Is Obama the Antichrist?

Is Obama the Antichrist?
(Formerly: Is the Beast ascending to power on the world stage today?)
In these days many are asking, what does the Bible say about the Antichrist, the Man of Lawlessness, and the Beast. Should we be concerned about any individual currently ascending to power on the world stage? Although my book Final Warning goes into much greater detail about the characteristics of the evil one, let it suffice that all Christians must be aware that one is coming who is beginning to fit this profile.
Beware of the one who comes as a type of messiah promising to save the world from its present crisis by speaking half truths and outrageous lies; one who promises worldwide peace by sitting down with your enemies. Beware of the one, who promises universal health care for the whole person (both physical and psychological) with its hidden agenda of leading you to trust in psychology instead of trusting in God exclusively, which is idolatry. Furthermore, this allows the evil one and his established order to control your life. This control is precipitated by electronic record keeping and preventative health requirements that will mandate physical and psychological care if you wish to keep your benefits. Be wary of the one who voted for the bailout bill that gives government more involvement in the private sector and definitive control over millions of home loans. Tucked into this bill is a mental health provision that will ultimately give companies power over their employees by requiring that they get psychological counseling and drugs to improve their productivity. Be very careful of the one who promises to bring change to those living in the midst of fallen Babylon through his own strength and intellect.
Christian don't be deceived, because Obama easily fits this profile. He is espousing a political rebellion against the so called established order and leading God's children in open rebellion against Him. He does this by leading the world to put their trust in him or his new world religion to solve all their problems and meet their needs instead of trusting in God alone and His providential care. Obama openly nullifies the law of God by sanctioning same sex relationships and partial birth abortion – deserving the title “Man of Lawlessness.” Christian don’t be dismayed that the Republican party lost the election. Indeed it was easy to be fooled by the Republican Party and the audacity of talk radio claiming to be on the side of Christianity by rejecting homosexual unions and the freedom of choice. Clearly they only courted the Christian vote to further their own evil agenda of excessive greed and lust for power. Stop trusting in Obama or the Republican Party to bring about change. Real change is only possible through the transforming power of the Gospel which brings true healing to the whole man and his community.
Rev. Daniel W. Blair
HE REIGNS CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES
www.revelation-truth.org

Why was my comment not posted? I can't believe your arrogance and hypocrisy. If I had rejected a piece of art in my gallery (say the "piss Christ") you would have raged, raged, raged against the "censorship" of the light, lol. But here you sit like a smug little monkey picking berries and deciding if you like them or not. Get real and honest-unless the post has crossed a line of real incivlity let it stand or stop calling yourself a journalist because you're not reflecting the opinions presented honestly-your filtering them subjectively. Thats not reporting that's framing the issue to your taste.

Lisa, your article was wonderful insight to a real problem. Let all these good Christian responses bounce off of you because many of these are things that Jesus would not do and likewise many of these responses from people who claim to be Christian are just blind followers.

Fear is being spread among the Christian community and we're discussing this right now on the PhilosophyForum.com - Distribution of Fear in Christianity is the title.

Yes, and the sky is falling and has been since the death of Jesus. This is Pauline theory. So, I challenge some of you folks that have responded foolishly to ask yourself if that's what Jesus would have done? Next, dig real deep into your faith and discover if your are followers of the self-proclaimed apostle, Paul of Tarsus or followers of Jesus.

Thanks again for your very insightful article and keep up the good work. One day maybe we can stop judging others and start looking at ourselves.

I was a little taken aback by the response. I thought it was quite clear you were reporting on the subject, not condoning it, although the headline was a little over the top. But I never thought you were doing anything other than reporting.

And you are right- it is worth the 600 words because this is not just an interesting fact, its a downright scary fact. Demonizing Obama whether as the Anti-Christ or as a "terrorist" and people whipping themselves up into a frenzy of fear only serves one purpose. At some level they hope someone will act on impulse. I see it no other way. There is a big gap in the NYC skyline that proves my point. Extremists never know when to stop. They can't separate out their views from everyday life and I think this is true for the majority of these end-times evangelists. They hope for the end of the world so they will (supposedly, hopefully) be united with Christ. It's a very bloodthirsty concept for anyone, let alone for a group that insists it believes in the G-d of love and compassion.

They obviously haven't seen the inherent oxymoron of their lives yet.

Ms. Miller, you accomplished nothing in this article other than lending an air of legitimacy to crackpot notions best relegated to the cesspools of the Internet. Your journalistic judgment leaves a lot to be desired, and Mr. Meacham's is even worse: as your editor, he should have rejected this outright. (And with a master's degree in journalism, I'm qualified to render that judgment.)

CANTO1951 WROTE

"I am grateful to the fates that I have managed to live long enough to see the beginning of the end for the Christian lunatic fringe. The have managed to poison many elements of our national culture for decades, and have made life especially difficult since the election of George W. Bush. Now the forces of modernization--non-white immigration, urbanization, and the passing of the gullible, confused generation that came of age in the 60's and 70's--are leaving the white evangelicals and the demagogues who feed them ever more marginalized. They will probably always have their enclave in the deep south and Appalachia; but elsewhere, their influence will dissipate. The center-left core of the American electorate will continue to assert itself, and the snarling, atavistic right will decline. There is hope for this great nation after all!"

THE EVANGELICAL MOVEMENT IS WORLD WIDE.100,000 Chinese are convereted every year. It is also multi racial, it includes a plethora of Black churches, Hispanic churches; Churches in South America Asia, Russia.

Your focus on "whites" and your celebration of "nonwhite immigration" is telling-you're a racist. Would you celebrate the mass immigration into Mexico of millions of Asian Buddists so that Mexico was less "Brown and Catholic"? I think not.

For someone espousing to be "liberal" and "center", you're in fact quite intolerant and overtly race conscious. Get a grip. Whites didn't invent Christianity they were converted to it by Semites-who were decidedly "non-white".

Lisa,

Kindly remove this ridiculous "essay," and send it to the National Enquirer, where it belongs.

The Jews, the Muslims and the Christians, They've all got it wrong. The people of the world only divide into two kinds, One sort with brains who hold no religion, The other with religion and no brain.
- Abu-al-Ala al-Marri, 10th century Syrian poet

The Jews, the Muslims and the Christians, They've all got it wrong. The people of the world only divide into two kinds, One sort with brains who hold no religion, The other with religion and no brains.

- Abu-al-Ala al-Marri, 10th century Syrian poet

For idiots, there is NO stupidity even if they look in front of the mirror.

How do you expect the idiots to see the anti-christ then?

How will the idiots know? They won't until they see the missiles come towards them to fulfill Doomsday.

For them the coming flood was NOT real until it started rising to fill up their stomach and lungs. They won't see it until they see, taste, smell and feel it.

Typical of Idiots.

I once met a liberal activist who confessed to me that she didn't believe in solar ecclipse until it truly went dark for a minute of two.

Funny coz she thought it was doomsday.

Typical of Idiots.

There "ain't no" Santa Claus and there "ain't no" Great Pumpkin and there sure "ain't no" Anti-Christ. Never was and never will be!!! Deal with it!!!

Obama is NOT the Anti-Christ. There are a lot of candidates for that around the world. Despite the many unbelieving idiots residing here in America, it will continue to be the true defender of Christ. Its remnants after Doomsday will inherit this earth.

The anti-Christ will come from the CORE OF STUPIDITY. Bred from the ideas of stupidity like EVOLUTION, ATHEISM, COMMUNISM, ISLAM, CATHOLICISM, and LIBERAL PROTESTANTISM.

Obama and many Amricans may subscribe to these stupid doctrines, but the anti-christ would not come from America.

Another clue. The anti-Christ/s is/are somebody who would hate Israel.

Also, there is NO rapture happening in the next one thousand years. Christians will all be present to see the STUPIDITY rise and FALL.

When all these stupidity is vanquised, Heaven on Earth will begin. I think the stock market with all its stupid rules will be a thing of the past.

It will be Heavenly right on the first day.

To be totally honest enough is enough. For those who believe that Pres. Elect Obama is the Anti-Christ I say let's get our spiritual houses in order and become rapture ready.

I really don't believe that he is the Anti-Christ but only God knows what He has in store for us all. If Pres. Elect Obama is the Anti-Christ it is just another one of the Bible Prophecies being fulfilled. This proves that no one can stop the will, plan and purpose of God. Just keep praying is all I can say.

I haven't read the comments, so this might be a repeat, which is fine. The question "Is Obama the AntiChrist?" is offensive and theologically vapid. It is raised because some groups of people who believe in that nonsense have made a lot of noise, so it now becomes fodder for the media. The mere question is insulting; its peculiar theology belongs to people who show no propensity to think for themselves, so why should these non-thinkers be given this attention? If they want to be apocalypticists, that's their problem. Just don't make it ours, for God's sake - Ok, for Our sakes!

