I’m no biblical scholar. I’m a semi-practicing Catholic who attends Episcopalian services due to spousal preferences. So maybe I am all wet on this, but I keep seeing all of these emails and websites that ask if Barack Obama is the Antichrist (the clear implication being that we must absolutely stop this man before he attains power, blah blah blah) and I keep wanting to know why.
Now, again, I don’t know much about the bible, but my understanding has always been that, according to most Christian theology, the “Antichrist” would rise to power and that the actual Christ (Jesus) would also return to Earth in Glory. At some point there would be a Rapture (not as defined by Debbie Harry and Blondie, but something more sacred and less guitar-driven) where all the souls of the truly righteous would miraculously disappear from their cars and go immediately to heaven. Those remaining would be locked in a long, dark and gloomy period far worse than your average Scandinavian winter while a battle between good and evil would be waged the world over. The forces of evil would be led and championed by said Antichrist and the forces of Good would be led by Jesus himself. All the remaining mortals would be forced to choose sides and the ones on the side of evil would be sent to Gehenna or some other place involving wailing and gnashing of teeth. Meanwhile, those who weren’t swept to heaven during the Rapture but chose to align with Good would have their souls redeemed and eventually go to heaven after a very long struggle.
This is my (rudimentary) understanding of how the Rapture and Antichrist works. I invite anyone to disabuse me of any wrongly-held notions I have. But I think the upshot is that the Antichrist forces the arrival of Jesus, enabling Jesus to rule to world and redeem us from Satan, who is, if I understand correctly, sort of the godfather to the Antichrist.
Now, everyone who is going on about whether Obama is a Muslim (which, apparently is a prerequisite for being able to snag the gig as the Antichrist) or is from some Muslim heritage. My only quibble with this is that some years ago Jerry Falwell went to great lengths to say that the Antichrist was probably alive at that moment and was JEWISH. Is it possible that all of these people have Islam and Judaism mixed up? I guess it’s possible that everyone is forgetting that Falwell said that the Antichrist is going to be Jewish because it is far more politically expedient to go after the Muslims and to attack Obama on this basis, but whatever.
My biggest point with all of this (and thank you for staying with me all this time while I got to it) is why on Earth do we want to stop the rise of the Antichrist?!!! Seriously! Isn’t it God’s own will that the Antichrist rise up, so that the reign of Jesus may commence? If Obama actually IS the Antichrist, who the hell are we to pick McCain? Wouldn’t it seem that Obama is God’s own anointed leader of the world? How is it that true evangelical leaders are not trying to get this guy elected? That brings on the Rapture people!! That gets Mr. Jesus Christ down here on Earth that much sooner and enables him to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to the heathens who do not know Him and enables those who do know Him to get to Heaven on an express train!
If you are a Christian, what is so wrong with voting for the Antichrist?! Yes, I suppose the Antichrist will cause suffering the world over and millions of people will die ugly and painful deaths, but isn’t that what God wants? Why do you try and thwart Him and His will? Who are you to substitute your judgment for that of God?
I know this will piss off a lot of people (assuming anyone is reading in the first place) and I also know that it appears that I am making light of Christians and people of faith. I assure you, I am not. But if my understanding of Christian theology is correct, if God really wants this and we really want what God wants, then how can we vote against him?
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sen. Obama? Don't Fall For It!
Don’t do it, Sen. Obama. Just don’t. Do NOT fall for McCain’s proposed campaign suspension so he can “work” on t he economy. Do NOT allow the debate for Friday night to be canceled.
I have to admit, I am impressed by this move. McCain, after absorbing heavy, thudding body blows day after day on the economy has finally decided that the best thing he can possibly do is stop playing the game where he is getting his ass kicked. If your nose keeps getting bloodied and you can’t throw a punch, why don’t you just quit fighting? Then, if the other guy decides that he wants to keep up the barrage, you can claim to be better than him, above it all and accuse him of playing dirty when your efforts are focused on nobler things.
I understand the move by McCain and I understand the appeal, however forced it may be, to the Obama campaign. It will be tough to accuse John McCain of playing politics and trying to demagogue the issue when he says his efforts are focused on making an ugly situation better.
Be that as it may, you can’t let up. McCain has already shown, on September 11th of this year, that his definition of “suspending” his campaign doesn’t read exactly according to Webster’s. You cannot trust his campaign to truly “go dark” and he will keep running ads and keep trying to attack you. You must not forget that this is all a huge effort to distract the American public from the fact that his economic policies and ideas are trash and that his own campaign is absolutely rife with people peddling influence to special interests that have put this economy where it is.
