Saturday, July 28, 2007 | Reason : Wingnut News | print version

Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour

by Max Blumenthal

Reposted from:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/rapture-ready-the-unauth_b_57826.html

On July 16, I attended Christians United for Israel's annual Washington-Israel Summit. Founded by San Antonio-based megachurch pastor John Hagee, CUFI has added the grassroots muscle of the Christian right to the already potent Israel lobby. Hagee and his minions have forged close ties with the Bush White House and members of Congress from Sen. Joseph Lieberman to Sen. John McCain. In its call for a unilateral military attack on Iran and the expansion of Israeli territory, CUFI has found unwavering encouragement from traditional pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and elements of the Israeli government.

But CUFI has an ulterior agenda: its support for Israel derives from the belief of Hagee and his flock that Jesus will return to Jerusalem after the battle of Armageddon and cleanse the earth of evil. In the end, all the non-believers - Jews, Muslims, Hindus, mainline Christians, etc. - must convert or suffer the torture of eternal damnation. Over a dozen CUFI members eagerly revealed to me their excitement at the prospect of Armageddon occurring tomorrow. Among the rapture ready was Republican Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. None of this seemed to matter to Lieberman, who delivered a long sermon hailing Hagee as nothing less than a modern-day Moses. Lieberman went on to describe Hagee's flock as "even greater than the multitude Moses commanded."

Throughout CUFI's Israel Summit, videographer Thomas Shomaker and I were hounded by PR agents seeking to prevent us from interviewing attendees about the End Times. The conference, we were told, was about "one message" - evangelical Christians supporting Israel. We were instructed to only interview CUFI leaders capable of sticking to the talking point that their support for Israel has, as Hagee declared, "nothing to do with the End Times." But I was forbidden from asking Hagee about statements he made in his book, "Jerusalem Countdown," that appeared to blame Jews for their own persecution. After doing just that during a press conference, I was removed from the conference by off-duty DC cops summoned by members of Hagee's family.

I have covered the Christian right intensely for over four years. During this time, I attended dozens of Christian right conferences, regularly monitored movement publications and radio shows, and interviewed scores of its key leaders. I have never witnessed any spectacle as politically extreme, outrageous, or bizarre as the one Christians United for Israel produced last week in Washington. See for yourself.

http://vimeo.com/251385

Add to del.icio.us Posted: Saturday, July 28, 2007 | Permalink

Comments 1 - 37 of 37 |

Reload Comments | Back to Top | Page Numbers

1. Comment #59205 by js5535 on July 28, 2007 at 9:03 am

Perhaps Christopher Hitchens is not so extreme in saying that humanity is under imminent threat from opposing religious views?
With Iran and Islamic-revolutionary infested Pakistan both possessing or close to possessing nuclear weapons, things aren't looking good.

At least these nutcase Republicans will be out in a year and a half.

That crazy adventure that Moses and friends allegedly had in the Sinai has probably been the source of as much destruction as smallpox.

Other Comments by js5535

2. Comment #59206 by Greybishop on July 28, 2007 at 9:17 am

I see stuff like this and I can only shake my head.
The three people in the group that he kept going back to...amazing. To talk about Satan like he was a real guy and not crack even a smirk!

Best part? The old guy saying something like "If you haven't seen the 'Left Behind' series, it's really scary!"

I couldn't agree with you more, pops!

Kirk Cameron's acting is REALLY scary.

Other Comments by Greybishop

3. Comment #59211 by RAS on July 28, 2007 at 9:56 am

From the video:
Q."Who do think is the anti-christ?"
A."The man that forces Israel into a peace pact with the Arabs is the anti-christ."
Isn't that what Tony Blair is up to these days?
:)

Other Comments by RAS

4. Comment #59213 by BT Murtagh on July 28, 2007 at 10:21 am

Well, we know it's not George W. Bush:
"[The anti-christ] also will be a man of peace, one who has promoted peace for many years."

Other Comments by BT Murtagh

5. Comment #59222 by BigJohn on July 28, 2007 at 11:33 am

These people are obviously delusional, very close to the point of psychosis. In fact, several folks in this video were behaving in a psychotic manner. Maybe someone could write a book about this...oh, yeah, several folks have already done that :)

Other Comments by BigJohn

6. Comment #59229 by Fire1974 on July 28, 2007 at 12:23 pm

So let me get this strait.
These psychopaths are in support of Israel but only in terms of destroying their enemies(Muslims)?
&
Someone who would work to promote peace by means of political compromise between the two would be allied with Satan?
&
This is the driving mentality of our former House Majority Leader as well as much of our current government?
&
They are implicitly promoting war between Jews and Arabs based on Revelation and the intellectually deprived writings of Tim Lehay?

