End time
At least in recorded history, human beings have liked to daydream and make up stories about the distant future. Usually it’s about a heavenly golden age beyond the horizon, often but not always preceded by cosmic calamity, in which the evil are finally overpowered by the forces of good, who then initiate the new age. Thinking about the end time is called eschatology, and thinking about the end time in terms of cataclysm, cosmic battle, fire, brimstone, and pale riders on white horses is called apocalyptic, and is filled with all sorts of futuristic, wild imagery.
We might be tempted to think that apocalypticism was limited to ancient peoples, but we would be wrong. Some of the most powerful people in the world are today envisioning the end time and are preparing accordingly. Some of the fear precipitating this movement is well-founded. Nuclear devastation is a real possibility. Climate change could totally disrupt life as we know it. A raging pandemic could kill the population. The risks are real. But beyond whatever natural fate may await humankind, there are those who are confident that God has a plan, and that that eschatological plan is apocalyptic by nature. Taking the biblical books of Daniel and Revelation literally, fundamentalist evangelicals believe that the end is just around the corner, and that Jerusalem will be the epicenter, the beginning of the conflagration. That is where Jesus will return. As a consequence, Israel must be protected from its neighbors, but at the same time, increasing violence across the Middle East is a sign that the end time is fast approaching. The interest of messianic evangelicals is protection of the place where Jesus will return, an interest that is more than political, because it is the road to heaven. First comes the grand battle, but when the final victory over Satan has been won, the faithful dead will rise up out of their graves, and the living faithful will literally rise up into the heavens. They call this the rapture.
It’s different with the rich and powerful. We don’t know how many oligarchs are messianic fundamentalists, but whether the motivation is the apocalyptic 1000 years cosmic war or climate change, the rich and powerful are making arrangements for survival. On the grandest of scales, a retired HUD Secretary has reported that over a span of many years, the US government has spent 29 trillion dollars building an underground network of cities and connecting tunnels as a future residence for the rich and powerful. The report has been neither confirmed nor denied, but the idea of such an undertaking, albeit on a smaller scale, is being taken up and acted upon by people of means. In an article, Naomi Klein describes the movement in detail, labeling it as end-time fascism. The oligarchs have given up on being a citizen at any scale, city, state, or country, or planet, instead building their own escape place where they would be king. The first such corporate city-state was just given legal status by a town in Texas.
What fuels this movement? A desire to be free of societal restraint, be it the rule of law or community pressure? A desire to be free of responsibility for the less fortunate among us? Yes, that, and more, we can be sure. But why? It’s not just an attitude of leave me alone with my money. It has deeper roots. We read in the Gospels about a young man who came to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to be made whole?” Jesus replied, “You know the answer.” Give away all you have and come, follow me. The man went away very sad, because he was very rich. Another asked Jesus, : What must I do to be made whole?” Jesus answered: “You know the Law. Love your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. Do this.” But the man, desiring to justify himself, asked: “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered with the parable of the Good Samaritan, which Jesus ended with: “Go and do likewise. “
What’s the point? The point is that we know what we must do, but that involves change. As we develop in this world, we see reality more and more from an egocentric point of view. The confirmation bias shown by psychology increasingly reinforces our own perspective to the exclusion of others, and we feel quite content in our safe little world. But we also feel frustrated, because we know there is so much more to life that we are missing- opening up to others, reaching out in love, finding peace and fulfillment apart from greed and isolation. But we are comfortable in our ego, or so we think. And we are fearful of what might happen should we open our minds. Comfort and fear are the two greatest impediments to securing our happiness. And so, for the oligarchs, comfort and fear rule the day. They have given up on creative change, both for themselves and for the world, and prepare for doom.
But the end time as envisioned by them is not inevitable. The end time envisioned by the evangelicals is not the message of Jesus. To use Klein’s language, end-time fascism is not the answer. The answer that sparks our hope comes from the Good Samaritan.
Note: The rise of end times fascism | Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor
The rise of end times fascism | Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor
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Carl Krieg, Ph.D. received his BA from Dartmouth College, MDiv from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is the author of What to Believe? the Questions of Christian Faith, The Void and the Vision, The New Matrix: How the World We Live In Impacts Our Thinking About Self and God and How The Rich Stole Jesus. As professor and pastor, Dr. Krieg has taught innumerable classes and led many discussion groups. He lives with his wife Margaret in Norwich, VT.