US Evangelicals See Europe as the Anti-Christ

There is a growing element in the American evangelical Christian movement that has turned its back on the Gospels of the New Testament.  Rather, they are fixated on a literal interpretation of the Book of Revelation and the Second Coming of Christ.  Millions of these evangelicals read the popular Left Behind series of novels ( Deutsch: Finale) about End Times and the battle between Good and Evil, where only true believers of Jesus survive and the rest of the human race suffers eternal damnation in hell. In these novels Evil is personified as the Anti-Christ – Nicolae Carpathia – a smooth-talking European and former Secretary General of the United Nations.

The final battle between Good and Evil – according to this interpretation of the Bible – will take place in Israel.  And for this reason. American evangelical Christians were excited by the war between Hezbollah and Israel: they saw this as the beginning of the Final Battle.  This was even picked up by German television news (Tagesschau):

Für Strattons Gemeinde und Millionen Amerikaner hat die letzte Schlacht längst begonnen. Bis zu einem Viertel aller US-Bürger, so Schätzungen des Pew Research Center, sind Evangelikale und glauben an die wortwörtliche Auslegung der Bibel – auch daran, dass der Showdown zwischen Gut und Böse in Israel stattfinden muss.

Schon mit der Gründung des Staates 1948 beginnt sich für die Mehrheit der Evangelikalen die biblische Vorhersage zu erfüllen, an deren Ende Tod und Zerstörung aller Nichtchristen, aber auch die Wiederkehr Jesu nach Jerusalem und ein tausendjähriger Frieden stehen. Die israelischen Truppen im Südlibanon, die iranischen Raketen in Nordisrael – alles Vorboten des Anfangs vom ersehnten Ende.

From time to time, I check the online Rapture Index, a composite of indicators that gauge how close the earth is to End TImes.  During the recent war in Lebanon the indicator reached a high of 160.  It has since fallen back a couple of notches.

Where does Europe come into the equation?  American evangelicals view Europe as a godless force of evil that sides with Satan (Islam), and is facilitating the destruction of Israel.  A resurgent European Union is a certain sign that the devil is at work:

"The European Union’s influence is growing at a phenomenal rate. Soon its economy will, it is predicted, eclipse that of the U.S. in almost every category. It is a beast just about to be released upon an unsuspecting world.

Its key leaders gave a preview of coming attractions when they blocked at every turn America’s attempts to get the nations of the UN to honor the resolution they had agreed to regarding the overthrow of Saddam’s regime. Understanding that Europe has shed its former robes of Christianity to accept its prophesied economic and governmental role within the end-time Babylonian system of world domination is essential to understanding its beast nature. Those key EU leaders, in their callous deception, were willing to see the pitiful people of Iraq continue to suffer horrendously under Saddam Hussein’s murder and torture rather than give up their oil deals and other profitable enterprises they enjoyed that were given them by the despotic Iraqi monsters. Same with the UN. It has come out that the food-for-oil program profited that organization tremendously, with billions of dollars paid the Kofi Annan-administered program. (…)Is the European Union the prophesied governmental body that will eventuate in becoming the ten kingdoms that will provide Antichrist with his beastly power? "

It would be easy to dismiss these "Rapture Enthusiasts" as mere crackpots that are essentially harmless.  Except that this group consists of millions of Americans who wield tremendous econonmic and political power.  Indeed, the religious historian and writer Karen Armstrong sees this "End Times" belief as a component of US foreign policy in the Middle East.  She writes:

Whatever Bush’s personal beliefs, the ideology of the Christian right is both familiar and congenial to him. This strange amalgam of ideas can perhaps throw light on the behaviour of a president, who, it is said, believes that God chose him to lead the world to Rapture, who has little interest in social reform, and whose selective concern for life issues has now inspired him to veto important scientific research. It explains his unconditional and uncritical support for Israel, his willingness to use "Jewish End-time warriors" to fulfil a vision of his own – arguably against Israel’s best interests – and to see Syria and Iran (who seem to be replacing Saddam as the "enemy of the north") as entirely responsible for the unfolding tragedy.

The great danger is that these irrational religious zealots will provide a base of support for the neoconservative establishment in Washington who – led by pundits such as torture advocate Charles Krauthammer and politicians like Newt Gingrich – are itching for the Amageddon of World War III.