These people are INSANE!!! And their running our country.

Sam Harris is right, we've got an emergency on our hands.

Other Comments by Fire1974

7. Comment #59234 by artemisa on July 28, 2007 at 12:58 pm

After reading this article,it came to my mind so clearly, my conviction that religion divides and evolution unites became even stronger.

Other Comments by artemisa

8. Comment #59240 by scottishgeologist on July 28, 2007 at 1:52 pm

Brings to mind Sam Harris's comments:

"In the US, 22% of the population are CERTAIN that Jesus is coming back in the next 50 years, and another 22% think that it's likely. The good news of Christ's return, though, can only occur following desperately bad news. Mushroom clouds would be welcomed. "End time thinking," Harris said, "is fundamentally hostile to creating a sustainable future."

Its bad enough when this sort of religious lunacy determines what they play on the banjo on the verandah: when it directly influences foreign policy, it starts to get scary.

Other Comments by scottishgeologist

9. Comment #59242 by _J_ on July 28, 2007 at 1:58 pm

The whole bit about 'whoever achieves a peace treaty in the Middle East is the antichrist' - does that count as incitement to violence? On a massive, massive scale?

Just trying to work out how close this is to being an actual crime.

Other Comments by _J_

10. Comment #59243 by Greybishop on July 28, 2007 at 1:59 pm

artemisa -
I agree with your sentiment, but I'd phrase it a bit differently. I think that I understand exactly what you mean, but I'd be leary of the faith-head who hears it and says "Aha! Atheist dogma!"

I'd go with:

"Belief in religion divides, while reason, logic and science open a path to the potential of humanity one day achieving global prosperity, enlightenment and unity."

I don't know that evolution has any special power to unite. Many believers in various religions, including some of evolution's greatest advocates, claim to believe in evolution as well. I also don't think it's fair to assert that those who embrace evolution and reject religion are necessarily going to lead us to unity.

Even here on this site there are many, many disagreements and if we postulate a world of nothing but non-believers I don't think that anyone would expect that world to be perfectly peaceful or united.

Evolution (and the acceptance of reason and science that implies) has a whole lot better chance of uniting the globe than ANY religion ever will. However even if, by some amazing global "conversion", every single person stopped believing in religion, there would still be bad people, bad government and bad judgement to contend with.

Of course, there's a very strong likelyhood that many of those people in the video DON'T believe in evolution, but that doesn't automatically make evolution a more unifying idea. It just means that divisive religious ideas are not compatable with good science and the fundies are at least honest enough not to try to squeeze science's round peg into religion's square recepticle.

Just my two cents.

Other Comments by Greybishop

11. Comment #59247 by Nails on July 28, 2007 at 2:16 pm

This is scary stuff.
Are these people really ready to bring us closer to WWIII to advance their dreams of the saviour returning?
But religion and violence arn't linked, we've seen it written on here by fundies countless times...
We need words stronger than deluded i think.

BTW - scottishgeologist - I love the avatar.

Other Comments by Nails

12. Comment #59251 by twixcookie on July 28, 2007 at 2:26 pm

More than "deluded"...I think religion is a form of mental illness. Believing in things that don't exist...
All religions are cults, and exhibit cult-like behaviors and control issues.
Of course they kicked the reporter out, he was dangerous, asking questions like that. He might get people thinking for themselves!

It sounds like they can't wait for Armageddon!
If they read their bible, they would know the Jews weren't the chosen peeps anymore after Christ came. It's terrible when we atheists have to tell them about their bible.
Look at these people dancing around, they are tied together because of their "common cause", but it is a form of hate.
Funny how all this is really about political agendas and money. Of course, Israel would love more land and these guys want to just knock out Iran.
It's always about money, and if you dig down, you can always find it's at the root of this kind of stuff.

Other Comments by twixcookie

13. Comment #59254 by EvolvedDNA on July 28, 2007 at 2:37 pm

Large Eagles are seen to be attacking and hauling away Christians... it would appear the translation of the word "rapture" has been incorrect...oh dear

Other Comments by EvolvedDNA

14. Comment #59262 by artemisa on July 28, 2007 at 3:25 pm

Greybishop

What I meant is that evolution unites in the sense that thru common descent we are all related.

