Well, maybe not. Every presidency or so, there are claims the person is the Anti-Christ. I remember the claim “Ronald Wilson Reagan”—six letters in each of his names---666. Proving he was the antichrist.
Christians, especially of the Rapture Ready sort have a bizarre love/hate relationship with the Rapture, End-times, Tribulation and, of course, the Anti-Christ. They recognize Matthew 24:36 says no one (not even Jesus) knows when the Second Coming is…yet they guess anyway. They would refuse to vote for a person they thought was the anti-christ…yet acknowledge their God is sovereign and would control the vote putting the anti-christ in power.
They don’t want to act as if they would enjoy the terrible deaths of the tribulation…yet it is these deaths that usher in the age they look forward to. They talk of ancient times when it was necessary for God to use genocide…yet readily hold to the same God using genocide in the future.
It is so curious how Christians think they can affect their own God. If we all managed to never vote in the anti-christ, or never place him/her (*cough, cough* “Hillary”) in power—could we thwart their God? Does God watch CNN on election night to determine his game plan? Or if we planned very hard on electing the perfect anti-christ person—would God be forced to “move up” his timetable to conform to our vote?
They want it…they don’t…they do. Like constant air quotes: “Wouldn’t it be ‘terrible’ if Obama was the anti-christ? He He he.” Do they want this country to fall into bad times under Obama? Just to prove their point?
When will this particular flavor of Christianity cease to exist?
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When will this particular flavor of Christianity cease to exist?
ReplyDeleteWhen people are no longer brainwahsed into stupid, sadistic, self-congratulatory belief systems.
Interestingly, I just happened across a related article in the Salt Lake Tribune the other day, in which my very own Dad is quoted:
ReplyDeleteAnd the Rev. John Cowan, associate pastor at Salt Lake City's Calvary Chapel, likewise scoffed at the suggestion.
"I believe there is and will be an antichrist world leader who is probably alive today, but it's just silly to think Obama is that person," Cowan says. "I have a strong, literal understanding of end times, but that doesn't mean we name someone an antichrist every time we see someone whose stands we don't like."
The genius of the rapture myth is that it keeps Christians in a perpetual state of heightened expectation that the end of the world is "Real Soon Now". So "save as many lost souls as you can" (and don't worry overly much about human-caused global warming, 'coz the world won't last long enough to suffer under it anyhoo).
When I was a child, my parents told me I most likely wouldn't reach adulthood, as the rapture would occur before then.
Micah Cowan,
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would find it a bit surreal to read my father quoted as saying, “the antichrist is probably alive today.” (Even though my father would believe the same. Just seeing it in print…)
I remember instances, in my childhood, where I lost my mother in a store for a few minutes, or my family was not where I expected in my house and I could not locate them. I still remember the abject terror of thinking the Rapture had happened without me. I remember the frantic searching while simultaneously re-asserting my salvation. I remember the complete relief upon finding a “saved” person still here on earth.
We truly thought planes would crash (pilot and co-pilot both saved), traffic accidents in the millions, people dying, mass chaos. All at the same time of peace and prosperity of the anti-christ. And no one remembers anything about all those doomsday statements regarding the rapture.
The end-times Christians are a constant and guaranteed source of amusement, even more so after Obama's election, which was of course orchestrated by Satan acting through the media on a gullible public. Yet somehow Prop 8 passed, much to their delight, largely thanks to the very same "deluded" Obama supporters! And let's not forget those Mormons and Catholics - "false Christians" - whose involvement was critical to the proposition's success. How end-times Christians deal with the cognitive dissonance, I'll never know. I wish they'd all move to Colorado Springs, establish a theocracy, call it "Jesusland," and secede.
ReplyDeleteThis is sort of like what you get in forums that discuss hurricanes and tropical storms. People hurriedly exchange details about the locations and strength and speculate about how bad it will be. Every so often someone feels a need to add a note that they really hope no one is hurt and it will be just awful.
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