Thread by @crazypastor

I’m no expert on Iran & my poly sci degree was all the way back in undergrad, but I do know a fair amount about U.S. Christianity — particularly its obsession w/ bullshit apocalyptic **interpretations** of the bible, so let’s be real:

Tr*mp’s evangelical coalition *loves this*.

There are two ways to go with this — the present and the prelude.

The present is clear. Just look at the walking christofascist’s wet dream that is Mike Pompeo.

THIS IS THE U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, everyone

This motherfucker (and I use that in the John the Baptist ‘brood of vipers’ sense) is saying that he believes

that he ***believes***

Tr*mp is called “for such a time as this” to be a new Queen Esther.

www1.cbn.com/content/exclus…

Just the utter abomination that is his smirk, his fascist (and antisemitic) reading of the bible, his christian zionist bullshittery RE: our jewish siblings, there’s just so much here.

Mike fucking Pompeo. Oof.

Anyways.

Then there’s the prelude.

For centuries, for countless generations, white U.S. evangelicals have been obsessed with apocalyptic scenarios and insane, rabbit-hole-like readings of random bible verses out of context.

There are many different forms they take, different verses they cling to — a few in Daniel and Ezekiel, another in Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, a fever-dream interpretation of Revelation — but they have been hoping against hope for general world fuckery for a while.

Hal Lindsey’s “The Late, Great Planet Earth” (1970) banked on this historical obsession in a new way — his connections between modern events and biblical prophecy was legit insane, but *completely* within the realm of what many evangelical, ‘religious right’ believed.

This book was insanely popular. In very specific communities (heavily influenced by what’s called 'premillennial dispensationalism,' but this is not a scholarly thread so moving on lol) within Christendom.

Like communities that included a sitting president of the United States.

Us older millennials (weird li'l connection to that very specific theological framework) grew up under Reagan (as babies, sure, but still), and if you were like me, in an evangelical/fundamentalist community, you knew/were among ppl talking about Lindsey and all this shit.

And now we have premillennial dispensationalists in the highest corridors of power.

Many subscribe to ‘Christian dominionism’, which, tl;dr wants a Christian theocracy based on an extraordinarily conservative and pious interpretation of the bible.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_…

IOW, Gilead from the Handmaid’s Tale. Basically.

Shit, Mike P*nce was basically trying to make Indiana into Gilead, let us be clear.

activisthistory.com/2017/06/02/the…

So, where to go next. I’m not entirely sure.

I do know that *not* talking about it is, in many ways, simply not an option anymore. (Of course, every context is different, I’m not “if the sermon didn’t say *____* then leave and never look back”ing this at all.)

But the more Christians (especially we who are white) are uninformed — or just go 🤷🏻‍♂️ at the whole conversation about christofascism and its acolytes — are aiding this current regime and its terrible escalation in in already tense region.

So many people will most likely die — as they have been dying in Iraq since the illegal 2003 invasion of it (and even before in Gulf War I of the 1990s) — because of this.

Most will be brown. A surprising (maybe, to evangelicals?) percentage of them will be fellow Christians.

In the coming days we’ll hear phrases like ‘just war’ and ‘collateral damage’ and for what.

To theologically defend this white nationalist regime in Washington. And to line the pockets of those who have political and financial interests in perpetual war.

Death and destruction are not of God.

I will continue to pray for those in power to repent and renounce their violent ways.

But I will not stop working to resist them.