Other Comments by artemisa

15. Comment #59276 by Greybishop on July 28, 2007 at 5:05 pm

artemisa -
I hope you didn't think I was being critical. Given how far my interpretation strayed from your intent, I think you can see what I was getting at.

As far as your sentiment as you state it, again, I wholeheartedly agree.

Of course, I can't stand most of my relatives...
;o)

Other Comments by Greybishop

16. Comment #59288 by artemisa on July 28, 2007 at 5:56 pm

Greybishop

I didn't interpret your response as being critical.
Actually I forgot to thank you for responding.

It's hard to get along with all our relatives.
Friends we pick but relatives we inherit.

Other Comments by artemisa

17. Comment #59292 by Crazymalc on July 28, 2007 at 6:07 pm

Is is just me, or did that guy seem a little Michael Moore-ish?

Scary stuff.

Other Comments by Crazymalc

18. Comment #59299 by RonnieG on July 28, 2007 at 6:29 pm

A perfect example of why the discourse (still) needs to change.

BTW scottishgeologist I love your avatar! It cracks me up. Kudos.

Other Comments by RonnieG

19. Comment #59364 by ? on July 28, 2007 at 9:44 pm

It shows such fear and weakness on Hagee's part to have to micro-manage the events so carefully---no interviewing the rank and file, no unauthorized questions to the leaders.

Imagine the outcry if Dawkins behaved this way during a lecture. 'You may not ask questions which imply that genetic mutations cannot be benificial. We are here for one purpose: to support Darwinism. I warn you, I have hired a bunch of off-duty cops to deal with people who ask questions like that.'

Obviously, this is the absolute opposite of Dawkins' actual style and value system. I know otherwise decent people who support the religious right and just ignore stuff like that and cherry pick for what they want to hear. Wake up!!!! These leaders are dangerous thugs who should be shunned by everyone.

Look at all the mainstream pro-Israel organizations that foolishly support Hagee. They probably think think they are using him, but he is dragging them down to his level. He'll be the mainstream in a few years if they don't stop him.

Other Comments by ?

20. Comment #59464 by Corylus on July 29, 2007 at 6:36 am

I was going to try for a really thoughful post.

I was planning to try to get to the bottom of this one by talking about:

a)group mentality (they prop each other up)

b)externalised self-loathing (deep down they know they aren't worthy, but constantly tell themselves they will be chosen, they thus have to denigrate everyone else in order to feel 'special' themselves)

c)repressed and twisted sexuality (E.G. the guy with the "gays are worse than animals T-Shirt" - We are all animals sweetie: deal with it)

d) the desire to be dominated by God and the desire to dominate in turn. (Sick S&M shit. N.B. I have long suspected that the terms 'rapture' and 'passion' when used in a relgious fashion both have pleasure and pain connotations for a specific reason)

But, sod it! No. Stuff the nuanced psychological analysis...

They are INSANE, completely batshit barking MAD.

Other Comments by Corylus

21. Comment #59535 by Richard Dawkins on July 29, 2007 at 12:03 pm

People like me are often accused of going after the lunatic fringe of religion and of not engaging with the 'sensible mainstream' of believers. I'd like it to be noted that among the enthusiastic speakers at this self-evidently barking mad conference were several United States senators, including Senator Joseph Lieberman, sometime Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate. Not only did Lieberman speak at the conference, he praised the preposterous Pastor John Hagee to the extent of comparing him to Moses. Senator Lieberman is presumably a good specimen of mainstream, sensible, middle-of-the-road, moderate religious opinion.

Richard

Other Comments by Richard Dawkins

22. Comment #59543 by Fire1974 on July 29, 2007 at 1:11 pm

Once again, wonderful to be posting below Dr. Dawkins.

This is a link to the entire conference as recorded by authorized cameras.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxJJXdnnOIA&mode=related&search=

I tried to watch, but was unable to tolerate the mindless, phony blandishments the two tribes "dignitaries" bestowed upon eachother. It was just to much to bear. And then came the music!

I was horrified by the letter from President Bush read at the opening by Hagee.

The U.S. has really sunk itself into a deep, dark hole of appocalyptic dogmatism. We're in it up to our President!

