Its apparently just come to the attention of the folks at the Village Voice that the Bush administration clears its foreign policy stances with the evangelical right (the people that think theyre going shoot straight up to heaven like tightly compacted springs when Jesus comes back to slay the rest of us) committing to anything. While the rest of us have suspected as much for quite a while, the Voice just received confirmation in the way of a leaked memo. Heres a clip from the article:
The National Security Council’s top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios.
“Everything that you’re discussing is information you’re not supposed to have,” barked Pentecostal minister Robert G. Upton when asked about the off-the-record briefing his delegation received on March 25. Details of that meeting appear in a confidential memo signed by Upton and obtained by the Voice.
The e-mailed meeting summary reveals NSC Near East and North African Affairs director Elliott Abrams sitting down with the Apostolic Congress and massaging their theological concerns. Claiming to be “the Christian Voice in the Nation’s Capital,” the members vociferously oppose the idea of a Palestinian state. They fear an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza might enable just that, and they object on the grounds that all of Old Testament Israel belongs to the Jews. Until Israel is intact and David’s temple rebuilt, they believe, Christ won’t come back to earth.
It doesnt really sound to me as though this memo proves much Im sure that Abrams and others listen to their constituents quite often, especially those that represent large voting blocks but I thought that it was worth mentioning And while I dont necessarily think that this one instance proves much, I do think its probably very likely that such confused, evangelical thinking does influence the decisions made by George W Bush. I dont know if he sits and worries, Well, if I do this, then Jesus might not come back and destroy the earth, thus enabling me to live forever like a king in heaven, but Im sure its crossed his mind, and thats scary as hell.
Speaking of Christ coming back, I just got a note from my friend Dave pointing me toward an Andy Kaufman Lives site The note accompanying the link said simply, The best faked death since Christ.
Heres an idea What if we start a new religion here at MM.com, one that has as a central tenant that Andy Kaufman will return, send all of us good people up to heaven, and then get knee-deep in gore as he gets medieval on the asses of non-believers? I could really get behind something like that.
