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Originally Posted by Elphaba
I saw this article at another politics forum and it was my first realization that all three Abrahamic religions share a similar apocalyptic belief. Is there any real difference between what was mentioned above and the Evangelical Christian's belief that we have reached the "end times" as they eagerly await the "rapture?" Please understand that I am not being disrepectful of those beliefs, I simply don't share them.
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I think with the shiites, the believe the 12th imam, muhammed al-mahdi, will return one day bringing justice and peace to the world by establishing Islam throughout the world. Jesus will return soon after and fight evil with al-mahdi, smiting the christians, since they worship in a false religion. Shiites believe this will happen at a time of great global turmoil (I suppose christian fundys do too). Some say Ahmadinejad is trying to fan the flames of global chaos to help pave the way for the return of the 12th imam.
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Originally Posted by Elphaba
Given that our President considers the Evangelicals as critical members of his base, one should ponder the number of nukes under his control v. the possibility of nukes that Iran may have. I find that to be far more significant than a date conjured up from an ancient prophacy.
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I think the major difference here is that while there have always been christian fundamentalists saying the end is near, I have yet to hear one preach that martydom is the ultimate sacrifice and all good christians should aspire to such. (perhaps some have, but I haven't heard it) The difference is, we have the president and Ayatollahs of Iran, telling their people to prepare for martydom, that no matter what comes from the apocalypse, whether a martyrs death or jihadist victory, they will be winners. They will either be righteous in heaven next to allah or they will be living on earth in a pearfect, peaceful, islamic world.
I have yet to hear a christian fundamentalist go on in the same fasion. What makes Iran scary is that it appears Ahmadinejad really does believe this, while what bush says and does is in response to his christian fundamentalist base. Ahmadinejad has no base, he was not elected by less than 12% of the population. He answers to the Ayatollahs, not his people. from what I know, the christian fundys want jesus to come so they can go to heaven. They don't want to blow themselves up to get there. The militant shiites are not afraid of death, if a nuclear bomb was dropped by iran on tel-aviv and the US and israel responded in kind by sending hundreds of nukes, they aren't afraid of that. They are willing to die and take as many people with them.