Could the Bushies be PROMOTING Rapture paranoia?

[EstimatedProphet]

Let me be clear in what I mean. I know that the Religious Right is entwined in this administration so fully that it's hard to tell who is who anymore. I also know that they are using the administration to promote Rapture philosophy. Some of the backers (ex. Moon) are blatant about it. However, a statement in another post by LiberalEsto made me pause:

What a weird thing it must be to sit around waiting for The End to happen any day now. Why would anyone bother saving for college, getting an education, or planning for the future?

He's right. why bother to invest in the future in any way if you think there won't be one?

We know that this administration is also backed by corporatists like no other. The excessive wealthy has always held the rest of the population in contempt-they call us 'useless eaters' and picture themselves as being the only truly important citizens, while the rest of us exist just to keep them living their state of ease. The ownership class has been trying to erode all the progress which the working classes have made since FDR. What better way to continue to do so, than to convince the population that there is no future anyway? Why should anyone save, or try to better themselves, or do anything to improve their standard of living, if they believe the world is going to be destroyed next week? I begin to wonder if the emergence of the Rapture as the dominant philosophy isn't part of the Olin-Scaife-Murdoch agenda to trick the poor into ruining themselves. It certainly would make more sense as to why it has taken off like it has.

On edit: see, the thing is that it occurred to me now that this could be more than about some people getting rich. After a while, it's not enough for the rich to have money-what's another million when you have billions? The only way to keep the self-important buzz going is to start stepping on the poor, by making their lives worse in every way you can. Take away their savings, their property, and their ability to take care of themselves, and you can keep adding to the distance you have between you and the great unwashed. so, the Rapture may be about more than making money. It might be about getting the poor to give up everything they have, making them so impoverished that they are helpless.

[BOSSHOG]

1. bush's base is easily distracted

like a puppy dog. No boy, don't chase that Iraq bone, look here's a fresh one, go fetch. That's a good boy.

[EstimatedProphet]

4. Yes it is

And obviously it serves to distract from world events. I didn't until now see the Rapture as a way to truly impoverish people though.

[zbdent]

2. Religion has been making it big on preaching that the end was near

ever since somebody realized that they could scare people into giving them stuff so that they don't have to get a real job producing anything.

It's called "ignorance".

And as soon as the first coin was minted, there was a guy screaming about the end of the world and how you would be saved if you gave him all your money ...

[arcane1]

3. wouldn't surprise me, they are all in bed together

indeed, it would surprise me more if your theory was WRONG!

Look at the tears of joy that the fundies shed when they hear about the death and misery in the middle east. They LOVE it! They will damned sure support more death and misery, as long as it can be framed to fit into the end-times beliefs.

The fundie support of neocon policy is no accident, IMHO

[Vincardog]

5. YEs there are at least three rapture right channels on my dish network.

The discovery channel and nature channel also have been airing Apocalypse shows lately. The line between entertainment and propaganda has erased itself.

[gratuitous]

6. I think they are

It's called "dog whistle" politics, statements designed to be heard differently by the intended audience. The latest example is Dr. Rice's otherwise inexplicable reference to "birth pangs" anent the Middle East situation: How in the world do you see all this death and carnage as birth pangs for anything except more death and carnage? Answer: Check the late gospel talks attributed to Jesus, where he's predicting the end of the age. He says that the world will be in "travail" likened to the birth pangs of an expectant mother, as the new age of God's realm is born.

The average listener figures Dr. Rice was just stuck for words, and it came out in "birth pangs." The tuned-in rapturists (motto: I got mine, and to hell with you) hear some very familiar and comforting words. It's the arched eyebrow or the sidelong wink that reassures the lunatic base that the Bushistas have everything under control, and all this apparent chaos is just going according to plan.

These people are nuttier than Nancy Reagan when she was consulting an astrologer to make state decisions.

[EstimatedProphet]

7. Good point

[Alexodin]

8. The Unification Church does not believe in a literal rapture.

The Unification Church believes Moon is the messiah but its difficult to turn on the Jesus sky vaccum if you don't actually have one. Here is a link to some things the Unification Church believes: http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/m/moonies/moonorg.htm

The Unification Church is at odds with Christian fundamentalism in a whole host of areas. It is a mystery to me why fundies are in bed with Moon but perhaps they just want the money.

[EstimatedProphet]

9. Good point

Moon is a religious lunatic, but I forgot he wasn't a rapture nut.

[madeline_con]

10. Yes, absolutely.

I'm no expert on economics. I wonder if the destruction of the middle class that's so widely discussed is intentional, or just a natural byproduct of the policies of this administration.

They certainly don't seem to care about preserving the Average American Joe.

As for the rapture, DUH-bya knows very well how to manipulate gullible people. He can get rich off this deal because for one thing, he doesn't need a sutainable energy policy. Kingdom Come is upon us! He uses that type of thinking for financial gain. He no more believes that crap than I believe he's stopped drinking!

[arcane1]

12. the middle class can afford education, etc

and book-learnin' is a threat to the elite

[malaise]

11. Tune in to CNN at 8.00pm tonight

more rapture.

[Skidmore]

13. You know they are, and Little Boots is begging Poppy to let him be

Jesus so he can rule for 1000 years.

[JuniperLea]

14. Who will do all the work when the rest of us are gone?

We won't be able to live like that for long.