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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: michael97123 who wrote (152021)	11/19/2004 1:05:19 PM
From: Michael Watkins	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

The problem is such a deterrent will never work. Escalation is almost certainly going to be the outcome. The problem is no one will know until / if it ever happens. You can bet that certain evangelicals would proclaim such an event as proof positive of the end times. How everyone else but them fits into that picture is a rather scary proposition. You may laugh and suggest I am raising needless alarms, but President Bush counts himself as one of these people. (For the record, I do not count myself in). And he has God in the White House and the Football with the nuke codes. Excellent. It truly is time to build a shelter. If you aren't familiar with the subject of the 'end times', here's a decent intro: en.wikipedia.org Signs, signs, everywhere a sign. Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign? (I love that song). ---------------------------------- > Experts: Temple Mount's collapse inevitable neaiga.org > The “End Times” Elephant (Conservative Watch) zmagsite.zmag.org The issue Jewish conservatives prefer to ignore is the question of “end times” theology. The Religious Right’s strong support of Israel comes from both the Biblical view of Israel in the “end-times” scenarios as well as practical political considerations. > TRICK OR TREATING WHAT IT REALLY IS [witchcraft! OMG!] greatdreams.com And not to mention the popular work "Left Behind" leftbehind.com Don't laugh this off - this work is INCREDIBLY popular and has become in many of its followers a hugely important work. Though they strongly acknowledge there is no guarantee Christ will return during this generation, there are at least 20 reasons why LaHaye and Jenkins think this generation will witness the end of history. They begin with the context, looking at prophecy, what the end times mean, whether current events are the times of the signs, the sign of Jesus' coming, and the role of Israel and Jerusalem. Then they look at particular events including the great apostasy, blooming in the desert, the sneak attack, the Rapture, the rebuilding of the temple, the rise and fall of Babylon, the Tribulation, the second coming, the millennium, the judgment throne, and eternal life. They then turn their attention to personalities like Satan, the Antichrist, the false prophet, the Two Witnesses, the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, the saints and martyrs from the Tribulation, the unredeemed, and the angels. ---------------------------------- Most supporters of these beliefs are certain, ironically as certain as the so-called Islamo-fascists, that people following other faiths (or no faith) are condemned to eternal damnation. Do we have one of these at the helm? Who knows. All signs point to yes. Point in mentioning this? People who lean too heavily on God to justify their decisions, especially decisions which affect the world of other men, scare me. You seem to be completely concerned about other nations having weapons which can be argued are deterrent in value - thus inherantly defensive - yet we are armed with many times over conventional and nuclear destructive power - and we use it. I said weeks ago that it would not surprise me to learn that Iran already has nukes; indeed, I would be surprised if they did not accelerat their problem. Looking at us from their window, they see a Christian-fundamentalist government with nukes and the will to deploy troops into foreign lands. What choice do they really have? In the meantime, Crude is up to 48.50 again and we'd better go find some more oil and energy to fuel the TV station that the end times thumpers need to spread their message. God help us all.