Deficits do not matter--if you believe the end times are soon

[cally]

If you believe in the rapture, then deficits do not matter. The only thing that matters is bringing their version of Christianity to as many people on earth as possible and helping to bring the rapture as soon as possible. As I watched 60 minutes, it dawned on me that this explains this maladministration. The rapture believers said that they have no doubts and the commentator said that any questioning is not allowed. Sounds like this administration. :scared:

(For the record--I do not believe this. These folks scare me.)

[soleft]

1. Bush keeps talking about "times"

Historic Times
A time set apart

The way he talks about bringing peace to the earth - how he will not lose because he has a vision. He believes he is the second coming.

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Not much would matter, if you we're just marking time til the rapture

The Environment... NOPE!
Our Allies... NOPE!
Social Security Fund.... NOPE!
Kids' Education.... NOPE!

[Mari333]

3. Actually, you hit on an important subject

Ive thought this for a long time...before 2000 when many religious extremists thought Jesus was going to come out of the clouds in 2000, they did rack up credit, and hoard goods for Y2K (they called it YES to the KING on their websites)
they didnt get their wish..Jesus didnt come, and now they are mad. So, they are going to make sure "he" comes (in their minds) by embracing a foreign policy that pressures the foreign policy of Armageddon according to their insane interpretations of Revelations.
They seem to be getting their way and we are the ones who suffer from their insanity.
Its like the country has gone mad, and we all are living in a lunatic asylum.

[daveskilt]

5. religious nutters

having lived in a couple of states peopled by more than their fair share of religious nutters (Utah and Georgia) I can second this. I have actually heard people talk about the neccessity of supporting Israel and even of provoking war in the muiddle east to be in accordance with the bible. funny thing is even the people in the bible thought that the "end times" were coming soon...in their lifetime maybe and that was 2000 years ago!

that makes it clear that no matter how many times they say the end is next Tuesday and are dissappointed they will never give up.

[StClone]

6. 2000 was a big year

And 1900 was too. Whenever a new Century begins or ends there is clammering from believers that the end is near. As we are already at 2004 the effect has lessened, but is still reverberating.

[brainwashed_youth]

21. whoa....

that's deep shit dude

[AffirmativeReaction]

25. Your post reminds me

Of a funny story I read leading up to Y2K. A journalist interviewed a previously normal man in Virginia (?) who had taken drastic steps. He had sold his house in the suburbs, bought land in the country and moved his family. They all learned grind their own flour, butcher their own cattle, churn butter, etc. He also stocked up on guns and non-perishables. The best part of the article was the guy saying, "I'm not some kind of survivalist nutcase, but if you live within 5 miles of a 7-11, you're toast!"

[skippysmom]

4. So Christ is going to forgive our debt?

No wonder we have In God We Trust on our money!

[daveskilt]

7. Quick, everyone look busy! - jesus is coming!

[hang a left]

8. OK I am gonna go there and expose the whacko foiler that I am.

I believe that the "prince of the earth" whom some bible believers believe to be Satan is setting the stage for the ultimate battle and that is Satan against Christ. I think that it is the powers that be that are invoking the great war with Christ. The fundies don't realize that their God loving *bush doesn't worship the same God as they. I think that is what all this Mars stuff is about, the final battle between good and evil.

[Hamlette]

9. thanks for posting this, the same thought occurred to me

I had the exact same reaction to the 60 minutes piece.

Did anyone see Bob Schieffer yesterday? He had a piece on about JFK and how he had to convince America his religion would NOT affect his decision making as a prez. Now we have a prez who may have made the decision to go to war based on his religious beliefs.

How friggin' scary is that?

I have struggled for a year to try and understand why Bush went to war. Oil? Water? Nothing seemed right. Until last night. And I remembered a story Barbara Bush tells on W. The two of them had an argument, Bush maintained people who did not believe in Jesus would not go to heaven. She tells the story how Billy Graham set him straight. (The motivation of Barbara telling the story seemed more important to me at the time. She told it to show: 1. Her son thinks about deep and important issues, 2. He is very religious, 3. He can be set straight by proper authorities; his mother and Billy Graham. Now I wonder who the hell is that man in the White House? Fer crying out loud. The Bible is OUR MYTH STRUCTURE. NOT TRUTH!) I'd also thought Bush was using religion to get elected. Maybe the dirty little secret of this all is that HE FRIGGIN BELIEVES THAT SHIT!)

Can't you just see the likes of Billy Graham preaching to Bush after 9-11 saying "it has begun. It is up to you. They started the war in the middle east that will bring Christ back. How cool would that be? You can bring Christ back to earth."