Other Comments by Fire1974

23. Comment #59549 by Mercurius on July 29, 2007 at 1:54 pm

I cannot stop myself hoping desparately that at any moment they will all burst out laughing and declare the whole thing to be satire. I'm still waiting and feeling more saddened every minute of watching it.

Other Comments by Mercurius

24. Comment #59568 by mjwemdee on July 29, 2007 at 4:56 pm

The whole thing is just awful. I can't believe these people are the same species.

And what WAS that strange ballet performed by that woman in blue at the end of the programme?

Other Comments by mjwemdee

25. Comment #59569 by scottishgeologist on July 29, 2007 at 5:06 pm

Richard Dawkins said: "Senator Lieberman is presumably a good specimen of mainstream, sensible, middle-of-the-road, moderate religious opinion."

If you research Lieberman, an interesting picture emerges. His wikipedia entry is good (Now before anyone says anything, yes, I know, wiki is not necessarily ABSOLUTE truth and is frequently hijacked, but this entry reads OK to me, and besides, there is nothing really contentious in it) What it points out is that L is liberal on a lot of stuff, but conservative on foreign policy. He is also an orthodox Jew.

That should ring alarm bells.

HE is passionate about Israel, so that would fit into the pre-milennial, dispensationalist, armageddonist paradigm.

I have actually met some of these pro-Israel, armageddonists here at home. Tend to be charismatic, right into "prophecy" and all that BS. You know, hotlines to God "I am getting a word from the Lord..... "

The big danger as far as I can see is that these f*ckwits together with the bearded AK47 waving nutjobs in the middle east will manage to engineer their armageddon-fest and the whole area will start sprouting 'shrooms.

Of course, the end result will not be Billys " blasphemer on a stick " coming to save the day.

The end result will be millions dead, the environment f*cked, world economy in recession, millions of acres of uninhabitable land, and the same old hatreds as before...

The only good thing would be the certain non-appearance of Billys blasphemer on a stick. Mind you, I am sure the Bushite neocon armageddonists would still have an answer. "his timing is not ours, besides, it is perfect.. we will know in eternity. Praise his holy f*cking name..."

Lets face it, there is no limit to religious stupidity.

Other Comments by scottishgeologist

26. Comment #59570 by hasty toweling on July 29, 2007 at 5:11 pm

This video demonstrates the only way that we have of defeating this lunacy -- asking direct questions to the leaders of these cults in public. Religious authorities (and political dictators) thrive in environments that restrict communication to a one-way street. It's no coincidence that people go to church on Sunday to listen only -- no raising hands for questions allowed.

The four horsemen have done a wonderful job of getting the ball rolling. Now what we need are more smaller scale videos like this where pundits don't call the shots, and Rupert Murdoch doesn't get to make the final cut.

Also, the questions need to be as simple as possible: "Are Hindus all going to hell? Why or why not?" That's about as complicated as it needs to be. We could put thousands of these videos on youtube and destroy this nonsense once and for all.

Other Comments by hasty toweling

27. Comment #59576 by bluebird on July 29, 2007 at 6:33 pm

mjwemdee, it wasn't ballet, rather I think the 'blue woman' was trying to channel Martha Graham (a pioneer of modern dance). Inserting "dance" into church/gatherings has become popular the last 10-20 years as a way to entice young adults to attend. Also, "it's a way to use your whole body to worship the lord".

Kudos to Mr. Blumenthal for his work attending conferences, etc. Going 'into the trenches' to garner information for the public is laudable.

(edited)

Other Comments by bluebird

28. Comment #59578 by Dr Benway on July 29, 2007 at 6:50 pm

bluebird:

Inserting "dance" into church/gatherings has become popular the last 10-20 years as a way to entice young adults to attend. Also, "it's a way to use your whole to worship the lord".

Oy veh! That's so horrifying. How might we encourage it?

Other Comments by Dr Benway

29. Comment #59644 by Beachbum on July 30, 2007 at 3:06 am

And to think that until now I thought The Exorcist was a scary movie.

Excuse me sir, I'll take the red pill now.

Corylus eloquent, simply eloquent.

I am at a loss for words. I knew it was bad in this country, I just didn't know how pathetic it could get.

Am I the only one that noticed some familiar faces in the shadows? I think I need to do some video stripping and the research.

Other Comments by Beachbum

30. Comment #59671 by ross on July 30, 2007 at 5:50 am

It's a shame that Max Blumenthal's video is not posted as a "video response" to the YouTube conference presentation.