The trick for you will be to finesse the issue without looking like you are playing politics. Maybe you can say “Senator McCain has asked that we suspend our campaigns while we work on cleaning up this economic disaster he helped create. I applaud Senator McCain for finally owning up to his responsibilities and trying to make things right. But Sen. McCain doesn’t want to change anything, he wants to withdraw because this is an issue where he cannot win. If Senator McCain is serious about helping this economy, then why doesn’t he actually talk about his plans, about he value of deregulation and about the role his policies and advisors (and mine) have played in this crisis? I will not agree to cancel this debate but what I will agree to do is change the focus from national security to employment and the economy. The best thing we can do, as candidates for the presidency, is to tell the American people how we will govern if we are elected President. This crisis was caused, in large part, by a lack of transparency in our government and in the operation of our financial institutions. If Senator McCain truly wants to reform the way Washington works and seriously change the culture of Wall Street, I invite him to meet with me Friday night for a debate on the economy. I will work with the Senate in Washington to help fix this turmoil but Senator McCain’s proposed response, to bury his head in the sand, is not a show of leadership, it is a display of cowardice.
Even if McCain unilaterally refuses to be at the debate Friday night, you cannot agree to “suspension” of the campaign. You must keep the pressure on McCain, even if he stops campaigning. Remember when John Kerry refused to respond to the Swift Boat ads? Put McCain in that same box and see how he likes it.
Don’t stop. Don’t let up. Don’t slow down. You can sleep all you want November 5th.
I have to admit, I am impressed by this move. McCain, after absorbing heavy, thudding body blows day after day on the economy has finally decided that the best thing he can possibly do is stop playing the game where he is getting his ass kicked. If your nose keeps getting bloodied and you can’t throw a punch, why don’t you just quit fighting? Then, if the other guy decides that he wants to keep up the barrage, you can claim to be better than him, above it all and accuse him of playing dirty when your efforts are focused on nobler things.
I understand the move by McCain and I understand the appeal, however forced it may be, to the Obama campaign. It will be tough to accuse John McCain of playing politics and trying to demagogue the issue when he says his efforts are focused on making an ugly situation better.
Be that as it may, you can’t let up. McCain has already shown, on September 11th of this year, that his definition of “suspending” his campaign doesn’t read exactly according to Webster’s. You cannot trust his campaign to truly “go dark” and he will keep running ads and keep trying to attack you. You must not forget that this is all a huge effort to distract the American public from the fact that his economic policies and ideas are trash and that his own campaign is absolutely rife with people peddling influence to special interests that have put this economy where it is.
The trick for you will be to finesse the issue without looking like you are playing politics. Maybe you can say “Senator McCain has asked that we suspend our campaigns while we work on cleaning up this economic disaster he helped create. I applaud Senator McCain for finally owning up to his responsibilities and trying to make things right. But Sen. McCain doesn’t want to change anything, he wants to withdraw because this is an issue where he cannot win. If Senator McCain is serious about helping this economy, then why doesn’t he actually talk about his plans, about he value of deregulation and about the role his policies and advisors (and mine) have played in this crisis? I will not agree to cancel this debate but what I will agree to do is change the focus from national security to employment and the economy. The best thing we can do, as candidates for the presidency, is to tell the American people how we will govern if we are elected President. This crisis was caused, in large part, by a lack of transparency in our government and in the operation of our financial institutions. If Senator McCain truly wants to reform the way Washington works and seriously change the culture of Wall Street, I invite him to meet with me Friday night for a debate on the economy. I will work with the Senate in Washington to help fix this turmoil but Senator McCain’s proposed response, to bury his head in the sand, is not a show of leadership, it is a display of cowardice.
Even if McCain unilaterally refuses to be at the debate Friday night, you cannot agree to “suspension” of the campaign. You must keep the pressure on McCain, even if he stops campaigning. Remember when John Kerry refused to respond to the Swift Boat ads? Put McCain in that same box and see how he likes it.
Don’t stop. Don’t let up. Don’t slow down. You can sleep all you want November 5th.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Sara Palin is Trig's Mother? Why Doesn't She Just Prove It?
I realize that as Americans we are entitled to a certain amount if privacy. No matter what certain Supreme Court justices might say, the right to privacy is given to us all.
So, I am a bit hesitant to make a big deal out of Sarah Palin’s “situation” regarding her kid and her kid’s kid. I think Barack Obama largely had it right when he said that families are “off-limits.” In an ideal world families WOULD be off limits. But we don’t always make the world we live in and I have some serious questions that Palin’s meteoric elevation only highlight. These issues aren’t going away anytime soon.
First, I have a real problem with this rumor about Sarah Palin actually being Trig Palin’s grandmother who somehow faked the pregnancy so as to avoid the shame of having a daughter having a baby out of wedlock. This story is, truly, something out of “Desperate Housewives.” The story feels like a made-up rumor and I really tend to believe that Sarah Palin gave birth to Trig Palin several months ago. I also have a real hard time believing that Palin hid this from McCain and that McCain was THAT stupid as to go with her in light of that situation. She was never taken all that seriously as a candidate until Friday of last week, so if she really was Trig’s grandmother, wouldn’t she have just declined the vice-presidency?
