On Jul 2, 2004, at 10:02 AM, Davd Brin wrote:
... many of the participants in MoveOn want to see a touchy-feely future in which all children are given free food and education and the Earth is safe for dolphins and apes. People will be careful not to hurt each others feelings by saying unkind things.
The Christian Coalition also has a definite image of the desireable Earth of a hundred years from now... a burnt out cinder, ravaged by war and pestilence and covered with skeletons scattered during a final battle between good and evil. Many children have been saved not by the tax-and-spend methods listed above but by the more efficient and tax friendly means of persuading them to love Jesus, so they will be transported to Heaven instead of LEFT BEHIND.
I am a Christian, but definitely NOT a Coalition-style Christian. Nonetheless, as one of those touchy-feely-future types, allow me to speak on their behalf: I don't really don't think that the burnt-out-cinder is their vision.
Well, not as their goal, anyway. More as "acceptable collateral damage."
I think that some CC types would admit that the grim temporal outcome you describe might be necessary to achieve eternal goals. I think it stems from the belief that America is the "New Israel," God's "re-chosen" people. They look back at the Old Testament's descriptions of Israel wiping out whole populations of unbelievers on God's orders and, as the "New Israel," feel emboldened to take whatever imperialistic whim strikes them as a message from God that they are permitted -- maybe even commanded -- to do some latter-day wiping out.
A detailed description of the background and expected working-out of Christianity as "New Israel" (with no specific mention of the America-as-New-Israel twist) is at <http://www.preteristvision.org/articles/apostolic_succession.html> or, if you prefer, <http://tinyurl.com/24axv>.
The United Methodist Church's web site has a good article on Manifest Destiny, subtitled "America the New Israel" that describes the view that I believe informs the current administration's thinking: <http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/joshua/manifest.html> or <http://tinyurl.com/2po4o>.
Note: I happen worship at a Methodist church, and think that their political world view is pretty fair, so I am inclined to think that the article above is a good one. I can't help it if you disagree or think that the Methodists are the spawn of Satan.
Dave
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