Again: from answers.com

"The Anti-Christ: In medieval Christian mythology, the prodigious tyrant of the last days, the arch-enemy of Christ. It was a notion that combined Persian dualism with Judeo-Christian apocalypse.

Antichrist first appeared in Revelation as the pseudo-messiah ‘who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped…. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given to him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.’ In the Middle Ages, however, he was portrayed not only as a world tyrant but also as an airborne beast with a huge head, flaming eyes, ass's ears, and iron teeth.

The coming of Antichrist was tensely awaited. In 1096 Pope Urban said that, since the tyrant's arrival was imminent and the Holy Land would be the centre of his power, it was crucial that Christians expel the Moslems from Jerusalem. Thus he launched the First Crusade. When the threat of invasion by Saracens, Tartars, or Turks did not fuel the myth, Europe tended to find his supporters within itself.

Satan became ‘the father of the Jews’, and bloody persecution ensued. But if most people believed that Antichrist was to be a Jew, there were many who believed that he would be the son of a bishop or a nun. Anticlericalism and Antichrist became strangely entwined. As Pope Boniface VIII wrote in 1296: ‘Antiquity relates that laymen show a spirit of hostility towards the clergy, and it is clearly proved by the experience of the present time.’

During the Reformation it comes as no surprise to discover that Protestants regarded the Pope as Antichrist while Catholics returned the compliment with regard to Luther."

Conclusions: The Anti-Christs are all myths. Treat them as such!!!

Just as there is no way of rationally arguing the Obama-has-horns crowd down from the ledge, neither is there a polite way of describing the belief that put them out there in the first place. With all due respect to the developmentally disabled, the notion that Obama is the Antichrist is retarded. The unhinged minority who believe it is another reason the rest of America has trouble taking Evangelicals seriously.

"I am a journalist, not a rabbi; I do not aim to condone one truth claim above another, for that way madness lies."

Well, Lisa, now you have not only your priorities confused but your religions. First, rabbis do not "condone one truth claim above another," and, second, they are as interested in the "anti-Christ" as I am in Britney Spears.

Much of the criticism on this thread, at least, questions your taking this nonsense "seriously," partly because you did not. You gave it a National Enquirer type treatment, when any number of analytic perspectives were readily available and, in fact,have been employed to assess the phenomenon you consider after the manner of of a gossip columnist.

More and more bloggers are asking for more intelligent essays. Scan this thread, Lisa, and you'll find yourself among the addressees.

EFAVORITE :"I've welcomed opportunities to recount this story ever since.

Thanks for the opportunity."

You are so welcome! : )

Come to my Church (and leave a donation). I prepare you for the end of the word. It's all about money.

I canvassed for Obama in western PA during the primaries. Went to one house where the not-home husband was a democrat, but the wife who answered the door was a republican - of the wacko variety.

Seeing me, covered with Obama buttons, she immediately went into a rant about how Bible said Obama was the antichrist. Fascinated and feeling feisty, I asked if Obama was mentioned in the Bible. She grabbed the door knob, as if to slam it in my face, but instead she swung the door open, to show me the biblical inscription in the archway leading to her dining room. It was very ornate and I couldn't make out the words, nor did I want to. She was apoplectic, shouting about the end of the world. My fellow canvasser, who'd moved on to the next house at the first mention of the anti-Christ, came back to whisk me away.

I've welcomed opportunities to recount this story ever since.

Thanks for the opportunity.

"roncwms",

You noted: "and continuing today, more people commit murder and other heinous crimes in the name of their religion than in any other cause."

Supporting references??

Oops, sorry about that Robin. "roncwms" actually wrote that note. The symbol used by WAPO covered half the name and I thought it was from you.

CCNL :"Robin, You noted: "and continuing today, more people commit murder and other heinous crimes in the name of their religion than in any other cause."

Supporting references???"

I did? I mean, that's a viable notion—though I guess "tribalism" comes closer to the mark, and one of the notions that defines a tribe is its stated religious affiliation—but I looked up and down this thread and can't find what you're referring to.

If in 4 years, or 8 if Obama gets reelected, there is no rapture nor antichrist, will all the religious people please stop talking about this nonsense and get to use their time in something more useful, like food for the poor or psichiatric help for themselves. I know this is impossible. They will find another antichrist or another "divine sign", until the sun burns out in 5 billion years, and then they will say: "look the prophecies are true" but the rest of humanity will have moved to another planet. Sorry.

Our War on Terror and Aggression:

An update (or how we are spending or how we have spent the USA taxpayers’ money to eliminate global terror and aggression)

The terror and aggression via a Partial and Recent Body Count

1) Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh

2) 9/11, 3000 mostly US citizens, 1000’s injured

3) The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US Troops (3,388 combat 805 non-combat) and 88,851 – 96,976
Iraqi civilians killed, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf

4) Kenya- In Nairobi, about 212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.[2]

5) Bali-in 2002-killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 people were injured.

6) Bali in 2005- Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.

7) Spain in 2004- killing 191 people and wounding 2,050.

8) UK in 2005- The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four radical Islamic suicide bombers, injured 700.

Other elements of our War on Terror:

1. Saddam, his sons and major henchmen have been deleted. Saddam's bravado about WMD was one of his major mistakes.

2. Iran is being been contained. (beside containing the Sunni-Shiite civil war in Baghdad, that is the main reason we are in Iraq. And yes, essential oil continues to flow from the region.)

3. Libya has become almost civil. Recently Libya agreed to pay $1.5 billion to the victims of their terrorist activities Apparently this new reality from an Islamic country has upset OBL and his “crazies” as they have threatened Libya. OBL sure is a disgrace to the world especially the Moslem world!!! Or is he???

4. North Korea is still uncivil but is contained. With the opening up of rail traffic between North and South Korea after 50 years and with the assistance of the US Navy in retrieving NK ships and personnel hopefully a fresh sense of civility is afoot.

5. North Korea was taken off the terrorist country list recently.

6. Northern Ireland is finally at peace.

7. The Jews and Palestinians are being separated by walls. Hopefully the walls will follow the 1948 UN accords and the Annapolis Peace Conference is at least somewhat successful.

8. Bin Laden has been cornered under a rock in Western Pakistan since 9/11.

9. Fanatical Islam has basically been contained to the Middle East but a wall between India and Pakistan would be a plus for world peace. Ditto for a wall between Afghahistan and Pakistan.

10. Timothy McVeigh was executed. Terry Nichols will follow soon.

11. Eric Rudolph is spending three life terms in prison with no parole.

12. Jim Jones, David Koresh, Kaczynski, the "nuns" from Rwanda, and the KKK were all dealt with and either eliminated themselves or are being punished.

13. Islamic Sudan, Darfur and Somalia are still terror hot spots.

14. The terror and torture of Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo and Kuwait were ended by the proper application of the military forces of the USA and her freedom-loving friends. Radovan Karadzic was finally captured on 7/23/08 and is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the law of war -- charges related to the 1992-1995 civil war that followed Bosnia-Herzegovina's secession from Yugoslavia.

15. And of course the bloody terror brought about the Japanese, Nazis and Communists was with great difficulty eliminated by the good guys.

The "Antichrist" is a fiction. People dedicating more than a few minutes of their lives to concern over the "Antichrist" are squandering valuable minutes which could be more profitably spent watching old "Three Stooges" episodes.

The anti-christ enthusiasts should take a look at world events since 2000, like the theft of the 2000 and 2004 elections by a certain child of privelege, the invasion, conquest, looting, occupation and subjugation of Iraq, secret prisons, kidnapping, torture, murder, domestic spying, etc. Not content with waging war against the Iraqis for their oil, he has been waging war wherever he goes: war against the Constitution, war against the middle class, war against Americans' health & safety, war against our environment at every level, war against endangered species, war against women, war against immigrants, war against our economy, etc. The Bush agenda has been war, death, famine, pestilence, ignorance, and economic & social ruin, most of which he has achieved or set in motion. It will take a concerted effort on the part of every living human to try to reverse or slow the devastating effects of George W. Bush's policies before our government collapses, the Earth is made uninhabitable, and all living things are wiped out forever.

If you're really looking for a malevolent destroyer, you should be looking at Bush and his henchmen, considering the evidence of global disruption and devastation right before your eyes.

Anyone declaring Barack Obama to somehow be antichrist-like is living in his own private Idaho, or a member of the Bush League attempting to distract the gullible from the crimes and atrocities of the illegitimate, criminal Bush regime.

Hmmm, but did the historic Jesus really say "Come follow me"??? No he did not according to many historic Jesus exegetes:

"The commentary in The Five Gospels includes the following:

The metaphor of fishing for people may go back to Jesus. The saying in its present form, however, is not the sort of aphorism to have been repeated during the oral period. "Become my followers and I'll have you fishing for people" is suitable only for the story in which it is now embedded, since only a few of his followers were originally fishermen. Further, as scholars have long noted, the story of the call of the first disciples is expressed in vocabulary typical of Mark, which suggests that Mark created both the story and the saying. (p. 41)"

http://wiki.faithfutures.org/index.php/190_Fishing_for_Humans

Robin,

You noted: "and continuing today, more people commit murder and other heinous crimes in the name of their religion than in any other cause."

