Electoral Hermeneutics

Yesterday, someone asked me about an email they received that I might be able to clarify as a seminarian.  The email said, "the Book of Revelation tells us that the antichrist will be a man in his 40's of Muslim descent: Barack Obama."  

First of all, "antichrist" only appears four times in the Bible.  Three of these references are in 1 John and the other reference in in 2 John.  The closest "relative" to the antichrist found in Revelation would be "the beast".  Many would say that the beast that oppressed John was the Roman Empire.  In fact, he was writing the book of Revelation while exiled by the Roman Empire!  Thus, if you wanted to see this beast as relevant to our times, the best substitute for Rome would be America.  As Eddie Izard tells us, Rome and America are the only two empires ever to have their citizens put their hands over their hearts while singing the national anthem.  (Nevermind the fact that we glorify violence and destruction in our national anthem...or that our ritual of patriotism is to "go out and shop"...or that the biggest supporters of capital punishment are religious folks who worship a God that was a victim of capital punishment by "the beast."  The good news is that we make the top 6 for enforcing the death penalty.  We share the honor with China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iraq.  In case you are wondering, yes, we did win against Iraq.)

So anyway, back to Obama being the antichrist...the prophet Muhammad was born in 570 AD, well after Jesus Christ and John's writings.  I suppose John could have predicted the rise of Islam, right?  Unfortunately he just didn't put that down in the book of Revelation.  Then, perhaps my favorite quirk is that somehow this antichrist, let's call him "Barack Obama", during his 40's transformed from a normal human being (well more an "Ivy League liberal elite") into the antichrist.


And my other favorite...Chuck Conrad offering a prayer at a McCain rally: "There are millions of people around this world praying to their god, whether it is Hindu, Buddha, Allah...that his opponent wins... for a variety of reasons.  And Lord, I pray, that you would guard your own reputation because they are going to think that their God is bigger than you if that happens."
1) Buddha and Hindu are not gods.
2) God is not dependent upon our recognition in order for God to be God.
3) God is probably pissed at McCain for telling us to put our faith in country and to put country first.

I think we are often too critical of the prayers of others and that we should be more gentle, but that prayer is a steaming pile of dung.  I would not be surprised if God hit delete on the iPhone when receiving that prayer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5fdzji2C54&feature=related

Political Peculiarities

"Civil religion is neither bona fide religion nor ordinary patriotism, but a new alloy formed by blending religion with nationalism. If civil religions were bona fide religions then one would expect to find a soft side to them, teaching love of neighbor and upholding peace and compassion. But this is not the case."

"Let me be as clear as I can be, the God of 'God and country' is not the God of Jesus Christ.  Yet this is not a development that began with Sept. 11. One of the issues before American Christianity is whether the God we worship is the God of Jesus Christ...American Christians simply lack the discipline necessary to discover how being Christian might make them different."

-Stanley Hauerwas (both)

Crashing Silence

Many storms have kept me from writing since the semester began.  A friend's email caused me to reflect.  An excerpt:

You become aware of some place within you that brings pain. And yet, it only brings pain because it brings joy. It only feels so empty because it once felt so full, that crevice of your remembrance. That quarter of your heart, only a quarter turn away now. To turn so that we are not assaulted by that emptiness but are brought into its fullness is, I suppose, the way. What irony that when we let ourselves sink, our heaviness ceases. It is only when we flap about that we have taken on the weight of the storms without unto ourselves. Why? Has there ever been a time without a storm?