70 million Americans are evangelicals. They believe that stuff. 70 million. 25% of Americans. They are more intolerant than the racists of old. Maybe we should just give it up and move. Try containment from another shore. Containment of the US that is.

[cally]

12. Not all fundies or evangelicals would believe that

the end times are near. Most believe that there will be a final battle. Most mainstream churches preach that humans will not know or be able to predict when this will happen. It's a big difference.

[daveskilt]

16. see i think there will be a final battle

but only because people given a big enough arsenal and global mass communications (the ability to piss off more people at greater distance) will eventually rush into a final battle (see 1914 or hell the crimean 1854?)

[skippysmom]

13. I did see Morley Safer's report

on this on 60 Minutes last night. Scary stuff.

I think it's interesting that a Catholic, or a Jew, or a Muslim, would have to answer so many questions about whether they'd be answering to the people or the church -- yet the fundies can take over the government and that's okay.

It was scary. I had Handmaid's Tale visions.

[slappypan]

10. they don't save for retirement either

My husband works with some people like this — they refuse to save in the 401k, even though there is profit sharing because they believe that the world will end soon so there is no point in saving for the future.

[Skip Intro]

11. bush summoned Jack Van Impe to the WH before the invasion last year

For those who may not know, Jack Van Impe is the end times preacher dude who can quote scripture like no one else - he claims to have memorized the entire book. He hosts a weekly show with his wife, and the central theme has always been how near the "end" is - all the signs pointing to it. I used to watch his show very late on Sunday nights - partly for entertainment value, partly because I like scary things, partly because of the "what if" factor (it was late, I'm tellin' ya), but stopped months ago when the guy said something like "how nice to have a good Christian president, not like the one before him." :puke:

Anyway, on his show, he said he had been invited to the WH, which I later read about. Who knows what was said. :scared:

I've also read the guy who wrote "The Bible Code" visited the WH just before the invasion.

And you just know pat robertson has his own key.

Can you picture bush/cheney/rumsfeld/pearle/wolfie sitting around (or kneeling - ?) with these people, planning the invasion of Iraq, and who knows what else? Can you imagine the conversation, the logic.

Makes me want to stock up on canned goods and find a nice cave somewhere.

(on edit - missed the 60 minutes piece, btw. Were the JVI or the Bible Code guy visits to the WH mentioned?)

[leesa]

18. Except he never quotes the part that says woe onto them that try

to create the Rapture and he never quotes the part that says you will NOT know the time of the Rapture. What a master con man he is, just like Robertson, Bush, Falwell, Graham, etc., etc. Fundies are extremely gullible and a perfect mark for con artists. That's why they can use them for their nefarious deeds over and over again.

[cally]

24. They say they take the Bible literally but

they choose to ignore key passages. That's why I posted that many,if not most, fundies do not accept the Rapture ravings. I know it's popular because it's well popular, but it's not mainstream Christianity nor even mainstream evangelism.

I think Bush believes in this which is scary.

[JHB]

14. They've been at this for over 20 years...

These guys first surfaced with "rapture-based policy" when ol'Saint Ron appointed James Watt to Sec. of the Interior (who needs to conserve the environment or resources when the EndTimes are only a few years away?)

[daveskilt]

17. what about Ezra Benson in the 40's?

it has been going on much longer than 20 years - i wonder if it ever hasnt gone on?

[cally]

19. I think there was an end times movement surrounding the

1000 date. It was much smaller than the 2000 one since most people on earth did not worry about a calendar date like we do now. As someone posted above, the first Christians thought the second coming would occur in their lifetime.

[arcane1]

20. James f-ing Watt, thanks, I was trying to recall the name of this loon

Why clear up the air and water if Jesus is coming soon?

sigh...

I want off this ride...

[Hubert Flottz]

15. You said:

"The only thing that matters is bringing their version of Christianity to as many people on earth as possible"

That plan was the same one the Spanish used in North and South America, but what the leaders REALLY wanted was the gold! The same is true with today's crop of plunderers! Crooks always swear even on their own Bibles that they only mean well! The God Mammon has been people like Bush's God since time began! Hitler was a God user just like Bush is! They use God for a poker chip!

[TennesseeVol]

22. You know...

I'm convinced that Chimpy is the Anti Christ.

And I'm an atheist. Imagine that.

[KamaAina]

23. Next installment of "Left Behind"

A bunch of middle-aged fundie men are misbehaving at a convention, somewhere like Vegas.

All of sudden, they disappear -- leaving only their toupees.

:-)