Some of us are so naïve as to think what is going on
in the Middle East and around the world in the war
against terrorism should be taken at face value. A
graduate student researcher at Texas State
University found evidence of belief by Evangelical
Christians that it is all a part of a great Biblical
battle of the “End Time.” In a paper entitled
Media in Texas, Biblical
Prophecy, and the Middle East Wars, the
scholar raises a possibility that
Evangelicals are using their influence in the media
and in government to make sure U.S. actions in Iraq
and elsewhere are true to biblical prophecy.
Viewing the attack on Iraq as the
overthrow of “The Whore of Babylon,” as predicted by
the New Testament book of Revelations,
fundamentalist Christians are said to have viewed
U.S. action there as necessary for a fulfillment of
prophecy and prelude to the “Second coming of
Christ.”
Examining Evangelical Christian
support for Israel, the paper asks, then answers,
the question of why a sect which believes one must
“accept Jesus Christ as Personal Savior” to go to
heaven would support a Jewish society which
summarily rejects the notion of Christ as Savior and
Lord. The answer lies in the fact that Evangelical
Christians take every word of the Old and New
Testament as being the exact word of God. There is a
belief that in the “End Time” a number (some believe
the book of Revelations says it is 144,000) Jews
will be “saved” and accept Christ as Savior. It is
in the interest of these 144,000 future Christian
brothers that the Christian Right supports Israel.
According to the scholarly paper,
Evangelicals used their political and media muscle
during the initial phases of the Iraqi war to
influence their flocks to support the effort. They
broadcast a belief that overthrow of “Babylon”
(Iraq) was necessary for the establishment of a new
regime there that would fulfill a prophecy that a
“New Babylon” would usher in the events of the “End
Time.” Some prominent sects of Evangelical
Christianity believe that Jesus Christ will set up a
Kingdom on earth after the horrific battle of
Armageddon.
The involvement of these
Evangelical Christians in media and politics is
carried out against a backdrop of prophecy that
predicts eventual total destruction of the world,
with these Evangelical Christians being the only
ones who are rescued by Jesus. The paper asserts
that it is a far different perspective on the war in
Iraq when one believes it is a destruction of
Babylon’s whore, than it is if it is viewed simply
as a U.S. action in the Middle East.
Every American should absolutely
support the right of Evangelicals to believe what
they want to believe. On the other hand, Americans
should be concerned if U.S. diplomacy is being
heavily influenced by those who have no doubt that
peace in the Middle East is impossible when the
Bible predicts the final war there, predicts that
Israel will rebuild Solomon’s Temple on the Done of
the Rock in Jerusalem, and proclaims that God will
always side with Israel.
Should mainstream Christians,
non-religious, and those of other faiths be
concerned if U.S. policy is being influenced by a
desire to conform to Biblical prophecy? Is America
God’s arm of vengeance and righteousness in a doomed
world? Should Jews be rushing to be among the
144,000 who will be “saved” to Christianity, or
should they be suspicious of support from the
Christian Right?
Those who do not believe the
events of the Middle East are predicted by the New
Testament book of Revelations may differ with any
idea that peace in the Middle East would ultimately
be doomed to failure or that nuclear holocaust is
inevitable there. International diplomacy should not
be driven by religious fortunetelling.
