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Commentary Too - Mar 2, 2005 - Printable Version
- Apocalypse Now?
by Mark Faulk
When President Bush first began making overtures to attack Iraq (which were eerily similar to the current posturing towards Iran and Syria going on right now), I remember asking myself how we can possibly defeat a foe who believes that he is answering to a higher calling, how we can by the threat of death vanquish an army to whom dying for the cause is the highest honor, and who firmly believes that in the bloodiest death they will receive the highest reward in their “heaven”? It’s a valid question, and one that has been answered by the actions of the Islamic extremists on a daily basis, who sacrifice their lives in suicide missions as if their actions are pre-ordained by Allah himself. In their minds, they are the chosen ones, and in the end, their god will kick our God’s ass. There was another troubling question that haunted me as the body count began to mount at the same time that questions began to arise about the REAL reason we went to war, the by now almost forgotten weapons of mass destruction. As the major media segued almost as one from WMDs to “Operation Iraqi Freedom”, it became apparent that there was a hidden agenda behind declaring war on the country that WASN’T involved in the 9/11 attacks, and that DIDN’T possess WMDs. It had to be the obvious culprit – oil, black gold, Texas tea. I mean, what else could it be?
Then, a few months ago, those of us who did our research on the internet, instead of from the same “major media” who had seemed to cave in to the Bush Administration’s party line from the outset of the war, began to hear the first rumblings of a more sinister reason for totally destroying Iraq, in what seemed to be only the first round of a battle for “the greater good”. For me, it began when one of our writers emailed me a link to a little-known organization known as “The Project for a New American Century”, and I was shocked by what I found there – a pro-Israel organization that had counted among its members a number of influential far-right Americans – including Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. In other words, this organization, which had for years, in fact long before 9/11 gave the Bush Administration its “excuse” for attacking Iraq, had been busy lobbying Washington to.....attack Iraq, and even more troubling, they had literally “infiltrated” the Administration itself, by placing several of their members in high-ranking positions in Bush’s White House. Not long after that, another lobbyist group, known as “The American Israel Public Affairs Committee”, or AIPAC, seemed to appear out of nowhere, and was suddenly being touted as the most powerful lobbying group in Washington, claiming to have influence over nearly every member of Congress, both new and old, Democrat and Republican, and since every top leader in Washington seemed to be singing their praises, it appeared to be true. Their agenda differed very little from PNAC’s agenda, which was basically to systematically take over the entire Mideast.
So that was that....we were being conned into doing the bidding for a country that logically should have no control over our political decisions, especially decisions as monumental as declaring war....on anyone. We finally had the truth, never mind that the major media had pretty much ignored the entire story every step of the way, and when they finally did catch on, as they eventually did in the WMD (or lack thereof) story, it was so long after the event that their reporting was pretty much pointless. But at least WE knew the real reason for the war in Iraq.
But what if there was another reason for the war? What if that reason was so mind-boggling that even those of us who accepted the Israeli Connection could barely believe it? Or maybe we just don’t want to believe it, because the repercussions are so profound, so totally beyond comprehension that even those of us who consider ourselves politically enlightened don’t want to face that reality. Let’s go back to the original question posed at the beginning of this article. What if those very people who supported the war, those people who STILL support the war even after every valid reason to go to war in the first place has been exposed as a lie, believe exactly the exactly the same thing that the “Islamic Insurgents” believe? What if those on the right believe that they are merely carrying out the predetermined plan of God, what if they believe that they’re doing “God’s will”? And even more terrifying, what if our President believes the same thing? Sure, we’ll have to make a few sacrifices along the way, sure there’ll be wars, pestilence, locusts, and plagues, but we just have to look beyond all that and see “The Big Picture”. Isn’t literally being lifted up out of our clothes to sit on the right hand side of God worth a few sacrifices? And besides, those of us who truly believe, those of us who are chosen, will be exempt from the suffering that we’re exacting on the Earth. It’s the disbelievers, the unsaved, the “evildoers”, who will bear the brunt of the “seven years of suffering”. It’s God’s will, it says so right here in the Bible!
I have to confess at this point that while I’m a Christian, I’m apparently out of touch with a lot of Organized Religion. I don’t believe that it’s our job to hasten Armageddon or the second coming of Christ, I believe that God will take care of business at his own pace, when He sees fit. Apparently, the so-called “Christian Right” doesn’t share my apprehension. How do you defeat a foe who believes that he is answering to a higher authority? It’s simple, when your side is empowered by an even higher authority. That’s right, our God trumps their god, that’s why our God begins with a capital “G”. No matter how ugly things appear in the Mideast right now, in the end, our God will kick their god’s ass.
