Hallelujah!?
Hardly a reason for celebration, but some say "hallelujah!"...
APOCALYPSE SOON: IRAQ WAR FUELS VISIONS OF ARMAGEDDON END TIMES
Source: American Atheists
Whatever the final resolution of the war in Iraq, many Christian fundamentalists see the drama now unfolding on the sands of that ancient land as a harbinger of prophetic Biblical fulfillment about the end of the world and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In books, lectures, web sites and even movies, the word is out -- TEOTWAWKI -- "The End of The World As We Know It" -- is here. Or so many believe.
There is considerable speculation about whether George W. Bush, a man who has infused his domestic agenda with a muscular religious rhetoric, incorporates that religious belief into foreign policy. More obvious, though, is how many Bush supporters on the religious right perceive the events taking place in Iraq as prophesy come to fruition. A recent piece in the Washington Post by Bill Broadway notes that world events, especially the U.S.military move into Iraq has p[rovided believers with new reasons for interpreting the latest global events through the lens of apocalyptic ideology.
"Anxious discussions have arisen on prophecy web sites, in Bible study groups and churches, and at such gatherings as last month's 20th International Prophecy Conference in Tampa, Fla.," writes Broadway. "Many see evidence of Iraq's significance in end-times scenarios in key passages of the apocalyptic book of Revelation."
There and in other prophetic books of the Old and New Testament, the vocabulary of ancient times resonates with the headlines in today's real-time coverage of the war in Iraq. The final Biblical book (excluded in some early versions), Revelation, is considered by some as a roadmap to events now taking place. Chapter 16 includes the mention of Armageddon, the ancient site of Har Megiddo in northern Israel as well as the Euphrates River recently foraged by coalition tanks.
"John," possibly the writer of Revelation tells of dramatic events, including one vision where an angel "poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East." Other angels blow trumpets, as armies gather for the final confrontation between good and evil.
Many doomsayers say that the formation of the modern State of Israel initiated the prophetic countdown to the "end of days" complete with the rise of a sinister Antichrist, global discord and the persecution of the Christian church, the rise of a "false religion" and the penultimate battle at Armageddon. Depending on how you interpret the obtuse Biblical text, Jesus arrives in time to usher in a one thousand year reign of peace before the Final Judgment, or only after his followers establish a millennial kingdom -- more likely a theocracy -- to welcome him. Within this cosmic drama is the Tribulation, a seven-year period when the Antichrist is unleashed to carry out a horrific persecution of Christians. Some predict that during this time true believers will be transported to heaven in an event known as the Rapture, possibly to return later with the Messiah as part of a conquering army.
It is a prophecy fueled by developments in the Middle East, particularly the war against Saddam Hussein.
"Rev. Jerry Falwell believes fully, and unequivocally that we must go to war with Iraq to set in motion the cataclysmic events that will ensure the second coming of Jesus Christ," says Dr. Morgan Strong, former professor of Middle East History at State University of New York and a consultant to news programs and magazines. "War with Iraq will lead to the end of the World, as we know it ... Israel will be no more. Israel will be destroyed during the apocalypse. Any Jews that survive anywhere will be converted to Christianity."
Strong adds that according to this eschatology (the study of ultimate end-times things), Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus, Catholics, Animists and everyone else will either perish in the conflagration or convert to fundamentalist Christianity.
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BLOODY PROPHECY?
The fatalistic views of many fundamentalist doomsday believers coupled with the horrific events said to be prophesied in Revelation disturb even some Christians.
Dr. Melanie McAlister, associate professor of American Studies at Georgetown University said that the theology presented in the "Left Behind" books and movies may lead people to accept the inevitability of military conflict and other violence. She told the Washington Post, "LaHaye and Jenkins join a chorus of fundamentalist commentators who, despite their protestations to the contrary, have expressed a perverse enthusiasm for the spilled blood and millions of dead that will signal the Second Coming."
McAlister added that many end timers will perceive events in the Middle East as "part of a divinely sanctioned plan," and "Because of that, there's both less we can do to stop them and perhaps less we should do."
At the recent "Left Behind: What's It All About?" Bible conference in Amarillo, Texas, 1,200 seekers listened to a battery of speakers including Tim LaHaye discuss the events unfolding in the Middle East.
Gary Frazier, who delivered a presentation on "Signs of the Second Coming," said that "Everybody is incurably curious about the future." He emphasized the role that Israel and other countries in the region are playing in the fulfillment of end times prophesy, and warned that events like terrorism and the formation of the European Union were all predicted in the Bible.
"The whole world's in crisis," Frazier told the Amarillo Globe-News. "It's just not the conflict with Iraq. There's the war on terrorism, which is becoming a global conflict, and there are soldiers all over the place.
"People everywhere know something's happening, and those with knowledge of Scripture know it's things that the Bible has prophesied."
Frazier added that Christians will play a special role in the horrific events predicted in revelation.
"It's thrilling to see God's plan unfold. But for the nonbeliever, they ought to be terrified."
The Globe noted that many attending the prophesy conference were animated by what they were hearing. One church member said that current events proved the Bible's "divine nature." Speaker Ed Hindson agreed, and told his audience, "The message of salvation runs through the Book of Revelation."
"Hallelujah!" Hindson declared. "The Lamb has cried out, 'Jesus is king!' and the good news is, we win!"
HOMEPAGE
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