Editor's note: The U.S. religious community described below is willing to create a Middle Eastern holocaust simply in order that it may achieve spiritual salvation. The Neohumanist philosophy associated with Prout does not support religious dogmas that degrade human values, nor does it support the misguided idea that shedding the blood of non-believers is necessary for salvation. Salvation will not come from any religious bloodshedd, but is an inner process concerning the individual and the Supreme Being.
"A major reason the Armageddonites have become so powerful is that most journalists can't comprehend that millions of Americans could really want, in this day and age, their God to destroy most of the human race...".
"Their desire to violently reshape society brings us full circle back to Stalin, Pol Pot, and other secular horsemen of the apocalypse."
by Jon Basil Utley
Most Americans don't comprehend how our nation's foreign policy is affected by a small minority of religious fundamentalists. This Vanity Fair piece on the best-selling "Left Behind" novels provides a glimpse into their worldview:
"Far from being a Prince of Peace, the Christ depicted in the 'Left Behind' series is a vengeful Messiah - so vengeful that the death and destruction he causes to unconverted Jews, to secularists, to anyone who is not born again, is far, far greater than the crimes committed by the most brutal dictators in human history. When He arrives on the scene in Glorious Appearing, Christ merely has to speak and 'men and women, soldiers and horses, seemed to explode where they stood. It was as if the very words of the Lord had superheated their blood, causing it to burst through their veins and skin.' Soon, [Tim] LaHaye and [Jerry] Jenkins write, tens of thousands of foot soldiers for the Antichrist are dying in the goriest manner imaginable, their internal organs oozing out, 'their blood pooling and rising in the unforgiving brightness of the glory of Christ.'
"After the initial bloodletting, Nicolae Carpathia gathers his still-vast army, covering hundreds of square miles, and prepares for the conflict at Megiddo. As the battle for Armageddon is about to start, Rayford Steele climbs atop his Hummer to watch Christ harvest the grapes of wrath. Steele looks at the hordes of soldiers assembled by the Antichrist, and 'tens of thousands burst open at the words of Jesus.' They scream in pain and die before hitting the ground, their blood pouring forth. Soon, a massive river of blood is flowing throughout the Holy Land."
The "Left Behind" series is also very politically current, with its focus on Israel, the United Nations representing evil world government, and Iraq playing a key role for the Antichrist. In the words of Melani McAlister, these novels show vividly how "the conservative obsession with biblical prophecy is increasingly shaping our secular reality." I once tried to read one of the books and opened a page where giant grasshoppers (locusts, in Biblical terms) were stripping the flesh from live sinners, post-Rapture. I got bored and concluded that the books were horror stories for Christians who would have felt guilty reading stories about blood and gore if they were not "religious." (I did, however, see the movie Left Behind, based on the first book.)
The foundation for Armageddon beliefs is the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Revelation has a controversial history: Martin Luther doubted its canonical status and included it only as an appendix to his translation of the Bible. In addition to their focus on Revelation, American fundamentalists of the "dispensationalist" variety stress the vengeful God of the Old Testament. They believe that nearly all of humanity (including Jews who don't convert) will be "left behind" to die horrible deaths, after which Christ will establish a thousand-year reign of paradise on earth.
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