Do you ever get tired of that end of the world stuff? I know it reached a fever pitch this last December, with it being the end of 2012 and all. Somewhere along the way, the apocryphal rapture, formed an unholy alliance with the New Age interpretations of the Mayan "Prophecies" meets Ragnarok, meets Earth Changes, etc., ad nauseum.
Since for as long as I can remember people have jumped up and down about the "End Times." Every natural disaster, every unnatural disaster [no matter how obviously self inflicted] have all been SIGNS! AAACK! The Trials and Tribulations Cometh! The Akashic Records are ticking like a time bomb, and they tick for YOU! RUN!
Go buy freeze dried camping food, MREs, a lifetime supply of twinkies, millions of rounds of ammo for the Zombie Apocalypse, body armor, holy water, crystals that resonate with the 9th Wave of alien enlightenment, and be sure and store this all in your 6X6 Storm Shelter, that all your neighbors can see from the curb, because that will be your "Sekret" hideout when the storm troopers come to take away, all the political dissidents for every subversive message they ever left on the interwebz. And did we mention that we are talking about you? I mean face it, you did "like" some pretty fucked up shit on FB.
Do you ever get tired of that?
I got tired of it when Ronnie Raygun was the POTUS, and we were practicing Duck and Cover like good little turtles, should the Russians decide to nuke us back into the Stone Age.
Today, I saw the likeness of Obama portrayed as "Satan"! RUN! It's the Dark Lord, come to steal your soul! I mean seriously "History" Channel?
I remember when the religious wrong were so concerned about Bush Jr's shortcomings, and it was hinted that he might be the Anti-Christ. My thought was that JR. isn't smart enough to be the Anti-Christ, and certainly wasn't charismatic enough either. After that failed attempt to massage Angela Merkel--well Charisma Points {negative} 100,000.
On one hand this shit cracks me up, because it is that stupid. On the other hand, there are so many people who fall for this crap, that it's scary, because by the shear force of their numbers, they can cause some real problems in society, and sadly, in politics. Yes, I am talking to you C Street.
Honestly we should just start a "Satan of the Month" club, so that people pay a small fee, to sample a variety of different Satans, delivered discreetly in brown packaging to their front door. Every era, every candidacy, every decade, every church, has it's own Satan, it's own Anti-Christ. Christianity has it's own, Anti-Messianic Tradition, it's kind of twisted when you think about it. I mean talk about focusing on the wrong stuff!
When Marx said that "Religion is the Opiate of the People," this is exactly the kind of junk [and it is junk] that he was speaking about.
In this case, religion is used as an excuse.
If the world is ending, then global climate change isn't something we need to worry about. We can just keep doing what we are doing and the end will be here soon--problem solved.
If Bush is the anti-Christ, then the loads and loads of us who encouraged him or voted with him to invade Iraq, can sleep soundly knowing that "The Devil Made Us Do It!" It wasn't anything that we could be blamed for or held responsible for.
If the world is in the throws of ending, then we can feel confident that ripping off our neighbors via predatory lending, is really not a problem. They won't suffer for too much longer and besides, we are just trying to have a little fun before we die!
And if Barack Obama is the Devil, then it is completely understandable that all those who believe themselves to be on the side of the [good] angels, do all they can to resist any legislation, any action he might propose, because if he wants it, then it must be bad.
See how this works? See how this simplifies everything? You can pretty much justify anything you want to with this particular kind of "logic". Whatever you really want to do--you can find a way to excuse yourself by aligning your enemies with evil, and your desires with good.
This is a load of crap-nuggets of course. Meanwhile, actual problems are not solved, issues are not addressed, plans are not made, and the despondency of the populace deepens in this increasingly abusive, political and financial atmosphere, where the "little" people like you and I are consistently caught in the crossfire of epic battles between forces that do not seem to know or care that we exist. Well unless of course you march with OWs, but that is it's own diary entry.
All of these silly things are used by voters to procrastinate and avoid, dealing with serious problems that could some day undermine this country to such a degree that it simply might cease to exist one day.
The fact is, the world isn't going to end soon enough, to affect the ultimate outcome for generations of people who are being robbed blind, into destitution. Many of us didn't die in the end times, before we were foreclosed upon, or jobless for years at a time. The world isn't going to end soon enough, to spare us from the devastating effects of man-made Global Climate Change. No amount of belief, or superstition or denial will change this. We are all in this together for the long haul. And whether you are religious or not, regardless of what church you go to, or not, the old axiom stands: United We Stand, Divided We Fall.
No politician ever elected will ever be able to satisfy the whim of every citizen. But as long as we do not stick together, it surely means that they don't even have to consider our needs or desires, because there will not, be a coherent populace, large enough to force the issue. The Devil is not in the White House, the Devil is in the details. The Devil is in the ballot box. The Devil is in the financial and corporate sectors. And like climate change, the Devil is also man-made and self inflicted.
Even a "bad" politician can be steered by the people, if the people have the political will to stick together. I learned something in the military, that every American would benefit from. When I looked at the man or woman next to me, regardless of their race, creed, religion, or sexual orientation, I knew I was looking at another American Citizen, who deserved to have all the same rights that I have, and who should feel obligated [like I do--like we all should] to make this country a better place, by leading by example and being a team player.
This doesn't mean you have to give up your unique identity. It only means that in order to accomplish certain goals, you set your differences aside for the greater good.
What a concept.
So lets dump the prophetic BS, and start really talking to each other, and sticking by each other and solving real problems and leave the exorcisms and "prophetic" seances for late night tee vee.
I would also add, way to go History Channel, for promoting Christian Identity through the not-so-subtle depiction of Jesus as a European and Satan as a person of African-extraction. That's reprehensible and historically inaccurate even by your standards, which is a new low set for Dog Whistle Politics!