Onward Christian Solidiers?

Ok, I'm going "out there" though I don't think I am necessarily alone.

Is the Bush administration aiming us towards the "End Times?"

So much of the activity out of the Whitehouse is just not logical. When I try to place things in a picture using the usual frameworks things just don't fit.

Ok, we know that one of the major influences in the administration is corporations - that shows from tax issues, to environmental issues, to the "war on terrorism," to the bulging Defense budget.

We know that "Conservatism" with a big "C" and a political agenda is influencial - that shows up in such things as a slew of appointments - particularly to the Courts.

We know from repeated statements from President Bush that "God" is also influential (or at least a particular belief system), and from reports of Ashcroft's daily prayer meetings with his staff (any who wish to participate).

Certainly many, myself included, have expressed concern over the blatant move from the most dominant nation in the world to the dominating nation (expressed in speeches and policy such as the Nuclear Posture Review and the Strategic Defense Review). The Administration's willingness (and perhaps desire) to use nuclear weapons "strategically" has shocked many in the US but most especially shocked the rest of the world. (I would encourage you to read the Arkin LA Times article The Nuclear Option in Iraq for starters.)

Many have argued that at the heart of the "attack Iraq drive" is the desire to control the oil in Iraq, and perhaps the entire region. From a corporate master perspective and from a general global hegemony perspective, this makes sense. I disagree, but it fits into the usual and known themes.

But what about this "Christian" thing? There is a blatant provocation that is going on globally. This is especially clear in relationship to Iraq, North Korea, and Iran, and in "our" willingness to flaunt international law from the Geneva Convention, to the open invasion and overthrow of governments, to our ongoing statements, that we do not need the "international community."

A commentary in the Feb 03 issue of The Progressive, Bush's Messiah Complex raises some of these concerns as well.

The willingness of this administration to provoke incidents and set us on a course for WWIII is frightening and doesn't fit into the usual themes mentioned above. The Administration's stated intentions of "regime change" here and there, blatant planning to engage in preeemptive war, our seeming enthusiasm to utilize nuclear weapons, the deliberate alienation and bullying of "friends" and "foes" alike, the unwillingness to listen to either citizen, expert, or world opinion about this course, and the ongoing aligning of "god's" wishes with the Administration's actions points to deliberate creation of "Apocolypse" in the Revalations sense.

There are groups of purported "christians" who believe that it is their responsibility to create the "end times" in order for the "second coming" to occur sooner. The Bush (et al) approach seems to fit neatly into such a plan. It hardly seems coincidental (given rhetoric and actions) that many Christian Missionary groups have embraced the "10/40 Window" as a focus of their missionary activities. Essentially, the 10/40 Window concentrates conversion activity between the 10th and 40th parallel. Below is a quote from 1040host.com (try a search on the "10/40 Window" to find more)
Quote is in italics, bold is by me
"The core of the unreached people of our world live in a rectangular-shaped window that has often been referred to as the "Resistant belt," that extends from West Africa across Asia, between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north of the equator, hence the name "10/40 Window". ... The unevangelized are people who have a minimal knowledge of the Gospel, but have had no valid opportunity to respond to it. The unreached are the two billion people who have never heard of Jesus as Savior, and are not within reach of Christians among their own people. There are, in fact, some 2,000 peoples or nationalities in which there is not a vital indigenous church movement.

Why do committed Christians need to focus on the 10/40 window? First, because of the historical and biblical significance of this part of the world. It was in the 10/40 window that we pick up the account of Adam and Eve. God's plan for man as expressed in Genesis 1:26 had to do with dominion. Man was to "keep" or guard God's paradise and to have dominion and subdue the earth. In the book of Genesis we read the historical account of the fall of man, when Adam and Eve failed to guard God's paradise and forfeited the right to rule over the earth. Then came the flood followed by the building of the Tower of Babel which took place in the 10/40 window. This effort by man to try to rally together in defiance against God resulted in the introduction of different languages, the scattering of the people and the formation of the nations.

It is here in the 10/40 window that we can observe the truth described in Graham Scroggie's book The Drama of World Redemption: "A world having turned from God, He left it and chose a man through whom he would ultimately by Christ reach the lost world." ... For the committed Christian, the fact that so much of God's dealings with humanity took place on the piece of earth described by the 10/40 window is a significant reason to focus on it."

It seems beyond coincidence, given President Bush's stated leanings and what is coming out of this Administration, that this broader "movement" is in place. Bush himself has phrased his place in history in religious terms. Does Bush think he is that man in Scroggie's writings? Is he (and others) intent on creating a global theocracy ruled by him?

I am not saying that this is true, but it does explain some parts of the picture that just don't fit. Even in The Progressive commentary (mentioned above) the author has an air of disbelief and confusion about exactly what Mr. Bush believes (and what that means for the rest of the world).

Perthaps a larger concern is that Mr. Bush sees himself as being divinely selected to create this global "chrisitan" theocracy ruled by himself ... that this is his divine mission. This would make him extremely malable to other interests who framed issues within the framework of this particular ideology. And this is the same man who has had handed to him on a platinum platter more power than any one person should have - the power to use the full resources of the United States backed up by the largest military and reserve of deadly weapons that the earth has ever seen.

I'd really like to know what others think about this.

Posted by rowan at February 2, 2003 9:39 AM | [eMail this article!] |