Believe it or not I’m really focusing on the U.S. Presidential campaign with next few posts. I decided to do this after having my attention drawn to some pretty disturbing campaign tactics coming from the McCain camp. There’s been some pretty disturbing ads that I’ve seen which, either subtly or not so subtly, play to the religious beliefs of some segments of the American population. So, I’ve been doing some research, and some of the things I’ve found are rather disturbing, to put it mildly. There’s going to be an ongoing theme in my posts here, so if I start to get on your nerves with it, feel free to tell me. Won’t stop me posting about it, but what the heck…
Can you say near-mass hysteria?
What I’ve decided to do is first take a few web pages apart. Not every single item, but just some of the more mildly insane things that I’m finding. After I’ve run each of these sites through my little process of vivisection, I’ll go ahead and editorialize (read, “rant”) about the site I just took apart. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at this little gem:
I found this site after a Google search of the words “Obama antichrist.” It was the third return on the first page, no less. For all subsequent sites that I address, a link to the site will appear at the top of the discussion:
The Original Site: Obama The Antichrist?
Excerpt:
Could Presidential Candidate
Barack Hussein Obama be the “Anti-Christ?”
This site deals with Biblical Prophecy and some of the “Anti-Christ” characteristics of Barack Hussein Obama.
Barack is the perfect candidate to allow “Full Anti-Christ control of the U.S.”Points of Interest:
Barry was Obama’s name given to him at birth by this parents. He legally changed his name to Barack.
Well, since Obama’s father goes by the name “Barack Obama, Sr.,” I would venture that unless the elder Obama also legally changed his name at some point to follow his son’s example, there would have been no need for Sen. Obama to legally change his first and last names. In fact, I have heard it stated that because his parents gave him the name “Barack Hussein,” he must be, fundamentally, a Muslim. You are the first mention I have ever seen of Obama having had a different given name than the one he now uses, and you offer absolutely nothing to back this claim up.
Excerpt:
Buraq was the name of Mohammad’s horse!
First, please: The prophet’s name was “Muhammed.” Spell it correctly if you intend to use it.
Uhm, okay. So, it is somehow ominous to you that Obama’s parents, his father being a Muslim, would give Obama the aglicized version of the name of Muhammed’s mount? (Not horse – we’ll get there in a minute.) I’m confused. There is no huge outcry over the fact that many Latino families name their male children “Jesus.” Could it possibly be that it was simply a gesture of respect to his faith that his father, who also carries the same given name, chose to pass that name on to his son?
Excerpt:
Read what Wikipedia says about the definition of Buraq.
Please get your facts straight. From your own source:
“The Buraq (Arabic: al-buraaq, meaning lightning; Turkish: Burak), is according to Islamic tradition a creature from the heavens that carried Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem and back during the Isra and Miraj (Night Journey), which is the title of one of the chapters of the Qur’an.”
“An excerpt from a Translation of Sahih Bukhari Volume 5, Book 58, Number 227 hadith (supplemental tradition to the Qur’an) describes a buraq:
‘I was brought by the Buraq, which is an animal white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, who would place its hoof at a distance equal to the range of vision.’ ”
There is an illustration on this same page. It depicts a creature with a body similar to a horse, with wings, and the head and face of a human. This creature was not “Muhammed’s horse.”
Excerpts & Comments:
Supporters of Obama:
1.5 billion Muslims
Your source for this statement? I advise you to run a Google search on this phrase: “1.5 billion muslims support Obama” You’ll find that all of the answers come back as stating that Obama has OFFENDED 1.5 billion Muslims. Not what I call support.
Oprah
Yeah, so what? Oprah, as ridiculous as she may be, is an American citizen and celebrity who has the right to support any candidate she chooses to support. It’s called “American democractic process.”
Louis Farrakanh (Nation of Islam Leader, racist, anti-Semite)
Yeah, so what? (See Oprah.) Further, again learn to spell. (Mamma didn’t do so well with the home schoolin’, did she?) It’s Louis “Farrakhan.”
Jesse Jackson
Yeah, so what? (See Oprah.)
Al Sharpton
Yeah, so what? (See Oprah.)
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (Islamic Terror Organization)
Finally! You got one right! Well, they certainly don’t want another Republican administration here, do they? Further, who the hell cares if they support him? They aren’t going to be showing up en masse to vote for him, and even if they did, there certainly aren’t enough of them to turn the tide of an election.
