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When life resembles an RPG, that's bad news.
Okay, for starters. Read this Wikipedia article, about Christian Zionists.
Done that? Okay, then let me quote from this post from Slacktivist.
That, in a nutshell, is their goal: a Greater Israel that stretches from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates (so it's actually larger than Old Testament Israel) and a reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem. Their reasoning is not so much theological as magical. By bringing about these things, they hope to make Jesus come back. This is sorcery, not eschatology.
I've mentioned this before, but this so-called-theology precisely parallels the plot of many an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Zealous fanatics loyal to some secretive prophecy try to bring about the signs that will summon their master and bring about the apocalypse and the death of nearly everyone on earth. (Buffy and the gang, contra the Apostolic Congress, regard this as a Bad Thing that should be stopped.)
Which... Basically sums up exactly what I was going to say. But these people have a major influence over the modern Republican Party, and one of their goals is to try and create the right conditions to summon Mecha-Jesus to come back and end the world. They are trying to bring about the end of the world. Apocalyptic cults are the kinds of things we fight in RPGs all the time, having it happen in real life is really bloody scary. Not because I think they'll succeed, but they can do plenty of damage along the way, especially if they don't care about the future because they don't think there's going to be one.
Yeah. So that's a big part of the gut emotional reaction that keeps me from being Republican, their wingnuts are scarier, AND they have actual power in the party. Don't believe me? Tom Delay, the majority leader the Republicans just changed the rules to keep in office despite being indicted, is one. Look here.
On the plus side, I recommend everyone read slacktivist, he's very smart.
Done that? Okay, then let me quote from this post from Slacktivist.
That, in a nutshell, is their goal: a Greater Israel that stretches from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates (so it's actually larger than Old Testament Israel) and a reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem. Their reasoning is not so much theological as magical. By bringing about these things, they hope to make Jesus come back. This is sorcery, not eschatology.
I've mentioned this before, but this so-called-theology precisely parallels the plot of many an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Zealous fanatics loyal to some secretive prophecy try to bring about the signs that will summon their master and bring about the apocalypse and the death of nearly everyone on earth. (Buffy and the gang, contra the Apostolic Congress, regard this as a Bad Thing that should be stopped.)
Which... Basically sums up exactly what I was going to say. But these people have a major influence over the modern Republican Party, and one of their goals is to try and create the right conditions to summon Mecha-Jesus to come back and end the world. They are trying to bring about the end of the world. Apocalyptic cults are the kinds of things we fight in RPGs all the time, having it happen in real life is really bloody scary. Not because I think they'll succeed, but they can do plenty of damage along the way, especially if they don't care about the future because they don't think there's going to be one.
Yeah. So that's a big part of the gut emotional reaction that keeps me from being Republican, their wingnuts are scarier, AND they have actual power in the party. Don't believe me? Tom Delay, the majority leader the Republicans just changed the rules to keep in office despite being indicted, is one. Look here.
On the plus side, I recommend everyone read slacktivist, he's very smart.
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