All of that being said, it strikes me that Sarah Palin could pretty easily put these rumors to rest very quickly and I wonder why she doesn’t do that. McCain has already set the precedent of allowing the press access to his medical records so that he could demonstrate just how healthy he is. Why doesn’t Sarah Palin shut up all the rumor-mongering right now by releasing her OB-GYN records from her pregnancy? I understand that she doesn’t HAVE to do this and that she does have a right to her privacy, but what does she have to fear? Could it be that she just wants to protect her privacy as a matter of course, even if she has nothing to hide or fear? If so, I wonder how she will square this with what will almost certain wind up as supporting telcom immunity in the newest FISA legislation?
I’d also like to say a bit about the whole “families are off-limits” thing. How is it that Sarah Palin can advocate a policy (abstinence-only sex “education”) when she can’t even make it work in her own house? I’m not saying that Bristol Palin deserves to h ave her dirty laundry searched by reporters, but I do think that between bragging about her son’s upcoming deployment to Iraq and having a knocked-up daughter despite the fact that she taught Bristol that the best way to prevent pregnancy is to keep her legs closed, she has put her family in play.
You would think that, at some point I’d stop being amazed by right-wing hypocrisy, but I still can’t get over it. The right-wing that so desperately wants this campaign to NOT be about the candidate’s families is the same party that had both Rush Limbaugh and JOHN FUCKING MCCAIN make vicious brutal fun of a pre-teen Chelsea Clinton for little more than her looks. But now we can’t talk about families? Oh. OK, I get it.
Anyway, Governor Palin, I tend to believe you. I think you really are Trig’s biological mother. But since you support the right of the government to spy on me with impunity, since you advocate abstinence as sex ed and since you can put this issue to rest almost immediately (except with a few true crackpot conspiracy theorists), why don’t you just let me see your medical records. Prove to me that you carried Trig to term in your own uterus. After all, what do you have to be afraid of?
So, I am a bit hesitant to make a big deal out of Sarah Palin’s “situation” regarding her kid and her kid’s kid. I think Barack Obama largely had it right when he said that families are “off-limits.” In an ideal world families WOULD be off limits. But we don’t always make the world we live in and I have some serious questions that Palin’s meteoric elevation only highlight. These issues aren’t going away anytime soon.
First, I have a real problem with this rumor about Sarah Palin actually being Trig Palin’s grandmother who somehow faked the pregnancy so as to avoid the shame of having a daughter having a baby out of wedlock. This story is, truly, something out of “Desperate Housewives.” The story feels like a made-up rumor and I really tend to believe that Sarah Palin gave birth to Trig Palin several months ago. I also have a real hard time believing that Palin hid this from McCain and that McCain was THAT stupid as to go with her in light of that situation. She was never taken all that seriously as a candidate until Friday of last week, so if she really was Trig’s grandmother, wouldn’t she have just declined the vice-presidency?
All of that being said, it strikes me that Sarah Palin could pretty easily put these rumors to rest very quickly and I wonder why she doesn’t do that. McCain has already set the precedent of allowing the press access to his medical records so that he could demonstrate just how healthy he is. Why doesn’t Sarah Palin shut up all the rumor-mongering right now by releasing her OB-GYN records from her pregnancy? I understand that she doesn’t HAVE to do this and that she does have a right to her privacy, but what does she have to fear? Could it be that she just wants to protect her privacy as a matter of course, even if she has nothing to hide or fear? If so, I wonder how she will square this with what will almost certain wind up as supporting telcom immunity in the newest FISA legislation?
I’d also like to say a bit about the whole “families are off-limits” thing. How is it that Sarah Palin can advocate a policy (abstinence-only sex “education”) when she can’t even make it work in her own house? I’m not saying that Bristol Palin deserves to h ave her dirty laundry searched by reporters, but I do think that between bragging about her son’s upcoming deployment to Iraq and having a knocked-up daughter despite the fact that she taught Bristol that the best way to prevent pregnancy is to keep her legs closed, she has put her family in play.
You would think that, at some point I’d stop being amazed by right-wing hypocrisy, but I still can’t get over it. The right-wing that so desperately wants this campaign to NOT be about the candidate’s families is the same party that had both Rush Limbaugh and JOHN FUCKING MCCAIN make vicious brutal fun of a pre-teen Chelsea Clinton for little more than her looks. But now we can’t talk about families? Oh. OK, I get it.
Anyway, Governor Palin, I tend to believe you. I think you really are Trig’s biological mother. But since you support the right of the government to spy on me with impunity, since you advocate abstinence as sex ed and since you can put this issue to rest almost immediately (except with a few true crackpot conspiracy theorists), why don’t you just let me see your medical records. Prove to me that you carried Trig to term in your own uterus. After all, what do you have to be afraid of?
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