No wonder, then, that Obama triggers such fear in the hearts of America's millennialist Christians. Mat Staver, dean of Liberty University's law school, says he does not believe Obama is the Antichrist, but he can see how others might. Obama's own use of religious rhetoric belies his liberal positions on abortion and traditional marriage, Staver says, positions that "religious conservatives believe will threaten their freedom." The people who believe Obama is the Antichrist are perhaps jumping to conclusions, but they're not nuts: "They are expressing a concern and a fear that is widely shared," Staver says.Where do I begin with such foolishness? Not only are fundamentalists turning far more militant in their defense of a pro-life agenda, they are now using it, as well as opposition to gay marriage, as a reason Obama may be the antichrist. I especially like that last sentence- how in the hell did this ever get published, anyhow?
Before Christ comes again, those who are saved will ascend to heaven, according to this end-times theology, in a huge, upward whoosh called the Rapture. Strandberg is so certain that the Rapture is coming, he's bought a number of Internet addresses in addition to RaptureReady: AntiAntichrist, Tribulationus and RaptureMe. In the event that RaptureReady crashes during the apocalypse, anyone who needs an update will, with a simple Google search, be able to get one. Strandberg says Obama probably isn't the Antichrist, but he's watching the president-elect carefully.
Wow.
One point I will make- if the rapture goes down as the Southern Baptist preachers of my childhood specify, then all the believers will be taken up into heaven. So what are those websites for? The people left behind, curious where all the fundies went? How does it profit someone to start a site about the apocalypse? I betcha if all the superstitions were true, when the time comes few people will care about surfing the internet. They'll likely be busy running from the rape gangs and souping up their SUV's with gun turrets, if Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is any indication of the future.