Supporting references???

obama supports abortion, that makes him an antichrist...
later he will find a way to kill social security recipients...
regardless, it makes him creepy...

I cannot BELIEVE that anyone reading this article would think that the author was expressing her own personal opinions or those of Newsweek! A perfect analogy: a celebrity being assaulted in the grocery store by someone who just saw them commit some heinous crime - in a movie!

Lisa Miller, this situation of folks freaking out over your article comes from an inability to read. There may very well be a problem in the actual presence and potential political clout of "end-timers", but reporting about these devotees of Tim Lehay and pork rinds isn't the problem. If there is a real sign of "end-times" it's the ascension of Sarah Palin. And the end-times we are facing are not those of the Bible, but of Mike Judge's "Idiocracy."

The branding of president elect Barack Obama as the Antichrist is not an eschatological problem but a rather very American racial and political problem. Ever since discrimination and racism found its refuge in the religious and parochial school systems after the Brown decision by the Supreme Court. Further reinforced by the rise and acceptance of religious issues as the basic ideology of the Republican Party this was bound to happen. The Antichrist has been used as an expletive to describe anybody having an ideological difference with the established church. The Roman church used it against its ideological enemies in its time and the protestant founders against the Papacy and the Pope. One of the Baptist tenets of faith does exactly that.

I find it less than acceptable that you have given a canonical “nihil obstat” to political and religious bigots by giving space to something which is obviously hate and political partisanship. I and I hope others who have their belief of the Allmighty secure will discard all these calls to division and intolerance through false theology and superstition and work and pray for the success of the next presidency and thus be able to surmount the present difficulties that face us all.

Neochristians just can't and never will accept the will of American democracy. Their agenda is their own private Leviticus cherry-picking theocracy for the United States (except verse 19:33, of course)

Calling Obama the anti-christ belongs on hate radio with Dobson or Limbaugh or on RNC Fox News where the rest of us can ignore these freaks and haters. I suggest they all get together with the Mormons, build a big spaceship and fly off to be with God on Kolob - then we can kill two birds with one stone and take America back for freedom.

If all people who merely have faith, with no direct evidence that their beliefs regarding religion are true, would please keep this simple truth in mind: "I believe without evidence. People have a right to disbelieve," we all could get along much better. Throughout history and continuing today, more people commit murder and other heinous crimes in the name of their religion than in any other cause. The Catholic Crusades of the Middle Ages; ethnic cleansing today; etc., etc.

What is going on with the Washington Post that it hosts idiotic discussions of this type? When shall we expect to see the WaPo hosted online forums about little green men and ouija boards?

Why is a major paper like WashPost giving space and thus credibility to this sectarian nonesense?
Please, let's raise the level of discourse here
to one requiring some intellectual content.

Lisa Miller

Your question, "Is Obama the Antichrist?"

Maybe the question should be: Is Jesus Who He said that He is which is that He Is God and He Is Man?

Lots of people try to figure out the bible, for whatever reason, I don't know, I suppose there are just as many reasons as there are people trying to figure it out.

Jesus said, "Come follow Me". It is that simple.

The Big Surprise, so to speak, will come "like a thief in the night" exactly how and when, I don't know, but there shall be those who have convinced others that they have figured it out who will be quite surprised to find out that when Jesus said, "Come follow Me" He meant it and it was that simple.

Take care, be ready.

Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.

This article should have started with a review of the history of the Anti-Christ:

To wit: from answers.com

"In medieval Christian mythology, the prodigious tyrant of the last days, the arch-enemy of Christ. It was a notion that combined Persian dualism with Judeo-Christian apocalypse.

Antichrist first appeared in Revelation as the pseudo-messiah ‘who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped…. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given to him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.’ In the Middle Ages, however, he was portrayed not only as a world tyrant but also as an airborne beast with a huge head, flaming eyes, ass's ears, and iron teeth.

The coming of Antichrist was tensely awaited. In 1096 Pope Urban said that, since the tyrant's arrival was imminent and the Holy Land would be the centre of his power, it was crucial that Christians expel the Moslems from Jerusalem. Thus he launched the First Crusade. When the threat of invasion by Saracens, Tartars, or Turks did not fuel the myth, Europe tended to find his supporters within itself.

Satan became ‘the father of the Jews’, and bloody persecution ensued. But if most people believed that Antichrist was to be a Jew, there were many who believed that he would be the son of a bishop or a nun. Anticlericalism and Antichrist became strangely entwined. As Pope Boniface VIII wrote in 1296: ‘Antiquity relates that laymen show a spirit of hostility towards the clergy, and it is clearly proved by the experience of the present time.’

During the Reformation it comes as no surprise to discover that Protestants regarded the Pope as Antichrist while Catholics returned the compliment with regard to Luther."

Now the discussion can begin anew or should we simply declare the Anti-Christ to be something put on the myth pile where he/she/it belongs and started from and where it should return???

"Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave."

Hey pseudo-"christians", please, pretty please, leave me alone

Sincerely,

God

strudel2000, I could not agree more. this article is an exemplar of all the mongoring that's not fit to print. I too can not understand why a reputable newspaper is willing to provide space to promote wacho, fringe theology with the potential to promote violance against our president. What disgusting, irresponsible tripe!

Dear Washington Post,

Do you have any idea how irresponsible it is to give this sort of inflammatory sectarian rhetoric a forum? Just because you've been accused of bias by persons with political agendas does not mean you should be willing to print any and all manner of hard right Christianist propaganda just to demonstrate even handedness. Don't you think the Secret Service has enough to worry about from whack jobs that object to Obama's race without you inciting religious bigotry and paranoia?

I'd like to see you look Mr. Obama's family in the eyes and explain to them why it is OK to present the notion that he is the antichrist. You do realize you lend the appearance of validity to lunatics when their ideas are printed in the Washington Post and not on a blog along with their other tin foil worthy rantings? Did you learn nothing from the death threats shouted at Sarah Palin's rallies other than it made compelling news coverage?

What is that idiotic little symbol that sits across the posters' names? It makes it difficult to read the name sometimes.

Funniest part of the entire article? The Law School at Liberty Baptist University. They wouldn't know the law if it reared up and bit them on the ---.

Oh! a catastrophic end is coming alright. Primarily due to exponential growth of the human population on a globe that can only carry so many.

Entirely man made wars, floods, deforestation, famine, etc. through our human ignorance and religious taboos about biology and human reproduction.

Sorry, fundamentalists, it ain't got anything to do with a second coming. THAT ain't goin' to happen. And --- that's the cold truth.

I strongly suspect the Anti-Christ will be a religious leader or figure of the religious right. It will not be a political leader like President-Elect Obama. The goal, after all, will be to lead believers astray, so we must remain vigilant. That being, why are we even worrying about it? God's will will be done in his time and in his way. We can't control it; so should be just sure we are living our lives as Jesus instructed - loving our neighbors, feeding the poor, practicing forgiveness, etc.

Question: The Lord will return and reign for a thousand years - then what - the warranty has run out. What is a thousand years on the scale of eternity, it can't even be seen by the Lord its self.

I am grateful to the fates that I have managed to live long enough to see the beginning of the end for the Christian lunatic fringe. The have managed to poison many elements of our national culture for decades, and have made life especially difficult since the election of George W. Bush. Now the forces of modernization--non-white immigration, urbanization, and the passing of the gullible, confused generation that came of age in the 60's and 70's--are leaving the white evangelicals and the demagogues who feed them ever more marginalized. They will probably always have their enclave in the deep south and Appalachia; but elsewhere, their influence will dissipate. The center-left core of the American electorate will continue to assert itself, and the snarling, atavistic right will decline. There is hope for this great nation after all!

When will Mr Strandberg release the exact number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin? Will that number have great prophetic consequence for the Second Coming? What century are these guys living in exactly?

Few things are more funny than truly crazy people.

Obama's own use of religious rhetoric belies his liberal positions on abortion and traditional marriage, Staver says, positions that "religious conservatives believe will threaten their freedom."

I love that... Threaten their freedom? To control other people?

