Jesus and Jihad
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| Sat, 07-17-2004 - 11:06am |
If the latest in the "Left Behind" series of evangelical thrillers is to be believed, Jesus will return to Earth, gather non-Christians to his left and toss them into everlasting fire:
"Jesus merely raised one hand a few inches and a yawning chasm opened in the earth, stretching far and wide enough to swallow all of them. They tumbled in, howling and screeching, but their wailing was soon quashed and all was silent when the earth closed itself again."
These are the best-selling novels for adults in the United States, and they have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. The latest is "Glorious Appearing," which has Jesus returning to Earth to wipe all non-Christians from the planet. It's disconcerting to find ethnic cleansing celebrated as the height of piety.
If a Muslim were to write an Islamic version of "Glorious Appearing" and publish it in Saudi Arabia, jubilantly describing a massacre of millions of non-Muslims by God, we would have a fit. We have quite properly linked the fundamentalist religious tracts of Islam with the intolerance they nurture, and it's time to remove the motes from our own eyes.
In "Glorious Appearing," Jesus merely speaks and the bodies of the enemy are ripped open. Christians have to drive carefully to avoid "hitting splayed and filleted bodies of men and women and horses."
"The riders not thrown," the novel continues, "leaped from their horses and tried to control them with the reins, but even as they struggled, their own flesh dissolved, their eyes melted and their tongues disintegrated. . . . Seconds later the same plague afflicted the horses, their flesh and eyes and tongues melting away, leaving grotesque skeletons standing, before they, too, rattled to the pavement."
One might have thought that Jesus would be more of an animal lover.
These scenes also raise an eschatological problem: Could devout fundamentalists really enjoy paradise as their friends, relatives and neighbors were heaved into hell?
As my Times colleague David Kirkpatrick noted in an article, this portrayal of a bloody Second Coming reflects a shift in American portrayals of Jesus, from a gentle Mister Rogers figure to a martial messiah presiding over a sea of blood. Militant Christianity rises to confront Militant Islam.
This matters in the real world, in the same way that fundamentalist Islamic tracts in Saudi Arabia do. Each form of fundamentalism creates a stark moral division between decent, pious types like oneself — and infidels headed for hell.
No, I don't think the readers of "Glorious Appearing" will ram planes into buildings. But we did imprison thousands of Muslims here and abroad after 9/11, and ordinary Americans joined in the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in part because of a lack of empathy for the prisoners. It's harder to feel empathy for such people if we regard them as infidels and expect Jesus to dissolve their tongues and eyes any day now.
I had reservations about writing this column because I don't want to mock anyone's religious beliefs, and millions of Americans think "Glorious Appearing" describes God's will. Yet ultimately I think it's a mistake to treat religion as a taboo, either in this country or in Saudi Arabia.
I often write about religion precisely because faith has a vast impact on society. Since I've praised the work that evangelicals do in the third world (Christian aid groups are being particularly helpful in Sudan, at a time when most of the world has done nothing about the genocide there), I also feel a responsibility to protest intolerance at home.
Should we really give intolerance a pass if it is rooted in religious faith?
Many American Christians once read the Bible to mean that African-Americans were cursed as descendants of Noah's son Ham, and were intended by God to be enslaved. In the 19th century, millions of Americans sincerely accepted this Biblical justification for slavery as God's word — but surely it would have been wrong to defer to such racist nonsense simply because speaking out could have been perceived as denigrating some people's religious faith.
People have the right to believe in a racist God, or a God who throws millions of nonevangelicals into hell. I don't think we should ban books that say that. But we should be embarrassed when our best-selling books gleefully celebrate religious intolerance and violence against infidels.
That's not what America stands for, and I doubt that it's what God stands for.

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"I think that is strange because they don't debate, they just tell you what's RIGHT.'
ITA! Remember the thread about Mel Gibson's movie? I tried discussing some points with some & just gave-up. I find it arrogant, closed minded
Good article! These fanatics really bother me. Their agenda is frightening, IMO.
Why is it legal to give money to Israel & Jewish organizations? Yet contributions to Muslim charities have been stopped?
"The danger is that, when people believe they 'know' how things are going to turn out and then act on those convictions, they can make these prophecies self-fulfilling, and bring on some of the things they predict."
Exactly!
Edited 7/19/2004 3:39 pm ET ET by cl-libraone
I learned at a tender age that any response but agreement was a waste of time. I just excuse myself and move on. What is most disconcerting is that many in my family are zealots; we have an understanding we discuss the weather and sports. My son, has a different POV, he questions and questions until they figure their not going to convert him.
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It seems so obvious to me that to be so absolutely certain that you are right, must mean that you are wrong sometime. It is a scary, particularly when they get in a position of power.
I know, but thanks for the reminder. I read Hal Lindsey's apocalyptic bestseller, "The Late Great Planet Earth" in the 1970s and found it interesting enough to read Revelations. When my curiosity was satisfied I moved on, but I know what you mean when you say you are "troubled by the sheer emotionalism and the utter conviction of absolute truth." Although I didn't read the predictions as absolute truth, and wasn't sure Lindsey was correct, I am certain that the movement is capable of fulfilling the prophecies, whatever they may be.
Because I have moved on, I forgot about the "end times" until GWB was elected and the towers fell. While I sleept, the movement has grown unbelievably and gotten so much more powerful. I am shocked by the article and hardly know what to say except that this is so much worse than I imagined. I am reading Elaine Pagel's "Beyond Blief," and am beginning to wonder why the Church fathers included "Revelations" when they consolidated the Bible. So much depends upon interpretation. This movement is beyone my comprehension.
<> This paragraph gives me some hope, but not much because I know how determined and focused people can be when in the grips of rabid faith.
Thanks for posting the article.
Me too, but I also know they are sincere in their faith. When you believe whole-heartedly you can so easily get sucked into a myopic perception, and when there are many who believe as you do it becomes hysteria. Strange how we humans work.
I'm not saying that this is limited to the Iraq War...I'm worried about a worldwide religious war.
I don't know how to respond to this staatement. What do you mean?
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I tend to agree that sometimes masses believe bogus ideas, and true the leader needs to be convincing--while men are usually seen in this role, women have also succeeded. I believe it is the emotion that moves people, and the more people you have the more powerful the emotion.
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I don't know what Christ was talking about? I do not view the Bible is the revealed word of God. So, I see the language as open to interpretation, from this viewpoint Revelations can mean anything--in fact you can't read Revelations without interpreting it. People have interpreted the book in various ways over the years since it was incorporated into the Bible.
There is a tone in your messages that I find disturbing; there is anger, but I'm not sure to whom it is directed. If I may venture a guess I would say that you have seen what is going on and are frustrated because no one will listen--I've been there. If I am wrong, please forgive me for being presumptious. Within this thread many of us are expressing our concern for what fanatical beliefs may bring about; not what they have brought about. Our concern comes from reason and an awareness of what can happen when passions run amok. I do not believe the Iraqi war is over religion, although it may be tangentially related. I do not believe that WWIII is inevitable but I do see it as a possibility.
Thank you for contributing.
As I mentioned before, the dravidians were the ones who existed before invasions of Aryans. They were pushed to the south.
Sonali
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