Religious fundamentalists who believe that the Rapture is coming should not be elected to public office.
It’s evident that U.S. politicians aren’t always the smartest or most trustworthy bunch, but there is a pattern beginning to emerge among the more right-wing members of the political class – and that is religious fanaticism.
It’s alarming how many of these men and women actually believe that Armageddon is approaching and that it is a good thing. At least a half dozen of America’s officials – and I’m sure there are many more believe – without a doubt, that the Rapture is coming. This includes former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Del. Mark L. Cole, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
Rep. Michele Bachman recently admitted that she believes that the end-times are near, apparently thanks to President Barrack Obama’s new policies on Iran concerning nuclear technology and weaponry.
In a recent interview with Jan Markell on the Christian radio program “Understanding the Times,” the U.S. Representative stated that, “We need to realize how close this clock is to getting towards the midnight hour,” and that “It’s just like the Bible forewarned: in the last days it will be like the beginning of birth pangs. In my opinion, we are far beyond the beginning of birth pangs. We’re moving far down into the process.”
Is this really a woman who was elected to public office? I constantly rattle my brain in an attempt to understand such stupidity. How is it that we can possibly elect, let alone consider electing, someone as clearly disturbed as this woman?
This is what concerns me – the idea that the American public is perfectly all right with the thought of being governed by people who actually rejoice in their belief that mass genocide and global annihilation are coming, and that some mystical being is going to descend from the heavens to lift them up to the clouds.
We need to step back and take a deep breath and ask ourselves an important question: Is it really a good idea to hand over some of the greatest powers this nation has to people who don’t believe that they will remain in this life long enough to see the consequences of their actions? I say, unequivocally, unconditionally, explicitly, no.
Now, it may come across to some as though I am attacking religion or religious belief – I am not. I am, however, highly uncomfortable with the thought of a politician governing over me who is more excited at the thought of the end of the world than is focused on their posterity.
As the late Christopher Hitchens once said, “How dismal it is to see present-day Americans yearning for the very orthodoxy that their country was founded to escape.”
