Originally posted by Areal51
The only thing that I really have to say is that when I read about folks likening politicians and political candidates to be the 'Anti-Christ", it
provides me proof that we still have yet to fully emerge from the Dark Ages.
Awe come on Area51.. I'm not a cave man.
rather, no cave man mentality.. or crusader for that matter. I agree, it can be musing to see so many
people claiming this politician and this one are the antichrist, but usually the argument tends to be weak, not always. For example, some thought Bill
Clinton was antichrist on the extreme right during his Presidency, and people though George Bush Jr. was antichrist. Many still do, many think he will
declare emergency laws and take over as a dictator before elections. That is someone else's idea on the antichrist, in my opinion Bush has done too
much dirt to stick around, he wants to retire and chill with his fat cash. He's made mention of it a few times already. Basically, the child has
messed up his room and would just rather leave it for his mommy/daddy/brother/whoever to clean up the mess because it isn't fun to play in there
anymore.
While the OP is provocative, it isn't compelling. It provokes unease among those who are predisposed to being influenced by irrational commentary,
and it provokes dissension among those who would be rational. Hitler could have been the Anti-Chirst, so could have Idi Amin Dada. If the
Anti-Christ were standing front and center, what would be the required proof that the Anti-Christ would be what one would suppose it to be? Would a
fire breathing monster suffice? Or, would the murder of millions of people suffice?
You're right, lots of figures have come and gone through history, terrible men who killed millions untold. This lends itself to my theory that
antichrist is not a single man, but a position, and not even necessarily just while one man is seated in that position. antichrist can be all
dictators who've killed millions. Nostradamus, while not the best reference to cite, said there'd be three antichrists, the third being from Greater
Arabia, and that mankind would exist after he comes and goes, just like Hitler did. Interesting concept.
This actually lends itself to the Obama antichrist theories. The third Antichrist from
Greater Arabia, that means the area surrounding Arabia,
the nearby countries as well. Immediately over the Gulf of Aden i believe is the country of Kenya, and Obama's father is Kenyan. It would make more
sense if his father was Ethiopic or Somali, or Egyptian, but Kenya is close enough. The third antichrist prophecy also states he will enter Europe
with a Blue Turban. This could be symbolic of a U.S. President who is
secretly a Muslim, who eventually comes out of the closet, and in a
gesture of peace, is officially converted to Islam
inside Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque! This is where he may proclaim himself Godlike in private
with confidants, explaining that now that he is a U.S. Islamic President, that nothing will stop his World Domination, entering all the countries and
markets there-of unopposed, where as before we'd be driven out at gunpoint. Damn, I must admit that it sure is easy to connect these dots if you
stretch them a little.
The irrational only succumb to fear and this is why a great effort is continuously expended to maintain an irrational populace. If Jesus Christ or
the Anti-Christ were standing front and center today no one would be able to tell the difference from one to the other. Never mind explaining why
such powerful entities would bother running for a political election. The entire matter of religious figures running for public office is absurd.
What would be the point?
Make no mistake, I am not afraid my friend, I am very prepared to 'meet my maker', to endure a tribulation should I be lukewarm, because my faith is
strong, and thats what counts. There is no fear here. All which will come to pass must come to pass as directed by what some call fate and what
other's call God's divine plan. In the end, its two expressions of the same thing which we cannot grasp because we cannot fully understand it, see
it, detect it, measure it, bag it, sell it. As to your second point on why would an antichrist run for political office, well, the answer is simple
and obvious. Beyond a simple man, he has no special power. Yes, you heard me right, the antichrist is just a man, perhaps a genius, but no
superpowers. Yes, it says he will perform great wonders. This simply means he will do so
through technology and through politics, these are the
great wonders. Imagine .. stem cell research fully funded, all of a sudden we can grow organs for people from scratch, clone humans, all kinds of wild
crap. What great wonders are these. Being just a man, he has to attain power to deceive and act out his will, simple enough.
Sometimes I think that the fear that many people carry is fear that they want to carry. That it's something that they choose to do. Doing so
provides an excuse not to take responsibility. It provides the excuse to blame God. "Oh God, why?" That's what is commonly heard. Thing is, God
has nothing to do with it. This is Man's deal, and Man is fully responsible for what happens regardless of what Man thinks or feels about it.
I fear God in one sense, that if I used my free will that was given to me to perform nothing but evil acts, I'd fear meeting my maker and being
judged. But since I do not do this, I do not fear God beyond the simple, normal fears of natural disasters and other so called prophecies, like meteor
impacts. Stuff most anyone is afraid of potentially happening, like Yellowstone erupting for instance. I never blame God for a thing because I know
that one of the purposes of creation is to keep creation self sufficient and running on its' own. God does not have to perform maintenance on the
server we call life except once every number of thousands of years you see. All which occurs inbetween is left to itself, man has free will. It gets
kind of strange though, because despite our free will, God's prophecies end up being fulfilled through us human beings anyways. Yet, the will is
still free. Functional paradox.
God does not care. And Man's condition is not God's fault. Unfortunately, many miss the beauty in that. Over the ages many have missed the beauty
in that and so Men felt compelled to create artificial standards of beauty to alleviate their uncomfortable lack of understanding. Anyone who would
believe that God, the all powerful, all knowing God would be held to the dictates of one book that was written by Men -- well, that person should
contemplate herself or himself and God more.
I agree. I find great wisdom in all Monotheistic Religions, and even in Eastern Philosophical Religions such as Daosim and Buddhism. The answer does
not lie in any single place, I just prefer to use one particular book, which I feel is most wise, but this does not mean the others arent wise. To
another man, he may understand one of the other books better. If he gains understanding and faith, then so be it, this is good. I disagee that God
does not care. We are like little receptors, little nerve endings of God if you will. It's the theory of collective conciousness, that conciousness
is God's attempt to experience creation in all its' forms, and to come "down to our level" means to obey the rules set in stone here, aka physics
and so forth, and be a normal man and experience it. The idea is, when we die, this conciousness either goes back to the Oneness, which is God, or
enters a new receptor if you will. So in that sense we all have a spark, an essence of God in us, this lends itself to the Hasidic Jewish philosophy
more however.
Thanks for the Proverbs quotes, it's one of my favorite books. :-)
[edit on 2/24/2008 by runetang]