Somehow I've managed to be blissfully unaware of this until now... twilight zone stuff! Julie Krueger On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 6:00 PM, <carolkir@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > It's a slow news week...Believers in the antichrist stuff identified > BO long ago. Thing is, some believers actually want to hasten the > apocalypse, so they'll vote for BO because of it! Strange folks. > ck > > > On 8/8/08, Julie Krueger <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > < > http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1830590,00.html?cnn=yes> > > > > From TIME Magazine -- > > http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1830590,00.html?cnn=yes > > > > The various interpretations (of the ad, of the Evangelicals, you name it) > > are as hilarious as anything else about this. If I'd switched on the tv > and > > happened upon this article being read aloud, I would have wondered what > SNL > > or MAD TV were doing on at that time of day.... > > > > <<It's not easy to make the infamous Willie Horton ad from the 1988 > > presidential campaign seem benign. But suggesting that Barack Obama is > the > > Antichrist might just do it. > > > > That's just what some outraged Christian supporters of the Democratic > > nominee are claiming John McCain's campaign did in an ad called "The > > One"<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mopkn0lPzM8>that was recently > > released online. The Republican nominee's advisers brush > > off the charges, arguing that the spot was meant to be a "creative" and > > "humorous" way of poking fun at Obama's > > popularity< > http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1830400,00.html>by > > painting him as a self-appointed messiah. But even this innocuous > > interpretation of the ad — which includes images of Charlton Heston as > Moses > > and culled clips that make Obama sound truly egomaniacal — taps into a > > conversation that has been gaining urgency on Christian radio, political > > blogs, and in widely-circulated email messages that accuse Obama of being > > the Antichrist. > > > > The ad was the creation of Fred Davis, one of McCain's top media gurus, > as > > well as a close friend of former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed and > the > > nephew of conservative Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe. It first caught the > > attention of Democrats familiar with the *Left Behind* > > series<http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1002759,00.html > >, > > a fictionalized account of the end time that debuted in the 1990s and has > > sold nearly 70 million books worldwide. "The language in there is so > similar > > to the language in the *Left Behind* books," says Tony Campolo, a leading > > progressive evangelical speaker and author. > > > > As the ad begins, the words "It should be known that in 2008 the world > shall > > be blessed. They will call him The One" flash across the screen. The > > Antichrist of the Left Behind books is a charismatic young political > leader > > named Nicolae Carpathia who founds The One World religion (slogan: "We > are > > God") and promises to heal the world after a time of deep division. One > of > > several Obama clips in the ad features the senator saying, "A nation > healed, > > a world repaired. We are the ones that we've been waiting for." > > > > The visual images in the ad, which Davis says has been viewed even more > than > > the McCain's "Celeb" ad linking Obama to the likes of Paris Hilton and > > Britney Spears, also seem to evoke the cover art of several *Left > > Behind*books. But they're not the cartoonish images of clouds parting > > and shining > > light upon Obama that might be expected in an ad spoofing him as a > messiah. > > Instead, the screen displays a sinister orange light surrounded by > darkness > > and later the faint image of a staircase leading up to heaven. > > > > Perhaps the most puzzling scene in the ad is an altered segment from *The > 10 > > Commandments* that appears near the end. A Moses-playing Charlton Heston > > parts the animated waters of the Red Sea, out of which rises the > > quasi-presidential seal the Obama campaign used for a brief time earlier > > this summer before being mocked into retiring it. The seal, which > features > > an eagle with wings spread, is not recognizable like the campaign's > > red-white-and-blue "O" logo. That confused Democratic consultant Eric > Sapp > > until he went to his Bible and remembered that in the apocalyptic Book of > > Daniel, the Antichrist is described as rising from the sea as a creature > > with wings like an eagle. > > > > Sapp knows that the phrasing and images could just be dismissed as a > > peculiar coincidence. After all, it was Oprah Winfrey who told an Iowa > crowd > > that Obama was "the one!" But, he insists, "the frequency of these images > > and references don't make any sense unless you're trying to send the > message > > that Obama could be the Antichrist." Mara Vanderslice, another Democratic > > consultant who handled religious outreach for the 2004 Kerry campaign, > > agrees. "If they wanted to be funny, if they really wanted to play up the > > idea that Obama thinks he's the Second Coming, there were better ways to > do > > it," she says. "Why use these awkward lines like, 'And the world will > > receive his blessings'?" > > > > Two months ago, Vanderslice founded a Democratic PAC called the Matthew > 25 > > Network and soon noticed that the negative emails she received from > > conservative Christians fell into two general categories: abortion, and > the > > assertion that Obama is the Antichrist. The cataloguing of similarities > > Obama shares with the Antichrist began nearly two years ago. But they > picked > > up steam in February 2008 after he racked up a string of impressive > primary > > victories. A Google search for "Obama" and "Antichrist" turns up more > than > > 700,000 hits, including at least one blog dedicated solely to the topic. > A > > more obscure search for "Obama" and "Nicolae Carpathia" yields a > surprising > > 200,000 references. > > > > It's not hard to see how some Obama-haters might be tempted to make the > > comparison. In the Left Behind books, Carpathia is a junior senator who > > speaks several languages, is beloved by people around the world and > fawned > > over by a press corps that cannot see his evil nature, and rises to > absurd > > prominence after delivering just one major speech. Hmmh. But serious > > Antichrist theorists don't stop there. Everything from Obama's > > left-handedness to his positive rhetoric to his appearance on the cover > of > > this magazine has been cited as evidence of his true identity. One chain > > email claims that the Antichrist was prophesied to be "A man in his 40s > of > > MUSLIM descent," which would indeed sound ominous if not for the fact > that > > the Book of Revelation was written at least 400 years before the birth of > > Islam. > > > > The speculation reached a fever pitch after Obama's European trip and the > > Berlin speech in which he called for global unity. Conservative Christian > > author Hal Lindsey declared in an essay on World Net Daily, "Obama is > > correct in saying that the world is ready for someone like him-a > > messiah-like figure, charismatic and glib...The Bible calls that leader > the > > Antichrist. And it seems apparent that the world is now ready to make his > > acquaintance." The conservative website RedState.com now sells mugs and > > t-shirts that sport a large "O" with horns and the words "The > Anti-Christ" > > underneath. > > > > Even if a fraction of the Internet-using public engages in outrageous > > Antichrist speculation, feeding those extreme beliefs wouldn't seem to be > an > > obvious political strategy. But McCain advisers are aware that one of the > > goals of Democratic outreach to > > evangelicals< > http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1814206,00.html>has > > been to simply neutralize their opposition. "You just have to take the > > edge off," says Michigan Democratic Party chair Mark Brewer, explaining > why > > he spent much of a 2006 meeting with conservative pastors around his > state. > > "Now that they've met me, they can see I don't have two horns and a > tail." > > > > A new TIME poll finds that the most conservative evangelicals are the > least > > enthusiastic about McCain's candidacy. Convincing them that Obama does > have > > two horns and a tail might be the best way of getting them to vote. > That's > > what worries Campolo, who also sits on the Democratic party's platform > > committee. "Those books have created a subliminal language and I think > > judgments will be made unconsciously about Barack Obama," he says. "It > > scares the daylights out of me.">> > > > > - Buzz up!on > > Yahoo!< > http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/time/http%253A%252F%252Fwww.time.com%252Ftime%252Fpolitics%252Farticle%252F0%252C8599%252C1830590%252C00.html > > > > > > > > <http://www.quantcast.com/p-5dyPa639IrgIw> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html >