I have often wondered, frustratingly, just why people who have their socioeconomic status constantly undermined, still vote for the Republican party and the Republican candidates who are responsible for undermining their socioeconomic status. I have come to view this as the Republican paradox: many, many lower to middle class voters vote for Republicans, even though Republican policies benefit the wealthy and not them.
There are many theories as to why, such as: the Democrats are just as bad, the voters think they might some day be one of the wealthy, they are voting on other issues, etc.
But, in reading an article about "The Rapture", I came across another very interesting and somewhat startling theory:
The Christians who believe in The Rapture actually want things to get worse, because that signals the end of times and the coming of The Rapture and their savior by the return of Christ.
Here is the article I was reading
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/religion/10161835.htm
and the relevant excerpt:
"The professor said the Left Behind series is based on the notion of ''premillennialism'' or ''dispensationalism,'' which he said is ``the belief that the world is getting worse and worse, and that Christ will come to get the Christians, the born-again Christians.''
This helps explain the series' popularity, he said. ``You can look at the world these days and see the kind of killing that has gone on for a century now. . . . Who would not believe things are getting worse? We have had a Holocaust, wars, massacres.
``The books celebrate the notion that the worse things become, the happier Christians should be, because Christ is coming.''"
There has been alot of discussion by the mainstream media about moral values, about abortion and gay marriage, but why has the mainstream media continued to ignore the possible influence of some people's belief in The Rapture?
The Rapture, at it's face, is an incredibly divisive theory: that only the true believers will be saved, and the rest of us will be left to live hell on earth.
Yet, the Left Behind series of books continues to sell by the millions and the mainstream media basically ignores this story (I think I remember a 60 minutes episode about it a year or so ago, but that's it).
Shouldn't this be a topic of discussion in the current political landscape, and better yet, why hasn't anybody asked President Bush one simple question:
Mr. President, do YOU believe in The Rapture?
If he does, mightn't we want to examine if, in fact, that is what he is pursuing: an end of times?