During the last few months, I noticed that a lot of Fundamentalist Christians have been not just writing posts against Barack Obama, they've been predicting that if elected, he would either turn out to be the Antichrist, or that it would usher in the end times, and that Armageddon would be coming. I'm serious. Here are a few more examples of what I read.
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Voting_for_Obama_is_a_SIN_What_decade_is_this
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=269841
http://davidbenariel.wordpress.com/2008/10/22/obama-a-disaster/
The best example was a recent McCain commercial titled "The One", which overtly suggested that Obama was indeed the Antichrist. Rush Limbaugh, on a recent show, said:
"We'll find out in less than 30 hours how many people want to give up their freedom for what they think is going to be some version of a carefree utopia. We'll find out, and we'll deal with the result after it happens."
My old pal Ray "I am not a looney" Comfort, over at his blog, sort of had similar ideas about Barack Obama, but instead used the old tried-and-true "Some of my best friends are black... no wait, really..." method of using a black man to speak out against Obama for him. How often have Ray's posts consisted of an entire article of someone else's opinion on his blog before? Almost never, going back about a year.
So here is my prediction. I predict that either Ray Comfort or another well-known lunatic Fundamentalist, will post something this week proclaiming that America is now doomed, doomed, doomed, doomed. Someone is going to proclaim that the economic crisis was predicted by the Bible, and that Obama being elected is another fulfillment of prophecy, and that more terrible things are yet to come, all of which will be right out of the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation.
This kind of thing is only inevitable, and is not really surprising to anyone who has watched this happening for the last 30 years. It's really all just part of the usual election cycle. Every time we elect, a group of religious nuts somewhere proclaims the newly elected president to be the Antichrist. Remember how "Ronald Wilson Reagan" was the Antichrist, because each part of his name has 6 letters in it, which come out to 666?
Just wait. It's bound to happen. I'm hoping that Ray is the first to do it. I have everything planned for the occaision... but it will work fine on anyone else who is first to predict Obama's Satanic birthright! So let's see what happens! Just watch out for crazy posts by insane Fundy bloggers advising people to head for the hills, dig some bunkers, and stock up on canned goods and bullets.
2 comments:
As you point out, though, that's nothing really new. Sheesh, try to find ONE major world event these days that doesn't cause some fruitcake to smile and nod and talk about "fulfillment of prophecy" and "the last days."
If a flying saucer touched down in Times Square, and a chorus line of cross-dressing Elvis clones came dancing out to a techno remix of George Michael's "I Want Your Sex," Tim LaHaye would claim it was predicted by Revelation 15:3. ("See! They sing a song, just as the passage says, and Elvis is the KING! Repent! And BUY MY BOOKS!")
I think that even an abscence of shocking events can be spun into a sign of the end times. If we have a long period where nothing major and tragic happens, Evangelists will proclaim it "the calm before the storm", and the next time something big happens, they'll say "see! We predicted it!"
Evangelists thrive on collecting money. To make money, they sell fear and frighten people with tales of impending doom, the hook always being that if you send money to them, they'll keep you on the mailing list that keep you informed of what you need to know to avoid tragedy. When there is a lack of real tragedy in the world, they inevitably make it up.
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