Religious Nutter Alert: Hal Lindsey

Flipping channels on a Sunday evening, one is bound to encounter some religious nutter asking his (rarely is it "her") flock for money. This evening, I couldn’t help but notice the irony as Hal Lindsey, religious nutter extraordinaire, stated:

I couldn’t help but notice this week the speed with which events unfolded in the Middle East that concur with [insert favorite End Times prophet]’s prophecy of the End Times.

Okay, I paraphrased a bit. But Hal, the author of The Late, Great Planet Earth and The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon remarked heavily that the violence in the Middle East is evidence of the "end times" and that the apocalypse is due any day now.

And then he asked for donations for his "ministry." What a freakin’ con.

Afarensis posted a short bit on Tim Lahaye, author of the Left Behind series, recently, noting that LaHaye was interviewed by Newsweek about his doom and gloom predictions regarding the current situation in the Middle East. Apparently, Newsweek also interviewed Lindsey for a future cover story < clicky>. From Lindsey’s site:

NEWSWEEK Q: Is the success and survival of the United States based on its support of Israel

Answer #4 I believe one of the reasons God has protected the U.S., despite the fact we have driven God from the public forum in our country, is because we have sought to protect Israel’s right to exist in secure borders.

"God" has been "driven from public forum?" If only it were true, I wouldn’t have to delete 5 or 6 channels from my television every time the power goes out and I have to re-program the television and VCR (I’m a rabbit ear kind of guy… spending more time in books than television). If it were true, we’d not have to worry about forced prayer in schools being shoved down the throats of non-christians in Delaware; or ‘end-times’ warnings from religious nutters on CNN, MSNBC, Newsweek, etc.; nor would we have the superstitious trying push pseudoscience as legitimate curricula in science classes.

NEWSWEEK Q: Will the West need to defeat Islamists for Israel or must radical Islam continue in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled?

Answer #5: I believe the hostility of Fundamental Islam over Israel’s return and re-possession their ancient homeland and Jerusalem is predicted to be the driving force that ignites Armageddon.

But be sure to send your tax-deductible donation to Lindsey’s "ministry" before the armageddon. Nutjobs like Lindsey and LaHaye have been predicting armageddon for centuries based on the limited perspectives of a few Bronze Age and Early Iron Age religious and political elites who were interested in creating and maintaining a system of propaganda to manipulate their followers and citizens. As long as there are credulous people, there will always be those willing to take their money in exchange for the secrets to surviving the apocalypse.

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