Bill Moyers: "Are We Doomed? Insanity Now Mainstream"

[Minstrel Boy]

The Star Tribune
2-1-5

One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the Oval Office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington.

Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a worldview despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind. And there is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious to the facts.

...

I'm not making this up. Like Monbiot, I've read the literature. I've reported on these people, following some of them from Texas to the West Bank. They are sincere, serious and polite as they tell you they feel called to help bring the rapture on as fulfillment of biblical prophecy. That's why they have declared solidarity with Israel and the Jewish settlements and backed up their support with money and volunteers. It's why the invasion of Iraq for them was a warm-up act, predicted in the Book of Revelations where four angels "which are bound in the great river Euphrates will be released to slay the third part of man." A war with Islam in the Middle East is not something to be feared but welcomed - an essential conflagration on the road to redemption. The last time I Googled it, the rapture index stood at 144 - just one point below the critical threshold when the whole thing will blow, the son of God will return, the righteous will enter Heaven and sinners will be condemned to eternal hellfire.

...

I read all this and look up at the pictures on my desk, next to the computer - pictures of my grandchildren. I see the future looking back at me from those photographs and I say, "Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do." And then I am stopped short by the thought: "That's not right. We do know what we are doing. We are stealing their future. Betraying their trust. Despoiling their world."
http://www.rense.com/general62/MAINS.HTM

[Placebo]

1. Powerful stuff.

[murray hill farm]

2. and..

terribly frightening!

[EVDebs]

3. It's call 'dispensationalism' and depends on the Third Temple

prophesies. See

"Impact of Millennium on the Holy Land"
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week319/cover.html

for info on the extent of the Third Temple beliefs.

"Their beliefs are bonkers, but they are at the heart of power
US Christian fundamentalists are driving Bush's Middle East policy"
by George Monbiot
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4905411-103677,00.html

for the power these believers wield; and

"Christian Zionism, Evangelicals and Israel", by Gary M. Burge, Ph.D.
http://www.hcef.org/hcef/index.cfm/ID/159

for an explanation of why the 'dispensationalist' theology is flawed:
""But the most important critique - and here I think we discover the Achilles' heel - is that Christian Zionism is committed to what I term a "territorial religion." It assumes that God's interests are focused on a land, a locale, a place. From a NT perspective, the land is holy by reference to what transpired there in history. But it no longer has an intrinsic part to play in God's program for the world. This is what Stephen pointed to in his speech in Acts 7. The land and the temple are now secondary. God's wishes to reveal himself to the entire world. And this insight cost Stephen his life. Such an understanding is a far cry from the views of Christian Zionists like Ed McAteer who recently commented, "Every grain of sand, every grain of sand between the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and the Mediterranean Sea belongs to the Jews." Stephen would be alarmed.""

It looks like Christianity has been hijacked by extremists just as Islam has ! How ironic.

You may also want to read the book/pamplet by Grace Halsell (former LBJ speechwriter)
"Forcing God's Hand"

for more info on their beliefs.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. Go to Canada, get involved in their politics and convince....

them to put of a wall between the two countries! I don't want Canada corrupted by the U.S!

[killbotfactory]

5. Yes we are.

These idiots are going to try and start the apocalypse.

Just sit back and try to enjoy the fireworks.

[Democrat Dragon]

6. These guys are evil maniacs who want to destroy the world

The Theocrats want to take over the world to destroy it and the Neocons just want to take over it.

Is is me or is this starting to sound like a cookie-cutter fantasy novel?

[paineinthearse]

7. Moyers is now writing for the Star Tribune?

Same Bill Moyers who retired from PBS?

[Octafish]

8. What monkey?

This IS a good week for news.



First the CIA gets a nudge to remember and look into their NAZI connected past by a Republican Senator..

Then we discover ENRON was planning for the big rip-off way back when California was flush in dough.

And here we have an honest example of journalism from Minnesota.

Let us be busy spreading the word. The good word. That is the Law.

