Protestant Doomsday Agenda

I have encountered more than a few protestant nutcases in my time who believe in the literal truth of the Book of Revelations; many of them, if not most, also believe in a literal "rapture". There are little videotapes on it--mostly out of Tejas or Okiehoma or some Dixie protestant nutcase seminary. And people are, in the Dixie Rapture vision, literally whisked off the earth to Beulahland in the midst of a nuclear holocaust or other nightmare (when Satan's legions take over or something. )

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R–Texas), who has quite a bit of control over the agenda in the House, does seem to be one of these prot. nutcase types (though there are plenty of catholic nutcases and deviants to be found--pagan nutcases are not so uncommon either). Bush II himself has indicated that the Book of Revelations is one of his "political" guideposts, a comment which should scare the shit out of all of us. The Book of Rev. is certainly one of the most bizarre pieces of religious writings to be found in that "old book" (as Thoreau said).

These modern-day Ezekiels and Revelators might do some re-reading of the Founding Fathers' rather skeptical comments on "End Time" theology--for instance, Jefferson, who claimed that Revelations was the work of a deranged mind. TJ realized that the protestant Rapture based on the Book of Rev. should be quite troubling to any rational person.

Perhaps some of you have heard of dispensationalism. It's a sort of uberCalvinist notion that Xtians are forgiven of ANY sins (e.g. crimes) at all times simply by being Xtians and attending Church, and "acceptin' Jee-suss as their personal savior" etc. In other words, the church-going, "faithful" Xtian can do whatever he wants and is forgiven simply because he's Xtian. There's more than a hint of that in much of the US right-wing agenda. The muslims have a scary rapture notion though too. And the leftist pagans are about as nauseating. As someone recently said on the Fray, the rightwingers are closet brownshirts, yet the leftists have become blackshirts....


Doomsday, thanks to Jeee-suusss