Harry's Blog

Channel 4 broadcasted a very interesting documentary this evening called The Doomsday Code. Presented by Tony Robinson, in one of his much better performances, this investigated the End Times believers. The cancerous subset within Christianity especially prevalent in the USA that not only believes that the time of Armageddon is upon us, but that they have a role to play in making it happen. Hence US support for Israel's more extreme policies, an unwillingness to combat environmental damage - in some cases deliberately increasing it and support for anti-Islamic military and political policies.

I've touched on this subject here often before, especially when discussing the Left Behind books. But it was pretty scary watching Tony Robinson put all this together on screen. It painted a picture of a United States run by people who want to bring about the end of the world, slaughter and destruction on a global scale, and all in the name of Jesus.

It was fascinating and frightening stuff. I think what unnerves me most about the End Times nonsense is how it has spread, its mutant cells destroying healthy churches. If belief in the End Times prophecies was just another part of the lunatic fringe of US evangelical Christianity then it would just be mildly worrying. As it stands, this un-Christian and un-Biblical heresy is taking hold in the US to a frightening degree.

Now one could understand people believing the end is nigh. It's misguided and shows a real lack of historical knowledge when comparing the world of today to perhaps other periods such as the fall of the Roman Empire or Europe in the grip of the Black Death. So it's stupid, but understandable. What to me is unfathomable is that many of those who believe the end is nigh are actively working to make it so. Rather than being horrified by these signs of gloom, they want to pour petrol on the fires, increase pollutants, cause a wider conflict in the Middle East than just Iraq and Afghanistan.

The show went further than just looking at the grey haired reasonable old preachers in the US that are happy for the world to descend into a state of evil, the fools who imagine the UN as the anti-Christ and those who welcome environmental campaigners as the messengers of God's return. What gave the show its edge was the acknowledgement of how these people have the ear of the White House and how their perversion of the teachings of the Prince of Peace is being spread as far afield as Uganda - and causing death and suffering in its wake.

Robinson's documentary also looking at the Biblical sources of End Times prophecy. How these End Times preachers rely on misreading very small sections of the bible and misusing them to create their tall tale of the Apocalypse. This was a Christian-friendly programme that looked into the black heart of something very dangerous occurring within the faith with the help of some intelligent Christian theologians. They helped explained why there are many powerful people who actively want to see the world descend into a horror beyond the Jewish holocaust because somehow that will signal the return of Jesus.

Having read the Gospels and believing in the teachings of Jesus, I think it's completely safe to say that Christ won't be joining these people in their global slaughter. Those attempting to bring about something they call the Rapture are more than likely to find their afterlife much warmer than they expected. The sooner the US has a president who doesn't admit these crazies into the White House, the better for all mankind.

For more details on tonight's broadcast head on over to this article on the Channel 4 website.