It's been just nine years since dooms-dayers expected the new millennium to
bring the end of the world, yet the cry of "Armageddon" still rings out.
Last month alone, NASA had to allay fears of a 2012 end-of-the-world
scenario.
And why not? We all know humans are doomed. Either our sun will
explode in a few billion years or God's wrath will consume the planet
tomorrow. But few Americans have embraced the coming of the End Times as
intensely as the Evangelicals profiled in
Waiting for Armageddon, a
documentary I co-directed with Kate Davis and Franco Sacchi, to be released
theatrically in New York City, Providence and Boston in January. In the
film, we join Christian Evangelicals on an explosive tour of the future as
they see it, from anguish to the sublime perfection of a new world.
There are some 50 million Evangelicals in the US who believe in the
literal truth of Bible prophecy. You can argue theological accuracy all you
want. This massive block of citizens possesses unshakable belief that the
end of the world will be heralded by a series of prophetic events some of
which have occurred (e.g. 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina) some of which are
ongoing (the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan).
I am not talking about Bible-thumping, street-corner ravers, though one
or two do appear in our film. The people we profiled -- from Evangelical
leaders to rank-and-file believers -- are for the most part formidable,
intelligent, well-educated. And all are fixated upon Israel (the land of
Christ's return).
Waiting for Armageddon opens with James and Laura Bagg, an attractive
pair of 30-something jet-propulsion engineers living in Connecticut. Yes,
Evangelical rocket scientists from the Northeast.
"We could be raptured out of this world during this interview," Laura
says, referring to a miracle where all good Christians disappear from earth
and rematerialize in the clouds as chaos seizes the world. "There will be
car crashes and plane crashes. And the people left behind will be asking,
'Are they coming back for me?'"
Then James Bagg explains that, "You see God has a plan for the world
and it all centers around Israel."
The Baggs are, in a way, typical. Millions of Evangelicals share one
political belief even more sacred perhaps than opposition to abortion or
same-sex marriage: The belief that Israel must remain a Jewish state
forever.
If that sounds unfamiliar or contradictory, then you've never spent much
time listening to Evangelicals. End Times theology declares that the Jewish
people must maintain control of Israel and Jerusalem, and retake the Al-Aqsa
Mosque (a/k/a the Dome of the Rock), or Jesus won't return. Period.
Understand, they are talking about mankind's ultimate salvation. And if that
means embracing foretold disasters and wars including the Battle of
Armageddon, so be it.
Professor Gary Dickerson from the all-Christian Corban College puts it
this way: "I don't look at the wars in the Middle East with the hope that
things will work out. We've been told, Israel will experience this distress
all the way to the end."
Thus comes the central political reality explored in
Waiting for Armageddon: that Evangelicals risk creating what the Rev. Barbara Rossing calls "a self-fulfilling prophesy of death and destruction."
This is no small sect. Evangelicals control some 60,000 US radio
stations. They meet in 25,000-member megachurches and sit on school boards
and legislatures across the country. As the Rev. Mel White, former
ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell and Billy Graham and Pat Robertson puts it,
"They are everywhere and they are not going away."
Embedded in its dramatic illustration of the End Times, including a
Christian tour of Israel,
Waiting for Armageddon offers an object lesson:
That if people believe their God has revealed the ultimate course of
history, then nothing, not even war, with all its bloodshed and horror, is
to be feared. It's a reality that, whether dealing with the Taliban or the
Jews or the Evangelicals or even Sarah Palin, every leader -- religious or
political -- needs to understand if true dialogue can take place. Because
for a great many true believers, the end of the world is just the beginning.
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Signed: mark cline, Oklahoma
Besides, Jesus tells us that Satan is the "Prince of the Earth" as evidenced when Satan tried to tempt Jesus to flip sides before he was crucified for our sins. Jesus rebuked him, and allowed the death sentence to be carried out.
Also, if you don't think that there are any Doomsday Scenarios for some in the New Age, Occultists, and some Agnostic communities; just travel down to the Buckle of the Bible Belt and visit the "Georgia Guidestones" in Elberton, GA.
http://en.
Lastly, to pigeon hole Evangelicals in to a universal position of IF & WHEN a rapture will occur shows ignorance of the debate that is on-going in the body of Christ. There are pre-tribulation positions, along with mid-trib, post-trib, etc. Many of these positions have Believers partaking in the Tribulation that will come to pass until the Day of the Lord comes, when Jesus will come down to rid the world of wickedness once and for all.
