I have great difficulty believing in the Rapture or the Tribulation as anything but a medieval fairytale used for political fearmongering in the pursuit of temporal power. I admit this. Revelations is one of my favorite Biblical books, just after the Song of Solomon–mostly because I think whoever wrote the Book of Revelations must have been high on something.

But what frightens me are the people who take the concepts of the Rapture and the Tribulation seriously, as if there was anything in the Book of Revelations to sustain it. As a historical document, Revelations is a hysterical denouncement of the Roman Empire. As a religious document, it’s a picture-perfect illustration that religion can hit you like a bad case of the ’shrooms, especially if you’re hanging out in the desert bigtime.

As a factor in American foreign policy, the whole damn thing is scary. I happened upon Bartholomew’s recent post about Dick Armey’s interview with Reporting Religion. Just this exchange is nightmare-inducing.

Armey: We talk about the End Times, the day of Tribulation. Yes there seems to be, if you believe in Bible prophecy, there seems to be a great deal of the circumstances that was prophesised present at this time, and a lot of people believe that this is the time for that prophecy. They also believe that a free and a, what shall I say, well, Israel will be a consequence after those days of Tribulation, but that the whole world goes through a difficult time during those days of Tribulation.

Do you believe it?

Yes, I do.

Does the President of the United States believe it?

I believe he does.

Do you understand why that would worry people who are not Christian or Jewish living in the Middle East?

Well, I can understand why that would worry people, it worries us. This is a very difficult time in the world. I know of nobody who thinks of the days of Tribulation as a good thing. We believe it will happen because the Bible says it will happen, but it is not something that we prefer to see happen. We just expect that to happen, because the Bible says so.

Are you trying to make it happen?

No, I don’t…I’d be very upset with anybody who’s advocated that we ought to make it happen. These things are supposed to happen in God’s good time, and somebody that would try to create the circumstances purposely I think would be out of step with the teaching of the Bible.

And yet a lot of people, a lot of Americans, are raising money, the Americans are sending weapons to Israel. Isn’t that trying to make it happen?

No, I don’t think so. My own guess would be that the most active Americans that are supporting Israel materially by way of sending money or materials, war materials, are not American Christians but American Jews. (Bartholomew’s Notes)

So Bush and Armey are the most recent in a long line of people whipping up fear by pretending the End Times are nigh. (I mean, after two thousand years of “this will happen in our lifetime” anything gets old, people.) But the chilling thing is that they believe it so thoroughly–and yet, have denied any responsibility for it, implicitly blaming the whole debacle on American Jews. It’s a perfectly lovely ontological shifting-of-blame. We’re not responsible because we’re not sending money to Israel, it’s those blasted American Jews. But we’ll reap the benefits of the fear of the Tribulation politically and economically–and we’ll continue to keep Israel as a foot in the door of the Middle East. But it’s not our fault, yo. It’s God’s will. And those American Jews.

The only thing that would be better is blaming it on UFOs.

Bartholomew notes that the White House is receptive to all sorts of kooky End-Timers and Jenkins-LaHaye wannabes. Still, he finished up by quoting Kathleen Parker.

…What’s missing…is a basic understanding of reality: the fact that those who preach an End Times scenario also voted for Bush does not necessarily mean that they have Bush’s ear. When someone like Hagee sends a smoke signal to the White House about Israel and Armageddon, the attitude at Pennsylvania Avenue is, ”Oh yeah, John, we’re aware of that, thank you.” (Abilene Reporter)

Which is, once one thinks about it, scary enough and not quite comforting. It indicates that down at the very bottom of his soul, Bush and Co. might not think the world matters, since if their End Times come along the whole planet will be just a disposable Handi-Wipe for the wrath of Jaysus.

One wonders what he’d think of the whole thing…