US securing Zionists interests in the name of Christianity.

Provisional Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran said in his second sermon US administration is propagating a certain version of Christianity that is not based on Jesus Christ (PBUH) teachings, but after securing Zionists' interests.

ccording to IRNA Political Desk reporter from Tehran University campus, Ayatollah Mohammad Kashani, addressing thousands of worshipers, added, "Based on this mentality, the Jews must gather in Palestine and then in the course of a revolution two thirds of them to get killed, and the remainder should see the reappearance of Jesus (PBUH)."
He reiterated, "Therefore, they are after gathering the entire Jews of the world in Palestine, which is definitely a move with political and Satanic roots, but the idea is put forth in the framework of an idea behind the hope for reappearance of Messiah." He said that US President George W. Bush is "the standard bearer of that mentality, adding, "That man is loathed to an extent in the United States today that the mentality he supports, too, has very limited number of supporters."
Ayatollah Emami Kashani added, "They have Satanic interactions with the Zionists, but such a mentality has extremely weakened in the Western world today.

more: http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-236/0709018758170116.htm

the bourgeoisie in Marxism.

There are a lot of Christian Nationalists in the US who support Israel solely for the role that they believe it plays in apocalyptic prophecies. These people are insane. What is sad is that many otherwise rational and reasonable supporters of Israel have cozied up to these end-of-the-world lunatics because of their "support" for Israel.

In truth, this faction of Christian Nationalists has no true love for the Jewish people (in fact, they are frequently raging anti-Semites) and doesn't really care if Israel has peace and prosperity. Ayatollah Mohammad Kashani is, sadly, accurately describing a widespread belief in the US and accurately noting that GWB is associated with the leaders of this group.

The "Satanic interaction" comments are just standard mullah spin, but the rest is pretty much true, but the other Kashani is correct that this apocalyptic viewpoint is partly responsible for the position of the US today.

You KNOW we're in the MidEast for the oil and you still buy this crap.

I know a bridge you can buy cheap. Just replace a few rusty bolts.

Where?

Plenty of oil there. Also in Iran of course. It's getting increasingly obvious (if it wasn't to start with) that oil plays a big role in the war and the reactions to Iran. Ted Stevens even expressed concern openly at one point about someone like Ahmadejinad being in charge of one of the big oil-producing countries.

about fundamentalist eschatology- I studied Millenarianism for 2 years. It has a fascinating history. That wasn't what my 'huh' was about. It was about the point of posting a story from this source, and about relying on this sort of explanation. And btw, although strictly speaking, millenarianism is a Christian phenomenon, scholars now apply it to any apocalyptic end time philosophy rooted in any religion, and Ahmadinejad is certainly a firm believer in apocalyptic theology himself- not unlike many of the Christians in power here.

That wouldn't bother me so much if the were fighting with "Bible-age" weapons.

I predict this post will generate all sorts of reactionary flames and get locked. C'est la vie.

Based on your research, would you agree that the Millenarianist are a relatively small faction with an unusually large degree of influence (currently)?

periods, millenarianists wield relatively little power in our culture. There's little to indicate that bush is an adherent to such beliefs, and Cheney almost certainly is not. Reagan made comments that can certainly be construed in that light, but whether apocalyptic eschatology was a strong influence on him, is debatable.

The peak of Millenarianism was, of course, medieval Europe, when several Millenarian communities were established. The authoratative work on this is probably Norman Cohn's "The pursuit of the Millennium". It is a fantastic piece of scholarly work. (Norman Cohn just died in early August in England. He was 92)

Millennial thought in American culture is outlined well in a very entertaining book by Paul Boyer entitled: "When Time Shall Be No More". Certainly not on the level of Cohn's work, but a lot of fun.

Oh, and of course, millennial thought does not always indicate violence- the Millerites are a good example of that.

I love it, "dont bomb them!, but we do not want to read or know what they are saying either!' is the reaction to something like this.

http://www.jhm.org/beliefs.asp

http://www.jhm.org/support-israel.asp

and this from alternet --http://www.alternet.org/story/39748/

A portrait of a “Christian” Zionist: Rev. John Hagee

http://www.thecivicplatform.com/2006/07/31/a-portrait-of-a-christian-zionist-rev-john-hagee/



The latest specimen in Barnum’s traveling museum of oddities is John Hagee, director of Christians United for Israel. As profiled in The Wall Street Journal <1>, this dervish from the West Texas wastes seemingly lives, breathes, and excretes but one obsession: his love of Israel, above and beyond anything else, including, apparently, the country of which he is nominally a citizen.

We will not provide a comprehensive summary of the article other than to note that he and his followers are particularly active in cheering on the carnage in Lebanon. To that end, he was in the imperial capital of Washington last week to hound Congressmen about their duty of fealty to Israel ­ as if those gunsels of AIPAC needed any instruction. Apparently, the bigger and bloodier the war, the closer the day of Armageddon looms. And the end of the world is what he seeks. <2>

Two revealing details stand out. The first is that the President of the United States actually sent a message of congratulations to Hagee’s Washington clambake. Paradoxically, the chief executive stated that Hagee and his acolytes are “spreading the hope of God’s love . . .” This statement is somewhat difficult to square with the fact that Hagee, who held one of his previous séances in an Israeli Air Force hangar, seems to positively lust for bloodshed. He is not only a strong supporter of the Iraq fiasco and the leveling of apartment blocks in Beirut, but has also written a book fomenting readers to put political pressure on their government to attack Iran.

This is a new development in the annals of American politics. While the head magistrate is expected to belong to an organized religion and show ceremonial piety when the occasion demands it, it is unprecedented for a president to take such public interest in a fringe cult. It is doubtful whether the genial, (bootleg) whiskey-drinking Warren Gamaliel Harding ever sent a congratulatory telegram to the spirit-rappings of Aimee Semple McPherson. Nor can we picture Silent Cal bestowing his best wishes on a congregation of snake-handlers in the hollows of the Cumberland Ridge. But, as we have observed, these are different times.

"Satanic interactions with the Zionists" - he sounds off his rocker; but then extreme fundies generally do.

There *are* of course also extreme fundies on the Christian Right who seem to want an Apocalypse as soon as possible, and are 'pro-Israel' in a way that is really anti-Israel, e.g. didn't Falwell or Robertson or both claim that Sharon's stroke was Divine punishment for giving up land? But I don't get the impression that Bush is their standard-bearer; he comes across as rather more of a common-or-garden imperialist, and incompetent with it.

I didn't expect an ayatollah to get implied credence.

... It's part of the rampant anti-intellectualism of DU, and the country at large.

simply another batshit crazy Mullah, no different than Hagee.

Fortunately, about 600 years after Jesus Christ was born, he dictated a message to the Archangel Gabriel who passed the message to Muhammad. Otherwise nobody would have any idea of what it was that Jesus Christ taught.
;)