Sunday, April 10, 2005

The Christian right again

Well, it's an ongoing concern of mine. That's an understatement. It's an ongoing sense of appalled disbelief. Except that it is real. And that is the Christian right's desire to bring about the end of the world. Here is an excerpt from an Australian article by Terry Lane entitled, "The Christian Right's fundamental problem":


There are two consequences of having so many Christian fundamentalists near the levers of power in imperial America.

First, it is a precondition of the return of Jesus that all Jews return to Israel and that the territory of that country should coincide with that promised to Abraham by God. Until Israel retakes its promised land, expels all the Arabs and welcomes back all the Jews of the diaspora, Jesus can't come.

The so-called Christian Zionists are influential. According to The Christian Science Monitor they "have access to the White House and strong support within Congress, including the backing of the two most recent majority leaders in the House of Representatives". In Genesis, God promises Abraham all the land "from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates", an area which includes a part of Egypt, a large slice of Iraq and Syria, not to mention all the land from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. There is no room for Arabs in this promised land.
...
As the peace of the world twists around the territorial war between Jews and Arabs, and as it is Australian Government policy to follow the US wherever it goes, we are certainly affected by American Middle East policy. And if that policy is based on ancient superstition we are entitled to be alarmed.

The second consequence is environmental. As the subtitled of the article states:

If you believe in Armageddon, you don't need to save the planet. That's a concern if you also influence the White House and US foreign policy.


I am indeed alarmed. I am alarmed when a major network - NBC - schedules a mini-series entitled Revelations about biblical prophecies of the end of days. (Here's a review but you'll have to register with the Washington Post to access it. And here's another one from Newsday.) It is imperative that those of us with a rational world view take action against the life-destroying superstition that has come to such prominence.

No comments:

Post a Comment

New policy: Anonymous posts must be signed or they will be deleted. Pick a name, any name (it could be Paperclip or Doorknob), but identify yourself in some way. Thank you.