Believer Or Not; Osama bin Laden and Evangelicals, not much difference

Believer Or Not
posted: 9:49 AM, September 12, 2007 by Harkavy
Osama wants Americans to convert, but many of us are already religious fanatics.
http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/bushbeat/archive/2007/09/believer_or_not.php



Who the cap fit, let him wear it.

Sounding like a presidential candidate, Osama bin Laden sympathized with our "insane taxes and real estate mortgages," according to Al Qaeda's tape, brilliantly dissected by Anne Applebaum in Slate (http://www.slate.com/default.aspx?id=2173653&nav/tap1).

Bin Laden's solution for beleaguered Americans? Convert to his brand of hardline Islam.

That wouldn't be much of a leap for many Americans, because 12.6 percent of us are "traditional evangelical" Christians, according to a 2004 survey by the political science prof John Green at the University of Akron's Bliss Institute of Applied Politics.

And what do traditional evangelical Christians believe in? Evangelizing, by definition, which is what bin Laden was doing on that tape.

And here's a reminder: Most evangelical Christians believe in the Rapture, as beliefnet.org's Deborah Caldwell noted in an excellent 2002 article. For you who are unaware, this is how religioustolerance.org (http://www.religioustolerance.org/rapture.htm) explains the Rapture:

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Most Evangelical Christians believe that the Rapture … will happen precisely as described , sometime in the near future. All previously saved Christians, totaling perhaps 5 to 10 percent of the world's population, will suddenly have their bodies converted into a different form that they will wear for all eternity in Heaven. They will rise vertically into the air. Many believe that they will pass right through ceilings, roofs of cars, etc. to meet Jesus Christ in the sky. Although the vast majority of humans will be left behind, there will be much devastation as planes, trains and automobiles as their pilots, engineers and drivers suddenly disappear and the vehicles crash.
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And Americans make fun of Islamic fanatics' beliefs about meeting virgins in Heaven?

Bin Laden's a violent creep, but his brand of religious fanaticism would be a pretty good fit for evangelical George W. Bush. Reporters for Frontline's The Jesus Factor (2004) talked with top Southern Baptist official Richard Land — whose denomination is the biggest in the U.S. — about Bush's inauguration for his second term as Texas governor:

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"The day he was inaugurated there were several of us who met with him at the governor's mansion," says Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. "And among the things he said to us was, 'I believe that God wants me to be president.' "

Bush and his royal buddies laugh at them as they extract the profits gained from pitting American trrops against jihadis. The more hatred Bushco can generate on both sides the longer their profitable wars will continue.

n/t

don't take it personal-like... ;-)

The Tape is a FAKE! the Picture freezes after a minute but the ticker keeps giving the translation and the voice continues! The darkened beard looks like the way they fixed the lack of gray from a much older tape! All references to fresh data is in the part where Osama is frozen! Does not look good see

Are we about to get hit with one of our own nukes?