A bit more concerning those animals that possess greater reason then us lowly Yahoos:

" . . . In the midst of all this Happiness, and when I looked upon myself to be fully settled for Life, my Master sent for me one Morning a little earlier than his usual Hour. I observed by his Countenance that he was in some Perplexity, and at a Loss how to begin what he had to speak. After a short Silence, He told me he did not know how I would take what he was going to say; that in the last general Assembly, when the Affair of the Yahoos was entered upon, the Representatives had taken offence at his keeping a Yahoo (meaning myself) in his Family more like a Houyhnhnm, than a Brute Animal. That he was known frequently to converse with me, as if he could receive some Advantage or Pleasure in my Company: That such a Practice was not agreeable to Reason or Nature, nor a Thing ever heard of before among them. The Assembly did therefore exhort him, either to employ me like the rest of my Species, or command me to swim back to the Place from where I came. That the first of these Expedients was utterly rejected by all the Houyhnhnms, who had ever seen me at his House or their own: For they alledged, That because I had some Rudiments of Reason, added to the natural Pravity of those Animals, it was to be feared, I might be able to seduce them into the woody and mountainous Parts of the Country, and bring them in Troops by Night to destroy the Houyhnhnms Cattle, as being naturally of the ravenous Kind, and averse from Labour.

My Master added, That he was daily pressed by the Houyhnhnms of the Neighbourhood to have the Assembly's Exhortation executed, which he could not put off much longer. He doubted it would be impossible for me to swim to another Country, and therefore wished I would contrive some sort of Vehicle resembling those I had described to him, that might carry me on the Sea; in which Work I should have the Assistance of his own Servants, as well as those of his Neighbours. He concluded, That for his own Part he could have been content to keep me in his Service as long as I lived, because he found I had cured myself of some bad Habits and Dispositions, by endeavouring, as far as my inferior Nature was capable, to imitate the Houyhnhnms.

I should here observe to the Reader, That a Decree of the general Assembly in this Country, is expressed by the Word Hnhloayn, which signifies an Exhortation; as near as I can render it: For they have no Conception how a rational Creature can be compelled, but only advised or exhorted, because no Person can disobey Reason, without giving up his Claim to be a rational Creature. . . "

Jonathan Swift, "Gulliver's Travels"

Ugh. Thanks, PAULC37, for confirming not the existence of the antichrist, but that there are plenty of Christians who discredit their faith be engaging in such public speculation. I only hope that you are writing tongue-in-cheek.

There is actually a good reason for believing that the antichrist will appear. The Bible has been pretty reliable in recording fulfillment of prophecies. For example, dozens of prophecies in the OT were fulfilled in the person of Jesus. I have no reason to believe that the Bible's prophecies concerning the end times will not similarly occur.

Problem is, the prophecies do not indicate a specific time frame and often are somewhat vague on unimportant details. Therefore, predicting the specific fulfillment of a prophecy is entirely speculative. Identifying fulfilled prophecies is purely a retrospective exercise.

Frankly, whether Obama is the antichrist is relatively unimportant for the Christian. Speculation regarding that issue only distracts Christians from the work God has called them to.

Oh gawd, these people can't be serious. If anybody can be labeled the Anti-Christ, it would be George W. Bush.

Anyone who believes in the Anti-Christ and also believes that his evil agenda will revolve around legal abortions and same sex marriage has a profoundly diluted conception of human evil.

I, too, eagerly await the Rapture, but I believe it will go down a bit differently. On the day the believers are Hoovered up to their reward, the rest of us will likely breathe a sigh of relief, divvy up their stuff, and settle down to enjoy a civilization based on peace, mutual respect, and equal justice, no longer stymied by belief in an adult imaginary friend and a tendency toward absolutism.

MARYANNEVANS1 : "This mumbo jumbo nonsense leads me to conclude that human beings are highly probably below the median in intelligence among life forms on the planet."

" . . .That I came from a very far Country, as I already had attempted to tell him with about Fifty more of my own Species; that we travelled upon the Seas, in a great hollow Vessel made of Wood, and larger than his Honour's House. I described the Ship to him in the best Terms I could, and explained by the help of my Handkerchief displayed, how it was driven forward by the Wind. That upon a Quarrel among us, I was set on Shoar on this Coast, where I walked forward without knowing whither, till he delivered me from the Persecution of those execrable Yahoos. He asked me, Who made the Ship, and how it was possible that the Houyhnhnms of my Country would leave it to the Management of Brutes? My Answer was, That I durst proceed no further in my Relation, unless he would give me his Word and Honour that he would not be offended, and then I would tell him the Wonders I had so often promised. He agreed; and I went on by assuring him, that the Ship was made by Creatures like myself, who in all the Countries I had travelled, as well as in my own, were the only governing, rational Animals; and that upon my Arrival hither, I was as much astonished to see the Houyhnhnms act like rational beings, as he or his Friends could be finding some Marks of Reason in a Creature he was pleased to call a Yahoo, to which I owned my Resemblance in every Part, but could not account for their degenerate and brutal Nature. I said farther, That if good Fortune ever restored me to my native Country, to relate my Travels hither, as I resolved to do, every body would believe that I said the Thing which was not; that I invented the Story out of my own Head; and with all possible respect to Himself, his Family, and Friends, and under his Promise of not being offended, our Countrymen would hardly think it probable, that a Houyhnhnm should be the presiding Creature of a Nation, and a Yahoo the Brute. . .

Jonathan Swift, "Gulliver's Travels"

George W. Bush ran for President as a "Born Again Christian". As the Bible points out it is by his fruits that you will know him. Jesus the Christ taught his followers to be love and to be peace. The anti-Christ (by definition) is one who is the opposite of love and peace.

The fruits of George Bush are:
Invade Iraq to steal their oil for the benefit of the rich oil corporations. To set up secret prisons and torture. Pass laws for the benefit of the rich and powerful over the well being of the poor. The conclusion is that George W. Bush actions show that he is not a follower of the teachings of Jesus the Christ and may be seen as an anti-Christ.

Obama speaks out for the poor and against the rich, which is Christ like. It remains to be seen what his fruits will be. I hope that Obama proves to be a Christian.

Now about the idea of the end-times. Global Warming just might be the cause of that happening. Science has discovered that a runaway global warming condition could happen (if we continue on the path we are on) and that the final outcome could turn Earth into a Mars like planet.

Obama says he intends for the USA to join with other nations to solve global warming. Could it be that a leader who brings the world together to solve this problem is the one who will usher in a thousand years of peace (the return of the Christ)?

Where were my apocalypse friends when G Dub started a war that drained us, and oversaw the financial meltdown of the world? Could it not be said that he did his job in preparing the way for whomever the antichrist may be? Naw, I don't thing conservative worldview allows it.

This whole article is utter nonsense. Its astounding that WAPO really has this forum where the nutcases of Bronze Age Myth believers congregate to pontificate the profoundness of their absurd beliefs. Then you have folks like me who have to @$^*#slap them silly. Why do these bigots and mental dwarfs from liberty university & millinial institute or whatever be givena forum, Why does Lisa think that these folks have anything to add to the human body of knowledge.

DIPSY : ". . .maybe we could have decently run country like Norway or Sweden with a social safety net and universal health care. . ."

Socialism? Heresy most black and foul ! ! !

This mumbo jumbo nonsense leads me to conclude that human beings are highly probably below the median in intelligence among life forms on the planet.

DRUMSALOT :" How can one prove that God exists? One cannot."

No, one cannot. But someone can, and quite famously did, prove that the universe is too great and complex to be created by the petty protagonist of the Tanakh and its multitudinous spin-offs. That someone was Dominican Monk, Scientist & Hermeticist Giordano Bruno. After his tongue was cut off, he was burned to death at the stake in a most public way. This clearly demonstrates the existence of a just and compassionate God. These events occurred during the end of the Renaissance, a most suitable and dramatic finale for the Inquisition.

This "rapture" kind of thinking is so ridiculous, and such wishful thinking, I don't know where to begin -- my brain just gets jammed.

I am deeply grateful to God that we are finally taking power out of the hands of the right wing whacko Christian conservatives. You people are so twisted and dangerous, you think pre-emptive war and torture are good Christian objectives. May you never regain the power to rule over Americans again. And may the massive suffering you have caused on this planet continue to haunt your souls until you turn your lives around, and love peace instead.

So, now, it MUST be the end of the world because a Black man is president? Good grief.

Um, Christians that believe in the rapture also know that no one knows the day or time, but God himself, so there's no use trying to figure out why or when or how.

BO is not the anti-Christ. He is however the new leader of the Immoral Majority as he rode to the bloody-red House on the backs of 35+million aborted womb-babies and their 70+ million living, voting "mothers and fathers".

I wish the rapture would hurry up and come and waft these folks up to heaven and then maybe we could have decently run country like Norway or Sweden with a social safety net and universal health care and a standard of living that is among the top three nations.

Zuckermand - you have a very sick mind. Do the rest of us a favor and keep your disgusting remarks to yourself. The real question is what type of farm animals do you prefer?

Your drabble is typical of folks of your ilk. Most likely you're in support of the violence being propogated against those who openly supported Prop 8 in California. Imagine that, Democracy has spoken through the results of a states voters and certain elements cannot accept it. Tough crap for them. The system has run its course and the will of the people needs to be adhered to - not the state legislature or the liberal courts.

Back to your comments - try to keep a civil tongue, especially when you know not of whom you speak.