[magellan]

23. Octafish, everyone knows the Lawgiver was an orangutan

Not a CHIMP! :)

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. This needs to be passed around. Recommended for HP.

Moyers puts it all together. Everyone here should read this piece, and we should push for him to be interviewed in visible paces.

[G_j]

10. nominated

right on the money Bill

[G_j]

11. kick

[Just Me]

12. I know, Bill. It's nuts. It's frightening, too!!!

It's frightening that the extremists have been given a damn bullhorn and spotlight!!!

:scared:

It's a freakin' nightmare is what it is!!!

[gulfcoastliberal]

13. We're doomed.

NT

[burythehatchet]

14. so then why don't christian fundamentalists do the fighting

right? Why do peolpe with a little bit more of a thoughtful philosophy have to die for these fuckers?

[RandomKoolzip]

16. I've been saying this for months, too:

We hear christian and religious people whine about being "persecuted" on DU by mean ol' atheists, meanwhile, out in the real world, fascists have hijacked THEIR religion and are intent on crashing it into the apocalypse....and we don't hear about how there very same christians are fighting THEM. Why aren't they protesting outside Evangelical associations, or the Southern BAptist Convention, or trying to take back their scripyure from these evil fucks?

Because under Bush's plan, we're ALL going to feel the fire of THEIR goddamn apocalypse, no matter what spiritual beliefs we hold....and the only people who have a chance to stop it are liberal chriistians, armed with scripture.

[RandomKoolzip]

15. More from Moyers:

http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=958

I posted this a few months ago.....very scary shit.


"Why care about the environment if the end times are near," indeed.

[Just Me]

17. These people should be told how many in the past said the same,...

,...damn thing!!!

Man, I really REALLY wish these people would get a LIFE!!! :mad:

[RandomKoolzip]

21. Trouble is....

Unlike the millinerians who came before them, these guys have the money and the resources to make it happen.

[Negatron]

22. Yep. The Apocalypse will be a MIHOP...

If Armegeddon does happen, it will be because certain death-worshipping cultists made it happen. I won't say anything specific due to a respect for the rules I agreed to, but I can tell you that it isn't too tough to find these particular cultists. They aren't hiding, because their view is now mainstream or very nearly so. Chances are, they have an active indoctrination center near your home.

[Al-CIAda]

18. Rapture Index is 154! - Fasten your seat belts!

"...The last time I Googled it, the rapture index stood at 144 - just one point below the critical threshold when the whole thing will blow, the son of God will return, the righteous will enter Heaven and sinners will be condemned to eternal hellfire. ..."

=====
Rapture Index
The prophetic speedometer of end-time activity
The Purpose For This Index

The Rapture Index has two functions: one is to factor together a number of related end time components into a cohesive indicator, and the other is to standardize those components to eliminate the wide variance that currently exists with prophecy reporting.

The Rapture Index is by no means meant to predict the rapture, however, the index is designed to measure the type of activity that could act as a precursor to the rapture.

You could say the Rapture index is a Dow Jones Industrial Average of end time activity, but I think it would be better if you viewed it as prophetic speedometer. The higher the number, the faster we're moving towards the occurrence of pre-tribulation rapture.

Rapture Index of 85 and Below: Slow prophetic activity
Rapture Index of 85 to 110: Moderate prophetic activity
Rapture Index of 110 to 145: Heavy prophetic activity
Rapture Index above 145: Fasten your seat belts

--
Rapture Index 154
Net Change +1
Updated Jan 31, 2005

http://www.raptureready.com/rap2.html

[bobthedrummer]

19. LOL!

[Blecht]

20. LOL

That's some website there.

Here's a nice quote from a section on the great flood:

"Believe the scientists and the other scoffers, or believe God, who cannot lie. We weren’t there, so we must believe one or the other. It’s a matter of faith, but the geological record is on God’s side. The whole earth was covered –at least 15 cubits above the highest mountain peak."

Fucking morons.