Daniel Ortega (Marxist Sandinista Leader, Nicaragua)
He actually made observations that seem to me to be pretty much in line with what the Democratic party, and the vast majority of Americans who support Obama, have to say about him. Again, Ortega ain’t gonna be voting for him, folks.
All American Muslims
Your source for this statement? This is like saying that all Democrats support Obama, or that all Republicans support McCain. You’re so full of it I can smell you from where I’m sitting.
Raul Castro (Hard-line Communist Leader, Cuba)
Uhm, no. It was Fidel Castro, the former president of Cuba, who stated his support for Obama, while at the same time denouncing Obama’s position that he would leave in place the existing U.S. embargos against Cuba. Raul did not state any preference in the U.S. Presidential campaign. Obama stated he would be willing to meet with Raul Castro. Oh, I forgot – diplomacy has no place in the modern world, does it?
Socialist Party USA (Marxist Political Party)
Bullshit. The Socialist Party USA has their own candidates already chosen to run in the presidential election: Brian Moore for president, and Stewart Alexander for vice-president. Get your facts straight.
Daniel Ortega (Marxist Sandinista Leader, Nicaragua)
What, him again? Didn’t we already address this one above? He must really bother you.
The New Black Panther Party (Black Militant Organization)
I can find neither an endorsement nor a repudiation of Obama on the New Black Panther’s web site, but the items that are available there show a decided unhappiness with the way that Obama has conducted his campaign. Hardly glaring support there.
Hamas Terrorist Organization (Islamic Terrorist Organization)
After reading through something like twenty-eight Google pages about HAMAS, I can find nothing that states an official “endorsement” of Obama from this organization.
I notice that you do not link to any of these organizations, or groups of people, nor do you back this with any evidence or citation about these “supporters.”
Excerpt:
Did Jesus Claim Barack Obama is SATAN?
In Luke 10:18 Jesus I beheld Satan as Lightning fall from Heaven. How does a Jewish Rabbi, which Jesus is credited with being (John 1:38), say in HEBREW, that Satan is like LIGHTNING from heaven?
Barack, also transliterated as Baraq in Hebrew, is LIGHTNING (Strongs Hebrew word 1300). Even in Greek, Barak is LIGHTNING (Strongs Greek word 913) for the name of a person!
The ONLY WAY, a Jewish Rabbi can say in Hebrew that SATAN is LIGHTNING is, SATAN BARACK!
Okay, I’m hardly a linguist, but do have a couple of comments. First, let’s take a quick peek At Strong’s Concordance. From Wikipedia (a site I’m not overly fond of, but hey – the authors of this site started it, so it MUST be authoritative!):
Strong’s Concordance is not a translation of the Bible nor is it intended as a translation tool. The use of Strong’s numbers is not a substitute for professional translation of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English by those with formal training in ancient languages and the literature of the cultures in which the Bible was written.
Now, my own, admittedly unscholarly search of the word “lightning” using online translators led to these results:
For the ancient Greek, “lightning” translates to “αστραπή” or in latin spelling, “astrapi.” Did miss something? Where is “Barak” in this translation?
For Hebrew, interestingly, I could not find a translator which would translate “Lightning” to any word that is found in the Hebrew texts of the Bible. What? Could this mean that the word “lightning” doesn’t even appear in the ancient Hebrew texts?
Rant time.
How many times since the Protestant Reformation has a Pope been labeled by some fringe group as being the antichrist? There have two-hundred-sixteen Popes throughout history, and somewhere, I guarantee you, some group of lunatics was calling every single one of them the antichrist at some point.
I am so fed up with fundamentalist, evangelical people proclaiming to me and the rest of the world that they know who is going to fry in hell, and who is not. That they have the God-given right, no, the God-given duty, to proclaim what is and is not right or wrong for other people to believe. And I’m sick to death of the fundamental evangelical segment of our country’s population literally trying to legislate and politic their own brand of morality and religion down everyone’s throats.
Please don’t take this as an indictment of all people who profess to be Christians. I’m not aiming this page at “Christians.” I’m aiming it at “Evangelicals,” and there is a world of difference, in my experience. Some of the people who are the closest to me in my life are Christians. (Some of my best friends are Christian!). They aren’t the ones I’m talking about.
I’m talking about lunatics like the authors of the web site quoted above.
But honestly, even though some of these people may believe that Obama is the antichrist, to me, it’s all smoke and mirrors. There is a much more insidious current underlying all of this hoopla about Obama being the antichrist, or about his Muslim background.
We’re going to get there, just bear with me. I need to get all of this out of my system first.
There’s more to come, so stay tuned…
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