Racing Toward Armageddon by Michael Baigent

Author:Michael Baigent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2009-05-07T16:00:00+00:00

Faithfully he brings true justice;

he will neither waver, nor be crushed

until true justice is established on earth.

—ISAIAH 42:3–4

But who is “he” that Isaiah is speaking about? The beginning of the chapter makes it clear, it is, “my servant whom I uphold,” says God, “my chosen one” (Isaiah 42:1). Bush, by invoking this Old Testament text, hints at himself as being the chosen servant of God and, at the same time, equates divine justice with “Peace and freedom.” Again, this alludes to Revelation and to the new world, which he believes will appear after the return of Jesus. One could be forgiven for suspecting that the United States, in Bush’s view, is working toward Jesus’ plan for Armageddon and its dominant Christian aftermath. If only he had a copy of the Hindu sacred text, the Bhagavad Gita, which has all that is worth saying on the subject of warriors and battles.

Progressive Christian theologian Jim Wallis, who once enjoyed close access to Bush, has noted this apparent confusion between the divine mission of Jesus and the mission of the United States; he, too, is concerned over the blurring of the lines. He asks a blunt question, one with very significant and far-reaching implications: is the theology of George W. Bush truly Christian? “Does it take a global view of God’s world,” asks Wallis, “or does it just assert the newest incarnation of American nationalism in an update of ‘manifest destiny’?”32

Wallis describes a particular example that worried him: in the 2003 State of the Union speech, when Bush, speaking of the problems faced by the United States, related, “The need is great. Yet there’s power, wonder-working power, in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people.”

Wallis explains that this line comes from an old gospel hymn but points out that the meaning has been distorted. The hymn states that there is “power, wonder-working power in the blood of the lamb,” meaning the power of Jesus. Wallis comments,

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