifetime seeing several years as "the" year Christ would return. The first one I remember is 1982, when all the planets came into alignment. Then there was the obligatory year 2000. But wait - Christ might have been born in 4 B.C., so we have to adjust the Rapture to 1996.

Who can keep up with all these changes?

[Pathwalker]

22. Don't forget 1899! The world was going to end then, too.

It's one of my favorite stories from my Grandmother - a cautionary tale about believing in preachers who preach the end times. Her parents and many others followed a preacher into a cave which was sealed up AFTER they turned over all their worldly goods to the preacher. Some days later, they notcied the preacher was missing and discovered a secret exit, so they left the cave only to find out he'd sold ALL their properties and stole all their other worldly goods. Grandma was only four at the time, but she spent the rest of her life cursing any end times preacher who got within ten feet of her.
So, this is not a new phenomenon.

[mikelewis]

5. Bush is too narcissistic to be working for God... He may take advantage of those...

...fools who believe in a demon God that wants the "good" people to kill all the "bad" people but he's not looking to share his throne with anyone... not even God.

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. Bush has given us war and rumors of war.

Who knows, if he's confirmed as a believer in such things, and is caught saying publicly that they'd be good, then I'd say I believe that he's trying on purpose.

"More evidence please".

[Fovea]

7. Remember, nothing in the Bible specifically

prohibits becoming filthy rich while bringing about Armageddon. Indeed, Calvinism would likely see it as validation as being one of God's elect.

[Joe for Clark]

8. Maybe -

Don't confuse evangelicals with fundimentalists.

To be evangelical just means you want to spread the word - to speak.

End times people - like the Millerites - they think there is a rapture.

Not the same thing at all. And outside of Revelations - not in new testament and certainly not in the gospels.

I would say, B*sh was such a poor business school student that it would not surprise me to find he was a poor "bible student" too. I was never great - but clearly he was even worse.

You know, about the anti-christ - and the coming supposed battle at Meghido - I'd read St Augistine.

I think your post is good.

Joe

[porphyrian]

11. Yes, but only as part of an elaborate pyramid scheme. - n/t

[godless]

14. There is absolutely nothing genuine in the Dummyew persona....

not his Ranch, not his drawl or his difficulty with the English language, not his swagger, not his sobriety, not his heterosexuality nor any of the other lies his machine has tried to substitute in lieu of his truly odious personality in the minds of the public. So why should his religious convictions be any less of a sham. Doesn't he put on that clown suit when he wants to get out the Sheeple Vote?

[newyawker99]

19. Hi godless!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[malaise]

12. His end time is coming

and soon. IMPEACH

[bdamomma]

25. I like your answer, and yes, if there is a God up there

he will have a nice warm/hot place for W to go to.

[gratuitous]

15. It's a disturbing thought

There are many disturbing little veins that this end-times nonsense inspires. One, of course, is the "screw it" mentality. Everyone's about to go to their eternal reward real soon now, so who am I to stand in God's way just when He's about to bring history to a close? Better to sit down, shut up and hold on tight. These people render themselves pretty useless, except for a lot of "evangelism" that boils down to "be God's best friend or He'll kill you!" Uh, gee, if that's the good news, what's the bad news?

Another useless category that people willingly fling themselves into is the "I'm being persecuted, so I must be doing God's will." No, you're a gigantic pain in the ass, and people like you are rightfully scorned by decent society. Nearly as useless as the first category, but occasionally, they'll do some good works like feeding the hungry, but it's more accidental than intentional. Both categories comprise a lot of people who are basically hopeless that anything they might do will have any effect on the events they see.

Then there are the preyers. Not the "prayers," but they "preyers." They are aware of this peculiar strain in the fundy/evangelical mindset, and they exploit it for all they're worth. I think the Bushistas are in this category. What they're really doing, of course, is looting Iraq and the U.S. Treasury, grabbing money by the fistful as fast as they can. But to distract from the obvious, they dress up their plundering in flowery language and phraseology designed to signal to the fundy/evangelical types that the administration is really on their side. They also appeal to folks who feel helpless, that a great champion like George W. is on their side, ready to enforce God's will on the chaotic events of the world. Some people have called it "dog whistle" politics: A phrase here or a word there that the tuned-in hear, but that means something very different from what the casual listener hears. It's meant to comfort them while their pocket is being picked.

The problem, of course, is that nobody, not even Karl Rove, can keep it up forever. A lot of fundy/evangelical folks are starting to see that Dubya just may not be the good Christian man they thought he was. I think the majority are still gulled, or at least on the fence, but Bush's appeal even to this constituency is waning. I think the eschatological fever peaked about August, when Israel and Lebanon looked like they were about to go at it once and for all. But then those darned cooler heads prevailed, and the world again backed away from Armageddon.

[Turbineguy]

16. Maybe just his own impeachment

His strategery to get out of Iraq. It's a modification of his plan to get out of Vietnam.

[PoiBoy]

17. He's a provocateur...

everything he's doing is being done to provoke more mayhem and chaos.... he puts our troops in harm's way... he pits the sunnis against the shia... he dispenses misdirection, outright lies and manipulation to force the PNACs goals onto the world in the short time he has left... and he wraps himself in our flag and hides behind the bible to provoke his "base"... there's nothing Christian about this monster...

[Truthy Nessy]

18. maybe but not as a the "saviour" but as

the antichrist. I do recall reading that the late Pope believed W was the antichrist.

[NewJeffCT]

20. End Times for the Middle Class, I think

He wants to take us back to Feudalism where there are a few rich & powerful elites at the top and the rest of us are peasants and serfs who serve these rich & powerful.

[seabeyond]

21. clear back to spring '04 i asked fundamentalist and they say ending is coming....

and that they are helping it along. i asked what if it isnt the end and all you are doing is creating a horrible mess for the rest of us to clean up....

didnt compute, couldnt be... but i left her with that thought

[Swamp Rat]

23. Yes, in more ways than one.