Racing Toward Armageddon

Written in the run-up to apocalyptic expectations in 2012, this study examines the fear driven and controlling mind-set of fundamentalists in the three Abrahamic religions and their focus on a potentially explosive event in Jerusalem. The alarming thing is that some top officials driving international foreign policy share this apocalyptic perspective, intent on furthering their own self-destructive prophecies and helping bring about Armageddon. Michael explores the theological origins of these ideas and the corresponding inhumanity of fundamentalism. Some of these visions have been misinterpreted to apply to our own time, when the authors clearly intended them to apply to their own. Michael dissects the meaning of the rapture, showing the incoherence of modern interpretations, but those who believe in such things are unlikely to read this book and will cling to literalistic understandings of Scripture that had been discredited for more than 150 years. 77% of fundamentalist Christians in the United States believe that the revelation of St John is a literal truth that will come to pass. The fundamentalist agenda is for theocratic autocracy, whether Christian or Muslim. This analysis leads Michael to conclude that we need a new and more experiential understanding of God and spirituality based on the inner mystical traditions beyond the exclusiveness of outer cults. Only this more mystical understanding can lead to peace, a view that many readers will share.