How ignorant can the narrow-minded religious right be? Read this post and you will find out. No wonder the Republicans lost the election. They sold out to the narrow-minded bigots on the right and are now looking for someone to blame. Sounds like the Pharisees in the Bible to me. Maybe Christians need to examine their faith and not traffic in lies, innuendo, and gossip. Might look better to the rest of the world.

This is further incontrovertable proof that conservative christians are completely whack. Chrystal Gazers make more sense than these people.

Alot of people thought Ronald Reagan was the anti-christ and it doesn't seem as if he was.
Obama may be the anti-christ and then again, maybe he isn't.
You people criticize christians as though you have proof that we were not created by God. The fact is that nobody can prove their arguments as to wether their is a God or not. How can one prove that God exists? One cannot. How can one prove that God does not exist? One cannot. How does one prove that science was not created by God? You people who act like us christians are nuts need to look into the mirror. The fact is that if you are wrong, you are gonna wish that you were not wrong. As far as those who sat out all day and waited for the rapture to come, they were simply fools who listened to a preacher w/o studying the Bible themselves because if they did, they would know that nobody will know the day nor hour when He comes back. I equate those fools with the fools who voted for Obama because his campaign was based on delusional Rhetoric that was baseless.

Anyway, Time will tell.

I love the line, "In the event that RaptureReady crashes during the apocalypse..."

I was going to answer it with a snarky joke about how that could never happen since so many IT people will be "left behind," but I'm afraid my little joke will be interpreted as some "clue" that the IT people are assisting the anti-Christ and should be purged or something.

How on earth can you simultaneously believe that the apocalypse is coming, but that you can create a back-up website to survive it? And after publicly saying something so ridiculous, how can you be surprised that people think you're crackers?

Please, all of you end-timers, go stand on a mountaintop or something and leave the rest of us in peace. Sheesh.

How many times do I have to tell you people that Johnny Rotten is the anti-Christ? He even sings about it in the songs "Anarchy in the U.K" and "Anarchy in the U.S.A.'

End-timers are a sad, sad group of people. Fueled by dangerous fantasies of society breaking apart at the end of the world. What's "Christian" about that, tell me?

Besides, I was SURE that Bush was the anti-Christ! He said he was my friend and guess what? He's not.

Anybody ask Nostradamus what he thought? Because that would just about as productive.

Every generation has ID'ed its antichrist, only to see time march past them..............but, this time its different, because it's a Black guy with the muslim name.

Fire and brimstone went out with the OT.

No, Sarah Palin is.

PAULC37 :"Barak Obama's name translates to 666 i.e. the Devils symbol"

And playing with numerology is clearly the devil's work.

Quick, get this man a "Captain Midnight Kabbalah Decoder Ring."

I was a chaplain at a DC Children's hospital on June 6, 2006. A local church told a new mother that her child was the anitchrist because he was born on 6-6-06. I responded by writing a letter to the child teaching him about the origin of the number 666. To read it click:

http://www.natewalker.org/images/why_6-6-06_was_a_very_special_day.pdf

I don't believe Mat Staver, dean of Liberty University's law school, is only sexually satisfied by very young, preferably male, farm animals, but I can see how others might.

The best comment I ever read on this topic, was delivered by our 3rd president many years ago.It seems a shame, that ignorance, and superstition, are still alive, and well, in our modern age.
That the "ravings of a maniac" are accepted as viable tenets of "Faith" in the year of 2008, to me, is unfathomable.

"It is between fifty and sixty years since I read it [the Book of Revelation], and I then considered it merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy nor capable of explanation than the incoherencies of our own nightly dreams ... I cannot so far respect them as to consider them as an allegorical narrative of events, past or subsequent. There is not enough coherence in them to countenance any suite of rational ideas.... What has no meaning admits no explanation. And pardon me if I say, with the candor of friendship, that I think your time too valuable, and your understanding of too high an order, to be wasted on these paralogisms. You will perceive, I hope, also that I do not consider them as reveladons of the supreme being, whom I would not so far blaspheme as to impute to him a pretension of revelation, couched at the same time in terms which, he would know, were never to be understood by those to whom they were addressed."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to General Alexander Smyth, January 17, 1825

Well, they're paying Joe the Plumber Wurzelbacher to write stuff, why not Lisa Miller.

The people who love peace, non-violence, and prosperous pleasant lives for everyone, are putting their hopes, their prayers, their beliefs, and their work into that direction.

The people who saddle our new president with such a vicious label and hope for doomsday, will reap the results of such hatred in their own lives.

You guys are doing some dumb calculations. How about this one? Count the letters in Ronald Wilson Reagan and you get 666. Naw, that does not work.

The overly religious are a terrible burden on those of us who function based on common sense.

Jesus is pretty awesome. His followers scare the crap out of me.

The premise of the article is preposterous and represents a clear lack of understanding the scripture/prophecy as revealed by the Book of Revelation.

What utter rubbish!

No, Lisa, you are the antiChrist. And don't say you're not! So there!
Yes, these people are verifiably, undeniably and reliably, NUTS.
There are way too many of them in the world for comfort.
I say, sure, report on them. But don't be afraid to call a spade a spade. They are nut cases.

HAHAHAHAHA...WHAT?
Is this for real? This is the 21st century!

The right wing whacko's have been removed from the halls of power for their incredibly BAD governance...
The end must be near!

"Ever since Jesus Christ was crucified.... his followers have been anticipating the end of history..."

It is true that they have been wrong every time they have predicted this nonsense for the last two thousand years. And now we should be paying attention to them? Ridiculous.

Instead of trying to saddle our new president with a vicious label, how about praying for some positive progress for our nation and for all of us. Or is that just too boring?

No, Obama is not the antichrist.
This is another installment in the
"Simple answers to stupid questions" edition.

Lisa Miller, I know you're going to try to defend this offensive article by claiming you're not advocating this position, merely reporting what "other people are saying" but that's balogna. These people are either stupid or slanderous, and don't deserve to have their disgusting rumors aired in supposedly neutral publications.

In the church in which I grew up, we didn't really focus on the book of Revelation, but rather on the positive message of the Gospels, and what that would/should mean for everyday life in a world where real Christianity has a great deal to contribute.

When I first read the book of Revelation, and every time since, it always seemed at variance with everything else in Christianity. It was written after Jesus had left the earth, and I wonder what connection it ever did have with Christianity as such.

The Bible is a great work, with so much in it that is positive and wonderful - so much that can inspire and motivate people. Let's focus on the positive message and try to let that sink in and make a difference.

You people, who are so judgemental and think you have it figured out, didn't seem to notice that we've already had the "anti-christ (s)" in office for the last 8 years--if that story would be true!
They should be tried for war crimes and absolute power that ended in chaos...and you "Christians" voted them in twice!

Obama is the anti-christ? "The spread of secular progressive ideas is a prelude to the enslavement of mankind"???

The truly scary part of articles like this is that people buy into this nonsense. Since two generations have passed since the last batch of morons sold their earthly possession and went out to stand a field and wait for God to come and collect them (He didn't), it's time to hunt for a new batch, thus repeating a cycle that has recurred since the Millerites shelled out money for the blessed white robes and magic seeds in the 1800s.

You can fool some of the people all of the time and they eat this stuff up.

Antichrist? There is no Christ thus there is no Antichrist (unless you're talking about a fantasy).

Let me guess, the Anti-Christ happens to be black. Oh my!, how convenient.

If I white man does all sort of evil then is normal and expected but when "others" who don't fit the profile of an American rise to higher levels then the righteous ones cringe.

What a bunch of bs...really.

You people, who are so judgemental and think you have it figured out, didn't seem to notice that we've already had the "anti-christ (s)" in office for the last 8 years--if that story would be true!
They should be tried for war crimes and absolute power that ended in chaos...and you "Christians" voted them in twice!

Lisa,
In about 1985 or '86, when Halley's Comet was due to appear in our skies, I met an old man who told me an amusing story.
Halley's Comet had last been visible in 1910, at a time when my friend was a very young boy, 5 or 6 years old, living in rural Louisiana.
He said that the coming of the comet was a source of great wonder and interest and he remembered sitting next to his mother on the front porch of their farm home. He said the comet was so close that the tail was clearly visible to the naked eye, unlike its appearance in 1986. He was such a young child that he huddled near his mother's skirts on their porch and actually thought he could hear the comet as it streaked across the heavens, making a sound like "Whoosh".
In the nearby town, he told me, there was a fundamentalist community church, whose minister was known as a "fire and brimstone" preacher. The minister told his congregation that the coming of the comet predicted the end of the world. The preacher predicted the date and time this would occur.
The entire congregation became so consumed with his message that they gathered on the appointed night on a hill outside town to await the coming of the Lord and the end of the world. Preparing for their fate, they gave away or sold off everything they owned, including their belongings, like furniture, clothing, pots, pans, plates, etc. and abandoned their homes and farms, donating the money to the church.
Everything.
On the appointed night, the congregation gathered on a hillside on a cool, spring evening, with the comet in clear view overhead, to await the Second Coming of Christ the Lord. Everyone in the church spent the night on that hillside, waiting impatiently for their salvation to be realized.
The next morning, the sun came up as usual and finally, the congregation walked down the hill and back into the town.
They all found themselves in a terrible predicament. They had to go around to all the families to whom they had given their belongings and humbly begged their return. Some townsfolk felt pity for the families and returned what they had been given. But some didn't, he said, and he laughed.
The old man said that it always amazed him what some people fall for. He decided when he became older that it was a mystery he couldn't explain but he always chuckled when he thought about it. Just as when he was a young tyke, he actually thought he could hear the comet make a loud "whoosh" as it hung overhead in the night sky.

