America's Armageddonites Push for More War
By Jon Basil Utley, Foreign Policy in Focus. Posted October 22, 2007.
Some fundamentalist evangelicals have moved from forecasting
Armageddon to actually trying to bring it about.
Utopian fantasies have long transfixed the human race. Yet today a
much rarer fantasy has become popular in the United States. Millions
of Americans, the richest people in history, have a death wish. They
are the new "Armageddonites," fundamentalist evangelicals who have
moved from forecasting Armageddon to actually trying to bring it
about.
Most journalists find it difficult to take seriously that tens of
millions of Americans, filled with fantasies of revenge and
empowerment, long to leave a world they despise. These Armageddonites
believe that they alone will get a quick, free pass when they are
"raptured" to paradise, no good deeds necessary, not even a day of
judgment. Ironically, they share this utopian fantasy with a group
that they often castigate, namely fundamentalist Muslims who believe
that dying in battle also means direct access to Heaven. For the
Armageddonites, however, there are no waiting virgins, but they do
agree with Muslims that there will be "no booze, no bars," in the
words of a popular Gaither Singers song.
These end-timers have great influence over the U.S. government's
foreign policy. They are thick with the Republican leadership. At a
recent conference in Washington, congressional leader Roy Blunt, for
example, has said that their work is "part of God's plan." At the same
meeting, where speakers promoted attacking Iran, former House Majority
Leader Tom DeLay glorified "end times." Indeed the Bush administration
often consults with them on Mideast policies. The organizer of the
conference, Rev. John Hagee, is often welcomed at the White House,
although his ratings are among the lowest on integrity and
transparency by Ministry Watch, which rates religious broadcasters. He
raises millions of dollars from his campaign supporting Israeli
settlements on the West Bank, including much for himself. Erstwhile
presidential candidate Gary Bauer is on his Board of Directors. Jerry
Falwell and Pat Robertson also both expressed strong end-times
beliefs.
American fundamentalists strongly supported the decision to invade
Iraq in 2003. They consistently support Israel's hard-line policies.
And they are beating the drums for war against Iran. Thanks to these
end-timers, American foreign policy has turned much of the world
against us, including most Muslims, nearly a quarter of the human
race.
The Beginning of End Times
The evangelical movement originally was not so "end times" focused.
Rather, it was concerned with the "moral" decline inside America. The
Armageddon theory started with the writings of a Scottish preacher,
John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). His ideas then spread to America with
publication in 1917 of the Scofield Reference Bible, foretelling that
the return of the Jews to Palestine would bring about the end times.
The best-selling book of the 1970s, The Late, Great Planet Earth,
further spread this message. The movement did not make a conscious
effort to affect foreign policy until Jerry Falwell went to Jerusalem
and the Left Behind books became best sellers.
See: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/65845/
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