Something about Toles..he can capture a moment like few others
One essential thought alluded to in this is the notion of fundamentalism… I see a large difference between fundamentals, as in basics, and the ~ism version; which makes the basics into the everything, and then creates dogmas around it. And of course, the actual basics get submerged if not fully lost in the welter of rules, self interest, rites and rituals established to “protect” the basics. Or… you may have heard the phrase “our way of life”.
Another nuance in this is the belief in some fundamentalist circles of Christianity that Armageddon is coming, and it wouldn’t be all that bad of an idea to sort of help it along….so we can get on with the business of the second coming….and having that millennium we have been promised…
If the notion of Millennium is unfamiliar it is, in short, a sort of Christian Utopia where everything finally is ruled by God, or/and Jesus and right prevails and wrong is punished. Absolutely and without any unjustice. It is truly Gods way or the highway. (Quite a conclusion to the free will experiment!). One consequence is that there will be no Muslims or even Jews in that world since they would have been rendered moot since Jesus is back. It is predicted to come about as Jesus puts an end to the Armageddon world wide war/blood bath and then sets up his rule/kingdom.
It is this Millennial paradigm that drives the “Right Wing” politically driven Christians’ interest in Israel and the Middle East. Be certain they do not care about the Jews except as necessary actors on the way to the Second Coming.
In my long ago experience in the Christian church and with this Christian paradigm even then, in the 70′s and 80′s – the period when the religious right, the “Moral Majority”, Focus on the Family and such were getting started, it was openly talked about that it would be a good thing to help precipitate this final Armageddon so we could get “this world order” over with, finally surface and destroy the anti-Christ and start this millennial period. It was not metaphorical in any way. Quite literal actually. And I think it is only more reified now than ever.
The opening event of this epoch is the rapture. Earlier this year there was much abuzz about the prediction of the rapture you may recall….And it may seem strange that this would be the case… One reason for the tittering excitement was that those who hold this view actually are, in very real terms, looking for that moment…
Perhaps this is the most pernicious aspect of this cartoon, as reflection of this mindset.
Because they will have no consequence … real god-fearing jesus loving christians are going to get taken out of here … there is no reason to really be worried about anything done to the earth, no reason to be mindful much less actively concerned about injustice, proper use of resources, sustainability and etc. It doesn’t matter, we’re getting out of here anyway….
Lest you think I am kidding, or exaggerating… let me be explicit… This is not a fringe idea in this fringe group. It is central… and may help to explain otherwise inexplicable actions, statements, and policies.
For example the recent (faux) debt crisis…where the republicans, and especially the fundamentalist driven tea party faction, were openly willing, even wanting the government to fail…. It seems irrational that they would want this…even accounting for their own self interest. But/And much of it is driven by this level of unspoken belief/agenda.
That is why this cartoon is so brilliant… it captures all of this in current terms.
…. Appendix …..
A few stray thoughts:
This notion also informed the Bush administration at the highest levels. Including Bush himself. And was heard on a few “private” occasions to ponder that this destruction in Iraq and the Middle East wasn’t all that bad because it was going to happen anyway… referencing these Millennial ideas. You may recall his odd thoughts that he was an agent of god, doing gods will and all that. It was, in part, a reference to this underlying belief.
You may recall the high ranking general who in full dress uniform preached at a church that “… my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol.” As the current saying is, this is dog whistle talk to christian fundamentalists and especially millennialists.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_G._Boykin see notes on his comments)
And now, just before I send this I see a reference to this article! As if on cue!
A Christian Plot for Domination?
Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry aren’t just devout—both have deep ties to a fringe fundamentalist movement known as Dominionism, which says Christians should rule the world.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/14/dominionism-michele-bachmann-and-rick-perry-s-dangerous-religious-bond.html
Michael, very eloquent! Thank you for sharing.
One very frightening thing does occur to me. In a blindingly Nostrodom-ian way, these people actually are the “agents of God,” metaphorically speaking. If the “end-times” are a future we must face (this notion also exists in Hinduism, as well as many other religions), then it is an archetypally driven mind-set that is collectively growing. It might be viewed anthropologically as a kind of cognitive-morphic resonance where fringe ideas and world-views begin to inflame the psyche’s of an ever increasing segment of the population. It is the shadow side of ‘cognitive dissonance’ (the ability to hold two or more opposing or dissimilar views). In this case, the connections that are being made by these more fringe segments of society become core beliefs resulting in a stunning and lemming-like drive toward the abyss.
This startling and suicidal condition is poignantly and tragically not-well-hidden in the cartoon as the cry is take up in growing numbers—”death is nigh, death is nigh, throw your arms wide, death is nigh…”
At the last millennial turnover (1000 CE) Christians and those living under the calendar of the Church went off the deep end too. When the end didn’t come, they decided it must be 1033 so they moved the date and extended the craziness. They found excuses to do this until sometime in the 16th century!!! It triggered the Crusades, the Inquisitions, and all manner of horribleness. This seems like a repetition of sorts but it is also infinitely tied to the church and the belief in some afterlife, better than life on earth. It would all be tragic if the Rapture weren’t so laughable. I make it a point to sin from time to time just so I don’t get sucked up. On the downside, a few crazies can do a lot of harm! – Peace Out