Barak Obama's name translates to 666 i.e. the Devils symbol

Barak(the blessed one in Arabic and Swahili) Obama. Barack is but another name/derivative from Barak.

http://africanlanguages.com/swahili/index.php?l=en

Place the letters on a Calendar from A-Z beginning with day 1. Then count up the calendar numbers for Barak and Obama i.e. an A =1 a B =2 the sum is 3 and so on

Barak =33
Obama=32

Place Barak(33) Obama(32) together and you get 3332

multiple 333 by the 2 and you get 666 = the Devil's symbol

This analysis is from the Bible's Revelation chapter “13” Verse 18.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do Muslim Shiites think of Obama:

According to the tradition, Imam Ali Ibn Abi-Talib (the prophet's cousin and son-in-law) prophesied that at the End of Times and just before the return of the Mahdi, the Ultimate Saviour, a "tall black man will assume the reins of government in the West." Commanding "the strongest army on earth," the new ruler in the West will carry "a clear sign" from the third imam, whose name was Hussein Ibn Ali. The tradition concludes: "Shiites should have no doubt that he is with us."
In a curious coincidence Obama's first and second names--Barack Hussein--mean "the blessing of Hussein" in Arabic and Persian. His family name, Obama, written in the Persian alphabet, reads O Ba Ma, which means "he is with us," the magic formula in Majlisi's tradition.
---------------------------------------
And what do friends of Obama Think

Obama close associates and friends

Rev. Farrakhan "Obama is the Messiah"
Rev. Wright "God Da*n America"
Rev Phleger "Hillary is the anti Christ"

George Bush has come closer to being the "antichrist" (if there is such a thing), than anyone on this planet.

George Bush has come closer to being the "antichrist" (if there is such a thing), than anyone on this planet.

There is a reason these people live in trailers and pork their kin.

What a bunch of superstitious nonsense. People who believe this garbage should be denied voter registration cards and driver licenses. And it wouldn't be a bad idea to politely ask them to sterilize themselves, so that they won't be spreading this moronic idiocy to children. Religion, your end is coming soon (as intelligence and common sense continue to grow) but for Christianity and Islam, not soon enough, I'm afraid.

ummmmm...If the "rapture" does happen, what exactly makes this gentleman think that any internet communication will continue?

Wow! We really do live in the nuttiest country on earth. We have so many problems to address and so few people of intelligence to help address them, the last thing we need is for all those fear junkies to undermine this administration with this kind of rhetoric. Why would you do this? What would this serve? If Christ ever came back to this planet, we would call him the antiChrist and run him out of town because his message of love for all would be to this Religous Right, fighting words. I choose to live my life one day at a time and to try to live as Christ taught - all love, no judging, no malice and try to express gratitude for every second.

How timely.... I just finished researching the Mayan 2012 prophecy.

The evidence that is mounting is staggering!

Is Obama the anti-christ? Who cares? I say this as a devout Catholic Christian. To those four or five rubes who actually want to make the case that this human being is evil incarnate, I say grow up. There are worse things in the world than a Democratic president. You're just making us conservatives look bad.

Didn't Johnny Rotten already cop to being the Anti-Christ?

Anybody buying into these various & sundry "end of days" scenarios is obviously too lazy to clean up the mess we've collectively strewn across the planet. I want each and everyone of you to clean up your room right now, or no TV or dessert for any of you tonight!

I think it is unlikely Obama is the AntiChrist simply because from what we understand, he come from Europe or Asia, not the West. I suppose it doesn't completely rule him out, in todays culture and the talk of one world government. He could always go someplace else, but I still don't think it is likely.

I sure hope that Obama does not help bring in an age like this. Of course there will be others that will bring the Antichrist to power and help him. This talk of one curency and one government are predicted in the Bible. Bringing everyone together under the assumption of peace also seems imminent now. It is scary when you look at what the Bible has predicted, with Israel coming back as a nation and the effort to try to bring the world together. Even as the world seems more chaotic now then ever. It is amazing the Bible has shown us what will happen. We just don't know the day or the hour.

I am all for studying this stuff, but the fact is we should always be ready. I don't think anything else needs to happen before the rapture so it could happen soon or not. Being ready and accepting Jesus is the best and only way. If you have ever read revelation, you know you don't want to be around for 7 years of tribulation under the Antichrist.

There is a certain ignorance in Lisa Miller's 2nd paragraph, an assumption that all Christians believe in a thousand-year reign after Christ returns. Such silliness is a relatively recent phenomenon, part of the anti-intellectual, anti-theological backlash that gave rise to things like Pentecostalism and all the fantastical end-times flummery that goes with it. For most of the last two thousand years, Christian orthodoxy asserted that history ends when Christ returns, along with the mundane minutae of our temporal existences: time, Newtonian physics, suffering, death, etc. Hopefully Ms. Miller will not paint with such a broad brush in the future (while there is one)...

That's the stupidest headline I have ever seen.

I know people here in the South who have been reading their bible a bit too much and conclude that Obama is the anti-christ. Shows you how foolish these Christofascists really are.

Jesus tells us in the Gospels that, "No one knows the day or the hour, so always be ready." Certainly, the term "no one" includes all evangelicals. It is a human proclivity to want to know the future, "what's coming down the pike." An inordinate focus on this natural inclination leads us away from being "poor in spirit" - depending on and trusting God to take care of us in all circumstances. Those who are truly faithful to God regularly sense many signs of God's faithfulness to those who love Him. The parallels between the scriptural descriptions of the Anti-Christ and current circumstances in the world are intriguing to the faithful, who, in humility and recognition of the vastness of human ignorance, watch in wonder as human history (on both the macro and micro levels) continues to unfold. I believe (trust God to be telling me the truth through Jesus Christ) so that I may understand (recognize, appreciate, and fathom as much as is humanly possible the truths about God and human beings revealed by Jesus Christ in His life, death, and resurrection.)

Obama was spot on with his "clinging to guns and religion" comment. It may not have been politically correct but it is absolutely the truth. In these tough times when fear and panic reign supreme, people are left with nothing but "guns & religion" to cling to. And it is showing with the sharp uptick in religious intolerance and fundamentalism. Add a cup of racism and heat for a few hours with Limbaugh, Hannity & Savage AND you have your perfect "Toxic Soup of Hatred".

I suspect that the actual identity of the Beast will be a shocking surprise, not something anyone sees coming, and that a huge number of people who claim to be Christians will have supported him/her in the rise to power.

I see the "spirit of the antichrist" as the Apostle John describes it, evident in much of what passes for mainstream Christianity in this country. Christ Himself could appear among us and many who call themselves Christians wouldn't know Him. How could those same people expect to identify the Beast?

And for the record, the The Revelation never describes any person using the term "the Antichrist." It only uses the term "the Beast." The word antichrist only appears in the epistles of John, and refers to non-Christian behavior, calling it "the spirit of the antichrist."

Mr Obama doesn't fit the description of the anti-christ closely enough; so at this time, he's not it. Supposedly, the anti-christ will suffer an mortal wound and miraculously recover. As long as Mr Obama doesn't have a near fatal accident, or doesn't get hung, shot, knived, squashed, poisoned, irradiated, or blown up by some nut case, said prophecy can't happen.

According to this so-called prophecy, even if he is the anti-christ, while you can oppose him, you will fail. If the prophecy is true, there isn't a damn thing you can do to stop it.

As to the Rapture, the only people who fit the bill for being truely holy in nature and deserving of it are people that have no presence in public life. No famous actors, no world leaders, not the Pope, or the Dahli Lama, not Bill Gates or Donald Trump. You can easily pull 144,000 people scattered around the globe who float below the radar out of the 6 billion people on this planet, and never notice they are gone. So even if the Rapture happens, nobody will ever know it.

I wish I could say I'm stunned by the amazing idiocy these people display, but I've been around too long to say I'm really surprised by anything the religious nut bags do any more...

The ONLY reason this even popped up in the heads of some religious right people, is the fact that Obama is black. That must be a sign, yes? That must be the world - as they see it - turned upside-down, mustn't it?

I wish all the religious idiocy would go away. The world is complicated enough as it is without it.

