The End

Are we really at the end of the world? Jon Stewart probes the medias take on Armageddon, the Apocalypse, the Rapture and End Times in End of the World.

A favorite quote (from the fundamentalist Christian minister who looked like he was on drugs on GMA said):

Just remember: There is no alternative. You either accept Jesus or you go through terrible times.

Throw away your TV also has a compilation of the media on the End-timers, at End of Times, which is a don't miss. You can watch this instead of your next terror flix.

This is not very nice to say, but when I watch these "preachers" with their messianic vision, all I can think about is that this is the result of all those cutbacks in mental health back in the 1980's. It was either become a fundamentalist Christian "minister" or end up on the street, as so many other mentally ill homeless people did.

And finally, to tie all this into Bush is a Commentary at Nieman Watchdog, Bush's fundamentalism seen as a decisive, negative factor in his policies. As the Commentary author, Saul Friedman, says:

Bush, who says he reads the Bible daily, acknowledges his fundamentalist beliefs. Biblical and Middle East scholar Karen Armstrong writes in The Guardian, "Whatever Bush's personal beliefs, the ideology of the Christian right is both familiar and congenial to him. This strange amalgam of ideas can perhaps throw light on the behavior of a president who, it is said, believes God chose him to lead the world toward Rapture, who has little interest in social reform, and whose selective concern for life issues has now inspired him to veto important scientific research.

"It explains his unconditional support for Israel, his willingness to use 'Jewish End-Time warriors' to fulfill a vision of his own, arguably against Israel's best interest, and to see Syria and Iran...as entirely responsible for the unfolding tragedy."

See also one of my earlier posts on the rapture, G-grams to Bush.

UPDATE: Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post's White House Briefing also explores the relationship with Bush and the End Times in What's the Motivation?.

Tags: Commentary, Daily Show, Jon Stewart, News and Media, Video, End Times