I first read about this “theory” a couple of weeks ago when I stumbled across a speech that Bill Moyers gave on the subject, entitled “On Receiving Harvard Med's Global Environment Citizen Award”. In all honesty, I didn’t want to believe it, I wanted to dismiss his words as an extremist viewpoint, or at the very least a gross exaggeration of the reality. Then, today, I stumbled upon a sermon by Pastor John Hagee, who claims on his website to reach 92 million homes every week with his message. He confirmed every word of Moyer’s article, describing in great detail how the war in Iraq is leading us into the Holy War described in the Bible in the book of Ezekial. According to Hagee, “When Russia comes against Israel, she will come with an Islamic Coalition of Nations, whose objective is to crush Israel.” Then, God will come down and, in His own words (as translated by Pastor Hagee), “I’m going to come against you, and I’m going to bring death and destruction to you until no one in the world can doubt that I am Almighty God.” In other words, our God is going to kick your God’s ass.
Then, after repeating his theme time and again, which was basically that it’s up to us to protect Israel (even though we don’t in the end, and God has to finish the job Himself), he closed his sermon with these prophetic words: “The winds of War are now blowing over the Middle East, the forces of Islamic terrorism have in fact joined with Russia right now.” Hagee says that he was told by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “Iran is developing nuclear long-range missiles with the assistance of Russian scientists. Those missiles will be able to hit London, Jerusalem, and New York.”
And Hagee’s closing statement? “One bomb into Iran’s nuclear plant could start the Holy War, and believe me, that could happen this afternoon. All of the dots connect. Jesus Christ could be here this afternoon – there is nothing to delay his coming. I want all of you to get your eyes not on the cares of the world, but on the coming of Jesus Christ. I could see you in the clouds of Heaven today, and the rest of you will be left behind.”
So now you know. It is not solely material greed that drives those whose actions threaten our very existence, that is just a happy by-product of the true crusade, a fringe benefit provided by God to his loyal flock. It is not a lack of moral values or compassion that allows them to ignore suffering and condone misery and death to those who don’t share their beliefs, on the contrary, they are literally carrying out the will of the Savior. Why sit around and wait for the Rapture when you can help to precipitate its arrival right now? Why lie in shallow graves for generations when you an experience the ultimate rush of literally being physically lifted to Heaven to sit next to God this very afternoon?
The amazing thing is that the same moral authority that gives “us” the right to wage war in His name also exonerates us from responsibility for the destruction of our own planet. As we bulldoze the last few remaining untouched areas of wilderness and kill off one species after another in order to drill for oil, erect shopping malls, and build enclosed addition after enclosed addition, in our quest for “white flight”, instead of feeling guilt, the True Believers can rest easy in the knowledge that as “God’s Green Earth” is being destroyed, we are also clearing a path for His return. We are doing God’s work.
And the best news of all? We can also justify our personal and corporate greed. No longer do we have to deal with our consciences telling us that what we are doing is wrong. No longer do we have to explain to our children, or to the poor and disenfranchised victims that we leave in a bloody trail as we march headlong to Armageddon, why we do the things that we do. It’s simple – we answer to a higher calling. We do it for God. We have turned the Bible on it’s ear, we have convinced ourselves that we ARE the chosen generation, and that God is rewarding us for our loyalty. At long last, greed is good.
There is an old saying, “Be as a stone cast upon the water, that the positive influence of your action may extend beyond the power of a mere pebble in the hand of a man.” Well, the Religious Right is throwing boulders into the water, they are creating the apocalyptic equivalent of tsunamis with their actions, while we are armed with small rocks no larger than the ones that David used in his seemingly impossible battle against Goliath. And while at times I share their sense of impending doom, of “Apocalypse Now”, I am not enraptured by it, and I certainly don’t feel compelled to hasten it’s coming. And maybe in the end, our outcry, our moral outrage, our mere words, will be enough to vanquish a foe who, like Goliath, seems at times to be unbeatable. In the name of all that is truly holy, I pray that that’s true. Are we nearing the “end of the world as we know it?” I’ll leave that one for God to decide.
(Editor's Note: Pastor John Hagee's sermon referenced here was from February 28, 2005. As of the time that this article was posted on March 2, Jesus Christ had not, at least to my knowledge, returned to Earth, and the Rapture had not yet occured. It is not my intent to mock the Bible....I'm not totally stupid....but I do have serious doubts about some earthly interpretations of "God's Word".)
(Note to AIPAC, Pastor Hagee, God, or anyone else who I might have angered: This article is my opinion, please don't sue me.)
To learn more about Pastor Hagee, go to: www.jhm.org
To read Bill Moyer's speech, go to: www.truthout.org/docs_04/120504G.shtml
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