Second Coming?

Talking with a friend who happens to be a Jehovah’s Witness, I asked her about the presidential race. She made a fascinating response.
“Of course I support Senator Obama,” she said. “He has got to be the best candidate for the Anti-Christ we have ever seen. So a lot of us feel that the Rapture will occur in January when he is sworn into office.”

She went on to explain, “Corporate America supports Obama because they feel he plans to expand government spending, corporate raiders expect the new taxes and deficits to drive thousands of businesses into bankruptcy providing opportunities for bargains, contributions to his campaign from outside the United States nearly equal those from inside America, he’s abandoned his pastors, priests, spiritual advisors, and grandmother, he hold opposing opinions on the major issues of the day without explanation or apology, sees himself as the assumptive world leader, pays no attention to such things as Iran’s refusal to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons, refuses to visit hospitalized veterans in Germany unless he can use the occasion to boost his media image, and millions of people believe he will bring them hope.”

OK

I let her go on her way. I saw no benefit in debating the idea, but it does cause me to pause. History is rife with fervent believers who “prophesied” the end of the world and then took steps to help it along. From nerve gas in the Japanese subways to Jim Jones in Ghana, from Davis Koresh in Waco to 9/11; there have been people and groups eager to help God end it all. The list is endless.

Is Obama the “Barak Hussain Obama Bin Lauden” the believers are waiting for? Does it matter? People are people and most will say, “No way.” Personally, I am not sure why two thousand years of misinformation, misinterpretation, and guesswork would motivate anybody to take action. But I know there are some who, like my friend, buy into such dramatics. They are the ones who scare me.