1. How many elements make up an average DNA?
2. What is the mathematical possibility of two-three-four random mutations of these elements making up something useful for the next level of evolution instead of sick creature ?
3. What natural selection does with the creature, who is simply less adopted than average DNA standard of the species?
Simpler task would be to randomly change letters in the computer program and expect it to evolve into more useful program.
Don't you see, that Darwinian own law of natural selection makes his evolution virtually impossible, after we learned about the real size of the genom.
The success of crossover / mutation / selection in improving computer programs is a good analogy for biological evolution -- and because it runs in a short time, we can "see" evolution working, which supports the fact that evolution is what has created all the life forms on earth.
You can see one here: http://mat
Or, you can be the force of natural selection in this demo: http://www
http://gen
http://en.
It's here that Mr. Helbroner reveals his true intentions:
"It's a reality that, whether dealing with the Taliban or the Jews or the Evangelica
Mr. Heilbroner wants to create stew of moral equivalency comprised of these three groups where none exists. It's also telling that the president of Persia has made clear to us and the UN that its his goal to hurry up the apocolypse he believes in, and yet Mr. Heilbroner makes no mention of him at all.
and of course:
"...even Sarah Palin..."
This is the most telling aspect of Mr. Heilbroner's slant on his documentary.
"Presenting facts objectively without editorializing or inserting fictional matter, as in a book or film."
Based on Mr. Heilbroner's remarks, I'd say he hasn't adhered to the objective facts and non-editorializing criteria indicated above.
Perhaps a new category or genre may be required for films like this. 'Mockumentary' comes to mind, but it appears Mr. Heilbroner is more serious about Evangelicals and Sarah Palin than that. Maybe 'opinionentary' would suffice.
I knew that society was on a downward spiral, but the foolishness of the comments on here really took me by surprise..
With rare exception, it seems that at least the people who comment on here are as intolerant as any group of people I've ever met...you mock Christianity, morals, even God Himself...
I pray your eyes will be opened before its to late...the
The fact that so many of you (almost ALL of you) are so arrogant about your beliefs, or I should say, lack thereof, is evidence of the Bible's accuracy..
Open your eyes people....
Do we really want people who pray for Armageddon anywhere near our nuclear weapons or control of same?
Instead, he lamely spent his time preaching that we should love each other in the way that we ourselves would want to be loved, and that treating the least of our brothers poorly was tantamount to treating Him (Christ) in that fashion.
The "promised land" is the salvation of mankind, and not some nice seaside real estate. The temple is in your heart. The world is going to end for you and I when we each pass away.
These people have so much narcissistic self involvement that they want to believe that THEIR lives will end in some much more special (and privileged) manner. much like the crusaders in the middle ages who murdered the Jews in Jerusalem (in Christian vogue at the time) believing that THEIR violent and detestable narcissism was the true interpretation of Christs relatively simple message.
There are two:
Love, Mercy, and Grace
and
Judgement
I am a direct descendant to Henry Clay Cline, a officer with G.Wash's. Calvary. so I am very aware of what transpired at that time. I know that only 4% of the citizens would support the Revolution, much less fight for it. The Founding Fathers were Christians, they were very literate and well studied. In support of this statement, please go to WallBuilders a web page by David Barton, who can document these statements, because he has a great store of historial information.
Signed: Mark Cline
If you do not want to be run by these people then get active at the local level, state level and nationally. Our survival as a secular society depends upon shining the light on this system of belief.
It is also testament to the human capacity to compartmentalize reality to come up with such bizarre beliefs. Cro-magnons and Neanderthals I can understand embracing some mythic power to explain phenomena they had no ability to fully grasp. Modern man, not so much. If the 50 million figure is correct -- and I don't doubt that their numbers are large -- then we're basically screwed as a species.
Heilbroner didn't bother to include, BTW, all the other rabid religionists in the world: Zionists (which is more political than religious, although not above using religion to "justify" whatever they want), radical Islamists, nativist "religions", etc. They're all of a piece, and clearly dangerous to children and other living things.
Too bad Evangilogicals - humans may die off but the world will last until the sun vaporizes it.
Among other places, it refers to this in Matthew 16:28, the end of that chapter. One needs to carry on to the next chapter to get what Jesus was referring to.
Original text wasn't divided by chapters. We tend to forget that.
Likewise, Mr. Heilbroner needs to remember not to have a pre-conceived idea about his subject matter before filming.