Those people are complete nuts. The end of the world, when it comes (for earth itself, it seems to be 4 billion years or so down the road), will take care of itself - but the important thing is, do you see the danger of those people in politics? Or, God forbid, in the White House? If their predictions about the End does not hold true, they might get a sudden epiphany of their own importance as the one who must bring it on - and they would have access to the nuclear arms button.

Keep them marginalized! This is why proper public education is so fundamentally important - kids must not grow up with those beliefs, without the possibility to lern about science and society.

If he is, the ones who voted for him will suffer and thats ok by me...
America might burn from fire of it's own doing...

A 'concern that is widely shared' doesn't magically turn nonsense into knowledge. It just means there are a lot of spectacularly stupid people.

Like MajorMelFunkshion, I find it odd that these loonies fear Obama and voted against him, if they think he's the antichrist and will bring about what they so devoutly wish. Perhaps they are even crazier than I realized.

See this for a history of end-of-the-world predictions and their outcomes:
http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm

Just asking the question betrays a depth of ignorance and superstition that is a bit scary. Why not ask if he is the Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy or perhaps the Great Pumpkin? Just asking.

I think it's clear that Miller doesn't see in Obama a portent from Revelations. It's the waste of cyberspace that bothers some of us.

Besides, the theory (?) is fundamentally flawed. Obama can't be the anti-Christ since George Bush is, and he hasn't brought on the end of time, that is, unless time has ended and we just don't know about it.

"I mean, if you think that's just some random thing I'm saying, the *Council of Nicea* was basically like, 'Dude, this guy was totally buggin' when they put it *in* the canon."

So ON THE NAIL, Paganplace. I understand that Revelation qualified as Scripture by a mere Pass Conceded. Many Christians since have quietly winced that this wacko got invited to the party. But even if it hadn't, there are enough dire end-of-days portents in the rest of the New Testament to keep the eschatologues happily baying. We still get Rapture and Antichrist without that totally buggin' Patmos trip.

"I really don't think that anyone will even notice a hail of sulphur; how about we wait until after the inauguration of the distraction-antichrist."

OK, foul enough, point taken Psolus, but you'll have to reschedule that Force-10 blizzard of dung I already pencilled in. Meetings, schmeetings - get Apollyon on on on (slap) to it.

Um, is anybody READING the piece before they comment on it? Several comments seem to imply that the writer thinks the Post is seriously entertaining the possibility that Obama might actually be the antichrist - or that ANYbody is really the antichrist. (In case I need to spell it out for you - there is no antichrist, or god either.)

Leaand - you mean "drivel" (which it is not)

How can a reputable newspaper even publish something as ill informed as this piece of dribble based on ignorance and superstition.

Wouldn't it be nice if all these millenialist crackpots could be forced to declare that they really know, this time, when it is going to end, and when, six Democratic administrations from now, the whole prediction becomes obviously bogus, (like the Jehovah's motto, "Millions are alive today who will never die", first promulgated in 1914, and therefore rapidly running out of the millions alive then who are still alive today to live forever, ninety four years old or older.), we can say, You were definitely wrong, so give it up already.

Given the record of sects and cults that are more than a hundred years past their predicted end of the world, why would anyone put any credence at all in such false prophets?

I mean, if you think that's just some random thing I'm saying, the *Council of Nicea* was basically like, 'Dude, this guy was totally buggin' when they put it *in* the canon.

It's not that hard.

"The beast is defined as the number 666 but I feel the bible is misquoted"

The only thing that's *clear* about that book of the Bible is whoever wrote it was totally buggin.

The beast is defined as the number 666 but I feel the bible is misquoted as it should read "the number of man". Now when you consider the bible talks of people in terms of thousands then 666 of 1000 is two thirds or a majority. There have been many instances where the majority has gone in the wrong direction, such as Jonestown where the majority killed everyone or Hitler hating the Jewish peoples or the massive killings in other government ventures. You could even consider the horrid climate change issues and the majority does not care. Obama is not that guy.

I mean, the American Fundie Antichrist myth is actually pretty darn modern, but, yaknow.

Did you *read* the fricking thing?

Careful how you name the world. You might just find it Becomes You.

"I need to wrap that up by this evening,..."

Sorry, but I've been in meetings all day, and I don't think we have a hail of sulphur in the budget.

Besides, whith everything else that's going on, I really don't think that anyone will even notice a hail of sulphur; how about we wait until after the inauguration of the distraction-antichrist.

Seeing the headline....

Eeeeh, no.

If you're looking for a guy who says he's doing everything in the name of Jesus and somehow manages to get a blind following while promulgating only strife, war, and greed?

Look just a wee bit back from Obama.

Oh. Right. That'd be now, wouldn't it?

Shadow-sides will out.

Sadly enough.

"OK, then I'm the assistant to the district antichrist."

That's better, Psolus. I appreciate your ambition, just don't get cocky, or I'll have you put on a Presbyterian-only diet for time, times, and half-a-time.

Any news on that hail of sulphur you were working on? I need to wrap that up by this evening, 'cos I'm heading off to that conference with the Illuminati, Lord Maitreya, and Oprah. No rest for the wicked, eh?

Keep on scoffin'...

"And another thing: Obama isn’t the antichrist, nor is Psolus..."

OK, then I'm the assistant to the district antichrist.

Obama is no more the anti-Christ than many conservative Christians are "Christian." Based on my obervations of the actions of the religious right, I suggest that my dear brothers and sisters on the right should read more Bible and generate less heat on the topic of Obama being the anti-Christ.

For so many on the religious right to spout out lies about Obama, support a bankrupt Republican politics, and vote for a candidate who ran arguably the worst campaign in American history, I rest my case about this supposed Christian element who neither follows nor practices the Golden Rule.

"On his Web site, he has something called the Rapture Index, a calculation based on signs and prophecy of the proximity of the end. According to Strandberg, any number over 160 means "fasten your seat belts." "

Shouldn’t it be "loosen your seat belts" - otherwise you might get Left Behind (TM) wriggling in your 4WD in the parking lot at Saddleback while everyone else is floating away.

Actually, the Rapture has already happened twice. It was a hit single by Blondie in the 80s, and in case you missed that, you can purchase the chocolate bar from your local supermarket.

And another thing: Obama isn’t the antichrist, nor is Psolus...I am (cut to that scene in Spartacus - "I'm the antichrist....I too am the antichrist..." - apologies S. Kubrick RIP)

Seriously, all you premillenialist suckers - Mr Un-august Strandberg included - can go weep and gnash your teeth ‘cos Jesus has already been and gone, and zapped his true believers away – all five of them. You’re now living through a bad apocalyptic thriller starring Kirk Cameron. Be very afraid. WHOOOHOO, a hard rain's a gonna fall!

mibrooks27

"Now, I *campaigned* for Obama because of his stated policy of using punitive taxes on corporations and investors to end outsourcing, but here we have him contradicting that."

First, I am terribly sorry for your loss.

What I can't understand is how either you or the millions of others who heard these proclamations of the president-elect believed them. They were prima facie absurd. Free trade cannot be stopped, and neither can outsourcing.

I voted for Obama, but during the Democratic primaries, as well as during the elections, posted on the absurdity of these claims. I wish I had the time now to go into why they were obvious lies, but I don't. Perhaps, if you try to think through what globalization, transnational ownership, really mean...Multinational markets, what the cost would be not only to "American" businesses but to American consumers of ending outsourcing. Do you see? Wages would rise astronomically. Businesses would raise prices here not only because of having to increase wages, but because of losing markets overseas.

The issue now is for Americans to realize that they are now shareholders in every company that is "bailed out." Therefore, we are legally entitled to full disclosure on bailout expenditures. These are times for radical dissent, and I mean, radical.

Obama is no radical, not even a Hillary Clinton style liberal, and he never was. He is a neo-liberal (a conservative), which is a very different matter altogether.

Redlily - I think if you read this carefully you will see that Lisa Miller is not SUPPORTING the idea that Obama is the antichrist, but writing about the fact that there are people out there who think he is. (Re your comments that she is doing satan's work etc.)

I think this is a legit story for the Post to cover. However loony we may perceive them, the presence in our world of millions of people with this kind of millennial belief is a piece of the reality we live in. To discuss it is not to legitimize it.

And mbrooks - give the guy a chance! He hasn't even taken office!

I am the antichrist.

America's millennialist Christians are an excellent example of a group shared delusion. How on earth does such an absolutely nonsensical topic belong in what presents itself as responsible mainstream media? This sort of foolishness belongs in publications and websights which specialize in the absurd.

WaPo rose like the phoenix under Graham and has been plunging downward ever since.

The career of this site has been somewhat different. OnFaith, despite its historic lack of substance and despite its bigotry (Arun Gandhi and, most recently, Eboo Patel), idiocy (take your pick of panelists), enjoyed a period of substance due to the quality of bloggers it attracted. Alas, that is no longer the case.

