Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Mark of the Beast
Sometimes I wonder if the mark of the beast referred to in Revelations isn't going to turn out to be the cross. We condemn moderate Muslims for not speaking out against radical Islam and preventing it from terrorizing the rest of the world. One could ask what is moderate Christianity doing about these kinds of people? God help us all if they get into power in America.
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Get into power? They already are in power. The problem is that their brand of Christianity isn't in the bible. Never heard Christ say arm yourselves and attack another country.
ReplyDeleteIt's all pretty scary stuff. And it's what Harper and company are trying to do in Canada.
ReplyDelete"We are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government...our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors — in short, over every aspect and institution of human society." That's Harper goal. Read The Armageddon Factor.
Maybe there's more than one "mark of the beast." On the one hand, you've got Christianity as it's commonly practiced, which is very much a status quo affair. On the other, you've got the very radical message of Jesus, which has next to nothing to do with the behavior of any Christians I've ever known.
ReplyDeleteWell, given that I believe Revelations was written by John while he was high on mushrooms, you should take my opinion with a huge grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the cross is the mark of the beast, but I have observed that the most evil folks are found amongst the religious fanatics of all religions.
I'm sure any pastor would testify that they're more frequently terrorized by the most "loyal" church members.
Lorena gets my vote, as a pastor: "I'm sure any pastor would testify that they're more frequently terrorized by the most "loyal" church members."
ReplyDeleteBeen there; have the scars.
For a number of years now, I've said that the only difference between the Christian Right and the Taliban is the way they pray to their god!!
ReplyDeleteYou're right in that there needs to be more moderates condemning the extremists. One of the problems is the moderates don't get the media coverage that the nutjobs do.(Dog bites man is ho-hum, Man bites dog is news!!!)
Revelation 13:15-18 (New International Version, ©2010)
ReplyDelete15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
"We are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government...our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors — in short, over every aspect and institution of human society."
They are not in power yet. The money people still control the reins. The danger is that if (when?) the current economic and political situation in the USA gets worse, it will drive more and more people into "the arms of Jesus" and these extremists actually get to the point where like the Nazis in 1932 they can override the moneyed group and seize total control.
As I have said before, I consider Canada to be simply "Austria" to America's Germany. I will have to get The Armageddon Factor.
Kulkuri is SO right!
ReplyDeleteExactly how are moderates to speak out against the extremists? I think from the pulpit is the only place. Kulkuri is right as you point out, Miss Sadie, they will never get conventional media coverage.
ReplyDeleteI remember a song from the 1960s.
ReplyDeleteOne man's hands can tear a prison down,
Two men's hands can tear a prison down,
But when two, and two, and fifty make a million
We'll see that day come 'round,
We'll see that day come 'round.
So,where are the two, and two more, and then fifty, and. . . .?
(It's no wonder that the RCMP Security Service was keeping an eye on me in the 1960s, singing songs like that in the college quadrangle.)
We have seriously discussed moving to another continent in case the moderates do not stop the trend of fanatacism in the States. I include Harper in that trend.
ReplyDeleteWhen you hear people saying the way to prevent individuals from shooting at people is to arm more untrained citizens instead of investing in mental health ... you do get scared.
I heard that one of Europe's ways of preventing another Stalin/Hitler/Franco from gaining support is inclusive health care.
Actually the entire social democratic state was developed as an alternative to the militaristic state to prevent future wars. The model to that point in time was the militaristic state where taxes were collected for the benefit of the nobility and to finance the "king's" wars. There was no benefit to the people of the country.
ReplyDeleteIf you are relocating to Europe, remember that the Christian Revisionists consider it to be extremely Godless and evil. It will be first on the nuclear target list.
That's why we'd move to New Zealand. Americans have never heard of it, and it's still in the British Commonwealth.
ReplyDelete"Americans have never heard of it..."
ReplyDeleteUh, I believe I have. Do I not count?
You don't count. You can probably even find it on a map. No wonder you don't fit in.
ReplyDelete"You can probably even find it on a map."
ReplyDeleteI can't too!!!
Weer not all idjits down heer.
Snowbrush, lets see. You have Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Beck, Limbaugh, Tea Bagggers, W, birthers, the world's worst health care system outside of Somalia, guns everywhere, the highest rate of incarceration in the "free" world,and a Republican majority in Congress. You were saying?
ReplyDeleteAmerica has many serious problems, it is true. Indeed, I despair for its future, and I sometimes congratulate myself on the fact that I will almost certainly be dead in 25 years or so, and hopefully not have to be around for the most violent of its death throes. However, in looking down upon America, you forget that your future is entwined with ours, and even that the whole planet is a partner to some extent in environmental destruction. Devoting literally all of your political blog time to ridiculing America problems also implies an astounding unwillingness on your part to consider--or even be aware of--Canada's problems. I watched a documentary last night entitled Stupidity, and the most shocking part of the film involved Canadians. I suspect that for every moron south of the border, there is another on your side of the border. Despite the fact that you live--or at least lived---there, yet you are able to carry on with the delusion that all is well, that your land if fair and your people wise, and that paradise would reign on earth if it weren't for us assholes in America. I don't even live in Canada, yet just from listening to Canadian broadcasting for a couple of hours every few days, I believe I know more about the challenges that your country faces and the cruelty and idiocy of which your people are capable than you do. Perhaps, you've been away too long, and have made Canada into Camelot in your memory.
ReplyDeleteThere is also your appalling ignorance in referring to Americans as if we are all alike. You would no doubt be horrified if I were to speak of black people are women or indigenous peoples as if they came from the same cookie cutter, yet you don't have the least problem with such prejudice when you talk about America. Indeed, you are proud of it, just as a racist is proud of looking down upon black people. Such bigotry enables a person to prop up his own self image at another's expense, and that's all it does. It implies a lack of self-respect.
America is a prime target or Canadian criticism because it is an easy one. Many Americans do not know where Canada is on a map. I've met some of them.
ReplyDeleteOf course there are intelligent, compassionated and educated Americans. They just aren't as fun to mock.
It is different to make fun of a white, upper class male than to mock a poor, immigrant African woman. The difference is in who has the power. Americans are still seen to hold the majority of the power in this world. That is why it is easy for Canadians to justify anti-American rhetoric. It is not racism if the prejudice is against the group in power. It is still prejudism. You are right that it is still wrong, but it is not the same as a power group deriding a non-power group.
Because Canada is a small country and so dependent on the US economically and even for security, there is a resentment towards it. You could call it an inferiority complex.
The Canadians who are most likely to believe Canada is some kind of paradise are those who support the Republicans and/or libertarianism. By scapegoating liberal and European influences, they retain the hope that once the Conservatives gain majority, Canada will become even better.
I would say part of the reason for Blog Fodder's preocupation with American politics is that it has such a direct and powerful influence on our own. In a sense, American Republicanism is a major root of Canadian Conservatism.
I think prairie nymph is right on target with her comment about "American Republicanism is a major root of Canadian Conservatism." When we have a Canadian Prime Minister who likes American traditions more than Canadian traditions, we Canadians have a problem.
ReplyDelete