freedom costs money

March/2004

Apologies to my legions of fans (or should I say true believers?) for the late arrival of this piece.

A rather disturbing George Monbiot article on the guardian website was pointed out to me the other day my mother. The central thrust of this piece was to illuminate the happenings in the strange deluded world of the Republican. At a convention in Harris County that covered much of Houston the easy conclusions were reached in the form of resolutions with the minimal amount of fuss. Is homosexuality the work of the devil? YES. Should there be any form of gun control? NO. Should Income tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax and corporation tax be abolished? YES. Should immigrants be kept out through the use of electric fences? YES, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA.

Then they turned to Israel. A state around 7,000 miles away that is, nevertheless, wholly relevant to the unstable condition of the world today. Unfortunately, for some of these Republicans it appears Israel is relevant for the most bizarre and sinister of reasons. The motion that was eventually passed was apparently only a diluted version of the original and this is especially disturbing! It was determined that Israel possesses an ‘undivided claim’ on Jerusalem and, in addition, that the Arab states should absorb Palestinian refugees. Furthermore, Israel has the right to be completely unrestrained in its pursuit of the complete destruction of terrorism. Great, let’s add more fuel to the fire shall we?! There comes a point where you start to believe that humans can do nothing other than inflame situations until they’re beyond repair. We seem to do it naturally, our intentions are good but we just can’t seem to get a handle on how to make things irreversibly better. Sadly this is not the case. The reality of events at the aforementioned convention in Harris County is far, far weirder……….

Several million people in the US have reportedly subscribed to the belief that, when the right preconditions have been fulfilled, Jesus Christ is winging his way back to Earth. The vital requirements, according to two 19th century preachers that glued together a load of unrelated parts of the Bible (they were evil immigrants too I should add) are the proper establishment of a state of Israel and then the occupation of all of its holy lands (otherwise known as most of the Middle East) Also necessary for JC: THE RETURN is the reconstruction of the Third Temple on ground presently occupied by the Dome of the Rock and also the al-Aqsa mosques.

Then what happens I hear you cry in your thousands?!

Oh nothing much. Just that the ‘legions of the antichrist’ will then be manoeuvred against Israel, and this conflict will become a ‘final showdown in the valley of Armageddon.’ We will then really see what is meant by ‘freedom of choice’ and ‘freedom of action’ when the Jews get the option of burning in the fiery depths or converting to Christianity. Oh, and our Messiah will come back to Earth. The Christian fundamentalist especially love this scenario because all the real believers are going to be miraculously sucked into the heavens where they’ll sit at the right hand of the BIG DADDIO as they watch all us naughty people getting ‘devoured by boils, sores, locusts and frogs, during the seven years of Tribulation which follow.’

Well that’s something to look forward to anyway.

As if this wasn’t enough, there are actually people actively trying to bring Armageddon about. How best to do this they wonder? How about kicking some Muslim ass at the old temple site? In 2000, three US Christians were actually deported for attempting to bomb mosques -just doing their bit for their loony cause. Politically speaking, the sponsoring of more Jewish settlements in the occupied territories has been called for, as well as unwavering US support of Israel.

Unfortunately it is not possible to dismiss these people as loony minorities presently. It's been reported that US pollsters contend 15-18% of US voters subscribe to churches or movements that foster these 'teachings'. In 1999 it was estimated around 33% of Republicans believe in the scenario described above. No you didn't imagine it.

And what books are the Americans (that actually read) buying?

According to the Monbiot article; "the best-selling contemporary books in the US are the 12 volumes of the Left Behind series, which provide what is usually described as a "fictionalised" account of the Rapture (this, apparently, distinguishes it from the other one), with plenty of dripping details about what will happen to the rest of us. The people who believe all this don't believe it just a little; for them it is a matter of life eternal and death.”

John Ashcroft, the attorney general, is apparently the most famous subscriber to these beliefs and there's also House majority leader, Tom DeLay.

In essence we have a major political force or constituency that holds sway over much of President Bush’s popular vote. And they want to provoke doomsday! Bloody Nora!

WILLIAM GRAY

(Anyone interested in the subject matter discussed in this piece will, in my humble opinion, find they can arrive at a better understanding of the international political system if they read work by Chomsky Pilger and Monbiot, or simply log onto ZNet)