Other Comments by ross

31. Comment #59681 by blueollie on July 30, 2007 at 7:08 am

Take heart: there was a time where I sort of took this stuff as being worth of being considered, and now I am here (on this site).

People do change.

Other Comments by blueollie

32. Comment #59688 by huxley_leopard on July 30, 2007 at 7:57 am

This just makes me more convinced that atheists and nonreligious people do need a voice and do need to start organising themselves to make it known that people going around planning the end of the world is simply not acceptable to us. It's views like that that led to the Waco mass-suicide, 9/11 and poison gas in Tokyo's subway.

Ok, ok, herding cats bla bla bla... but really there is quite a lot we all agree on compared to say, a political party, or even a religion. Christians can't agree on what the trinity is or whether genesis is metaphor or literal truth. At least atheists tend to agree about scientific method, equality, sustainability and free thinking, to name but a few things. And at least we are willing to change our views in the light of new evidence - therefore we are reasonable people. We don't have to agree about facts, only about the way in which arguments are conducted. Perhaps that's why this is a Foundation for REASON and SCIENCE, because they are the two things all reasonable people would agree with.

I'm going to buy a 'Scarlet A' t-shirt right now!

Edited to add: Blueollie - good on ya!

Other Comments by huxley_leopard

33. Comment #59698 by steveroot on July 30, 2007 at 9:23 am

28. Comment #59578 by Dr Benway on July 29, 2007 at 6:50 pm

Also, "it's a way to use your whole to worship the lord".
Oy veh! That's so horrifying. How might we encourage it?

Dr. B: It's not that bad- see the "w" in "whole"? :-)
Steve

Other Comments by steveroot

34. Comment #59929 by blueollie on July 31, 2007 at 6:31 am

Dr. Dawkins writes:
---------------
Senator Joseph Lieberman, sometime Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate. Not only did Lieberman speak at the conference, he praised the preposterous Pastor John Hagee to the extent of comparing him to Moses. Senator Lieberman is presumably a good specimen of mainstream, sensible, middle-of-the-road, moderate religious opinion.
------------------

Senator Lieberman's domestic voting record isn't that bad. He is disliked by progressives mostly because of his Iraq war support and for his constant attempts to "make nice" to extremists such as those at this conference.

In the United States, any politician who comes right out and says that fundamentalist religion positions are absurd has just about zero chance of getting elected at the statewide or nationwide level.

hence you see people like Barack Obama, who as basically raised as an atheist and who belongs to the most liberal Christian denomination telling us secularists to "back off", all the while saying (very cautiously) that he "has doubts" about many of the theological teachings in his faith!

Many of my friends think that he is a sell-out, but reality is that he is about as close to the line as one can get and still be a viable national level candidate.

Other Comments by blueollie

35. Comment #60091 by dot on August 1, 2007 at 1:33 am

direct link here:

http://14.media.vimeo.com/d1/5/39/31/vimeo.251385.3a120f.flv

Other Comments by dot

36. Comment #60157 by AtheistAttorney on August 1, 2007 at 7:14 am

As a fellow world citizen, I am truly worried about this rapture mania in the USA. I like Scottishgeologist am tempted to say that they should be allowed to have their final battle (hopefully most of them will perish) and then stand back and watch as their saviour fails to appear.

However, the mind virus has infected them so severely that again, like SG says, they will have some other explanation. No, they should be stopped at all costs - we can't allow this planet to be ruined because of these psychopaths - if they won't listen to reason - what else are we to do?

Other Comments by AtheistAttorney

37. Comment #60354 by ? on August 1, 2007 at 4:42 pm

Now that I think about it, there's another thing that bugs me about this "Rapture" business! Most of the people who believe in it are standard issue far-right militarists, but if you think for a minute, they SHOULD be utterly apolitical! Wait to be "raptured" and enjoy the ride. Warn others to follow your religion if you care about them and want them to come along. I mean their books actually teach that the world has to get more and more "sinful" before the end. The antichrist with his awful ideas about peace (shudder!) is predestined to rule the world for a season. But then they turn it around and say 'let's fight it, let's keep the stuff that's supposed to happen before Jesus comes back from actually happening!' Wouldn't this screw up god's plan if the antichrist is thwarted by and army of earthly do-gooders?!
Religions thrive on so many layers of contradiction!!!!!

Other Comments by ?