The bigots among the bloggers prevailed, and only a few of the rational and truly interesting thinkers remain. Unless OnFaith starts inviting panelists of substance, directing them to raise the discourse level, it certainly shall perish from the earth.

Note the rapidly diminishing number of posts in recent weeks.

How many antichrists have we already had so far?
Why do these nuts expect thinking people to take them seriously, I mean most of the population already believes this crap.

The very act of devoting one inch of space in a paper with the reputation and prestige of the Washington Post (well, the reputation it had under Ben Bradlee and Katherine Graham, not the mockery it has become today) to seriously contemplate this ludicrous alarmist character assassination defies all logic and stokes the flames of hate, fear and intolerance. I know my God would not look kindly on the divisiveness sown by the reactionary haters being pandered to here. You should be quite proud though, that by supporting this insanity you will hasten the same Armageddon you anticipate, driven by fanaticism and ill-found, ignorant belief. You people don't seem to understand your Scripture very well (or at least read it very selectively to support your hateful designs) and should pray for His forgiveness. What you do here is vilify a good man who hasn't had ONE DAY in office to begin digging us out of the great hole that the neocon hypocrites have put us in by EXTERMINATING people of a different faith in an ILLEGAL and IMMORAL "pre-emptive" war in their zeal to make more money and establish their military superiority by arrogant brutality. You do Satan's work here, Lisa, not God's. Don't delude yourselves. Pray for God to have mercy on your souls, because the majority of Americans that don't fear change and want to make this country the beacon of truth, freedom and equality that it once aspired to be will not be so forgiving.

SNEEB - Last Sunday, Obama stated that it was his intention to increase by 400%, to more than 500,000, the number of H1-B visas. Now, since 2003 the number of those visas issued, at the old rate, was more than double the number of new hi-tech job openings. So, more than 3,000,000 American computer programmers and engineers lost their jobs to cheap Indian workers. Worse, Obama stated that he believed in free trade and that there wasn't anything he could do about outsourcing. Now, I *campaigned* for Obama because of his stated policy of using punitive taxes on corporations and investors to end outsourcing, but here we have him contradicting that. "Worser", in my door to door campaigning I ran into a mother, an unemployed lumber mill worker, who son had been paralyzed with a spinal injury in Iraq. He was stationed, like a child's toy, in front of a television in her otherwise empty living room. We traded stories. My son had been blown up in a Bradley. We cried (literally) together and I helped her feed him. I made her a promise that the truck logs of raw logs being cut and shipped on countless boats to the cheap labor markets in Vietnam and India would end, that Obama would end outsourcing, that she would have a job and dignity and health insurance for her and her son, under an Obama Administration. I WAS LIED TO. Obama never had any intention of doing any of that. He is the sane sort of free traitor as Bush and "the rest of them" and I will make it my duty to point this out over and over and over, rub your nose in it when your job is outsourced or his Washington insiders blow off every campaign promise they made and leave you heartsick and broken. Then, I want you angry. I want you furious! I want you and a couple of million other people angry and fed up enough to shut this country down and demand that our representative represent *US* and not the wealthy and connected and insiders. You will never get your job back so long as there is free trade, or at least the sort of free trade advocated by the hacks Obama is appointing. Evidently, if we really want change, we have to make it ourselves. In the meanwhile, make it you business to watch every move Obama makes, don't trust him, and make his "governance" impossible when you realize he has lied to you.

Don't forget to take your Lithium!

This is getting very boring and dumb. Let's hope we don't hear a thing about religion over the next eight years. To hell with religion and other fantasies that cause so many to live in ignorance!

Sorry about the typos in my earlier post. Another thing, though, is that the Antichrist is NOT someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ but then lives a life and commits actions which are against the Lord's teaching. This is not the hallmark of the Antichrist, but rather of a garden-variety hypocrite (eg the Pharisees). The Antichrist is that false prophet who will seduce the masses into desbelieving in Jesus Christ, and deluding them that salvation can only be achieved by rejecting Jesus. This sounds a lot more like Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens, who both say the world would be better off without faith in God or Jesus, than like Barack Obama, who professes belief in Jesus and respects belief in God.

TO THE MILLENNIALISTS

In Lisa Miller's column she wrote, "--the time when their Lord will return to earth and reign for a thousand years."

Guess what a thousand in Semetic usage was, as it were, their largest number. Means not a literal thousand years but forever, as in the seventh day doesn't end.

As far as the "Rapture", that specific word is not there but what you are referring to is when Jesus said to the effect, "Two are in bed, one is left and the other taken, two are in the field, one is left the other taken".

It speaks nothing of the physical body flying away, it speaks of one being taken. When one dies the body is still there but is the person, something to think about! Has this "rapture" been happening since Jesus's day but we just can't "see" it?

It also speaks of many, many believers going thru tribulations, great tribulations, does it not? As in making it thru the tribulations but not bypassing it.

Knowing God's Name is not a "Fly off the earth" free card, God is a searcher of hearts and minds, not of religious affiliations or lack thereof.

It is important what one does and why one does it and what one knows.

God is not the egomaniac that some seem to think that He is and, what is even sadder, that some seem to want Him to be.

Take care, be ready.

Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.

Lisa, I just read your article about President-Elect Obama being the AntiChrist. That's the most LUDICROUS, IGNORANT statement I've heard to date. The hypocrital Christian Right, of which you appear to be a card-carrying member, is trying to demonize the Senator because they can't get over the fact that HE WON, not just with Black people's votes, but the vote of everyone who is SICK & TIRED of those who continually insult the American people's intelligence and Scriptural knowledge. You need to repent, QUICK.

All this is very interesting, but our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said of the end of times: "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." [Mt 24:36; Mk 13:32], and "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation" [Lk 17:20]. Aurely, our Lord is here enjoining us not to fall for predictions of the End based upon material observation of the world around us. The Apostle Paul says: "Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape." [1 Thess 5:1-3]. Surely, Paul here is answering a question about this from the Thessalonians, and dismissimg the question as impossible and unnecessary to answer. As fort eh passages about the "Lesson of the Fig Tree", one could very well say that most of the signs describes there have occurred throught eh two thousand years of world history since the advent of Christianity, so those passages simpky advise the faithful to always live AS IF the end of times were imminent, rather than serving as guidance for prediction.

Therefore, I would humbly suggest that attempts to predict the time and date of the End are not following the guidance of our Lord or the Apostle found in Sacred Scripture, nor are such people preparing themselves in the way Scripture says.

"Now that you have been elected, you embrace all of this and somehow expect us to take you seriously?"

The man hasn't even taken office yet and already he has reneged on everything he based his campaigned on? Sounds a little fishy to me...

No. He is George W. Bush in black face. He has the same economic policies, surrounds himself with the same Washington insiders and free trade hacks, and, once elected, backtracks on every campaign promise he made. He will continue to wreck this country, precisely the same as George Bush has done. In 12 months, after even the most fanatical Obama loyalist has deserted him, the Democrat's running for office will treat him like Bush, too, and run as fast and far away from him as possible. I'm sitting here, completely bewildered how, in face of all of the evidence to the contrary, that Obama can listen to the advice of the corporate and Wall Street thieves and completely ignore the common sense and wishes of the vast majority of the public. Look, Mr. Obama, you ran against free trade, against outsourcing, against guest worker programs like the H1-B. Now that you have been elected, you embrace all of this and somehow expect us to take you seriously? To actually believe in anything you have to say?

I really really wished this was some elaborate joke, but I was recently dumbfounded when, several nights before the election, I was approached by an old high school acquaintance who seriously believed this sh*t.

After listening to his argument as to why Obama = antichrist, I pointed him to a website where all the exact same bullet points were made naming Luke Skywalker as the antichrist. True to form, he felt the website actually strengthened his argument!

It really makes me wish the Rapture were true and would happen soon. Beam all these nuts up and leave the sane human beings to ourselves.

yeh sure he is and George Bush was the poster boy for Jesus himself..NOT!

Is this a joke? Newsweek or newsmax, it's getting harder to tell.

This is too rich:

"The people who believe Obama is the Antichrist are perhaps jumping to conclusions, but they're not nuts: "They are expressing a concern and a fear that is widely shared," Staver says."

Sure, widely shared among their fellow nuts. Many fatally destructive groups have shared views that were held for reason of comfort for those who sought it during what they perceived to be troubled times. I remember many who shared my views that Santa Claus was realy when I was young, but we matured. It's sad that so many adults still hold beliefs that the common sense of a 3rd grader would render absurd. I cannot respect religious beliefs and those who cling to them so long as those who believe continue to try to dominate the political and social landscape. I keep my nuttiness private (and I do have my moments, believe me), so why must you wear yours with such pride?

I don't get it. If rapture is what you want, why do you fear it so? If Obama is the Antichrist, you should be welcoming him with open arms! Do you feel that your faith is so weak, that you won't be one of the "Floaters"?