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September 21, 2006

American Fundamentalists Fear Iranian Fundamentalists

I couldn't help but shake my head this morning as I read WorldNet Daily's breathless reporting on the dangerous, apocalyptic visions of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I don't dispute the man has these visions; nor do I dispute that they are dangerous. What gets me is that WorldNet Daily caters to the Christian right and apparently is blind to the identical situation here in our own country, where our born-again Christian president and the majority of Americans also believe in the Apocalypse.

Ahmadinejad's closing remarks at his U.N speech are described by WorldNet Daily as "chilling":

"I emphatically declare that today's world, more than ever before, longs for just and righteous people with love for all humanity; and above all longs for the perfect righteous human being and the real savior who has been promised to all peoples and who will establish justice, peace and brotherhood on the planet," Ahmadinejad said. "Oh, Almighty God, all men and women are your creatures and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirsts for justice, the perfect human being promised to all by you, and make us among his followers and among those who strive for his return and his cause."

If he had replaced "human being" with "One" or "Son of God" this very statement would quickly go from "chilling" to thrilling – to the Christian right, that is.

The article warns of Iran's "mystical pre-occupation with the coming of a Shiite Islamic messiah," saying it is of concern because of the country's "potential for triggering the kind of global conflagration Ahmadinejad envisions will set the stage for the end of the world." Many around the world fear the preoccupation of the Christian right and President Bush with the Second Coming of Christ and the Apocalypse, combined with U.S. military might and interference in the Middle East, for the very same reason.

The article warns, "Ahmadinejad is on record as stating he believes he is to have a personal role in ushering in the age of the Mahdi." Bush has frightened many by saying very similar things. For instance, he is reported to have said he believes God talks to him.

According to Abbas, immediately thereafter Bush said: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East."

And just as the Christian right is pushing for moral revival in the U.S. (even the President has claimed he believes America is in a Third Awakening), "Ahmadinejad is urging Iranians to prepare for the coming of the Mahdi by turning the country into a mighty and advanced Islamic society and by avoiding the corruption and excesses of the West." Read the following and think about the parallels to today's evangelism, youth camps, the emergence of FoxFaith and other religious media, and more:

All Iran is buzzing about the Mahdi, the 12th imam and the role Iran and Ahmadinejad are playing in his anticipated return. There's a new messiah hotline. There are news agencies especially devoted to the latest developments.

"People are anxious to know when and how will he rise; what they must do to receive this worldwide salvation," says Ali Lari, a cleric at the Bright Future Institute in Iran's religious center of Qom. "The timing is not clear, but the conditions are more specific," he adds. "There is a saying: 'When the students are ready, the teacher will come.'"

And horror of horrors, end-times beliefs appeal to one in five Iranians! Perhaps WorldNet Daily didn't realize that 59% of Americans believe Revelation's end-times prophecies.

Posted by Becky at September 21, 2006 11:13 AM