"End-Timers" a threat to world peace ?

A programme on Channel 4, UK today illustrated how American Christian fundamentalists with a fixation on the "End Time" ( Book of Revelation) are spending time and money influencing American foreign policy in the Middle East. Apparantly Bush no longer opposes Israeli settlements in the West Bank because "The Second Coming" requires Israeli occupation of all biblical territory.

Is this potentially even more pernicious than Islamic fundamentalism ?

http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/doomsday.html

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A programme on Channel 4, UK today illustrated how American Christian fundamentalists with a fixation on the "End Time" ( Book of Revelation) are spending time and money influencing American foreign policy in the Middle East. Apparantly Bush no longer opposes Israeli settlements in the West Bank because "The Second Coming" requires Israeli occupation of all biblical territory.

Is this potentially even more pernicious than Islamic fundamentalism ?

http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/doomsday.html

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Bush stated as recently as last week that he fully supports a Palestinian state, which most of the 'fundamentalists' you refer to oppose.

Ooops, sorry to bother you with facts.

As you were.

real life wrote:

Bush stated as recently as last week that he fully supports a Palestinian state, which most of the 'fundamentalists' you refer to oppose.

Ooops, sorry to bother you with facts.

As you were.

Oops, except that in the documentary Mr. Robinson went on about how George W. Bush supported the peace plan. He then stated that Bush got a load of criticism from End Time believers and later on, ditched the plan.

In the documentary, it was clearly stated that Bush's belief in the End Times is unknown. The documentary then went on to state that people within the Administration regularly consult End Time believers (or least, that's what the Evangelist Reverend stated).

Fresco kinda mistated what the documentary stated.

Mr. Robinson didn't really focus much on Bush. He stated that the Administration is influenced by End Time believers and that Bush's last attempt to support a peace plan was ditched in order to kow-tow to one of his biggest group of supporters.

The documentary didn't focus very much on Bush, but on the End Time believers. My impression was that the documentary depicted Bush as in between a rock and a hard place, trying to please End Time believers and those who wish to seek a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Most of the documentary focused on the damage that End Time belief was doing in Uganda and to the Israeli/Palestinian region. It first allowed End Time believers to state what they believe and no way were they depicted as evil or deranged. All of them were smiling. All of them were allowed to say what they wanted to say without any interruptions or contradictions from Mr. Robinson.

It then told of the End Time believers' support for illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, that guy who was drilling in Israel because he thought the Bible talked about how Israel needed oil wells in order for Armageddon to come about, then about the damage it was doing to the Ugandan society, before Mr. Robinson then went off on a little excursion to find out who wrote the Book of Revelations and why.

His conclusion was that whoever wrote it was a refugee from Palestine and may have consumed magic mushrooms on his stay on the island of Patamos. Why? Dunno. Perhaps because he didn't know what they were, because he was supposed to have stayed in a cave there so he was kinda living wild.

Mr. Robinson then went on to talk about how the Book of Revelations had a rather shaky past, not being accepted by Emperor Constantine, only being added in after Bishop Augustine insisted on it, and not being accepted by Martin Luther.

And I agree. Belief in the End Time can be dangerous and there are a sizeable number out there that are making things worse because of their belief in the Rapture.

Have atheists never noticed that the governments that have taken their philosophy to heart (Soviet Union, Vietnam, etc) have brought the world some very dangerous times as well?

The totalitarian enemies of freedom in the Soviet Union were all functioning under a regime completely committed to atheism.

The tens of millions of Ukrainians who died under Stalin and the millions of East Europeans that were subjugated by the Soviets during the Cold War would probably characterize the atheist utopian vision as a nightmare, not just a fairy tale.

At no time was it ever the policy of the Soviet Union to establish atheism.

A programme on Channel 4, UK today illustrated how American Christian fundamentalists with a fixation on the "End Time" ( Book of Revelation) are spending time and money influencing American foreign policy in the Middle East. Apparantly Bush no longer opposes Israeli settlements in the West Bank because "The Second Coming" requires Israeli occupation of all biblical territory.

Is this potentially even more pernicious than Islamic fundamentalism ?

http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/doomsday.html

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real life wrote:

Have atheists never noticed that the governments that have taken their philosophy to heart (Soviet Union, Vietnam, etc) have brought the world some very dangerous times as well?

The totalitarian enemies of freedom in the Soviet Union were all functioning under a regime completely committed to atheism.

The tens of millions of Ukrainians who died under Stalin and the millions of East Europeans that were subjugated by the Soviets during the Cold War would probably characterize the atheist utopian vision as a nightmare, not just a fairy tale.

Typical religionist drivel. At no time was it ever the policy of the Soviet Union to establish atheism. They simply withdrew state support for established religions. The Orthodox Church in Russia had been made an agency of the Imperial government by Peter the Great three hundred years ago. One of the results of the Bolshevik Revolution was the disestablishment of the Orthodox Church.

Communists may despise organized religion, but it is bullshit to claim that "atheists" ever went to war to kill religionists. The "kulaks," mostly, but not exclusively Ukrainian who died (and there were not tens of millions who died) because of Stalin's deportation of them died because Stalin understood that peasants who own land want revolutions to end, and he didn't intend to let the revolution end and deprive him of his authority for totalitarian measures. They died because they were deported and could not subsist, not because "atheists" were killing Orthodox Christians.

You trot this **** out on a regular basis, and it's just as much bullshit now as it ever has been.

Perhaps you should read the post more carefully before you pop off a response.

Your characterization of Soviet policy toward religion as simply 'withdrawing support' is laughable, and you cannot seriously think anyone believes the Soviet system was so benign.