Carrol Cox wrote:
> The intention behind almost _any_ particular act is the intention of
> some isolated, "autonomous," agent such as Matt's boss, trying to get
> through the day with as little hassle as possible. My guess is that
> Matt's boss stuck to the unintelligible version mostly because her
> best
> estimate was that it was less apt to get her into trouble with _her_
> boss than Matt's revision. We have a complex of relations determining
> the parameters of her decision, including those fundamental relations
> that create the "dot-like" existence of the mere free worker in
> capitalist society.
How do you make this construction of "almost _any_ particular act" consistent with the political acts of the millions who support the Bush administration's Middle East policies because they believe they presage their entry into "Rapture". These folks seem to be doing something other than "just themselves trying to survive in it ['the World we are born with']".
> In the United States, several million people have succumbed to an
> extraordinary delusion. In the 19th century, two immigrant
> preachers cobbled together a series of unrelated passages from the
> Bible to create what appears to be a consistent narrative: Jesus
> will return to Earth when certain preconditions have been met. The
> first of these was the establishment of a state of Israel. The next
> involves Israel's occupation of the rest of its "biblical
> lands" (most of the Middle East), and the rebuilding of the Third
> Temple on the site now occupied by the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa
> mosques. The legions of the antichrist will then be deployed
> against Israel, and their war will lead to a final showdown in the
> valley of Armageddon. The Jews will either burn or convert to
> Christianity, and the Messiah will return to Earth.
>
> What makes the story so appealing to Christian fundamentalists is
> that before the big battle begins, all "true believers" (ie those
> who believe what they believe) will be lifted out of their clothes
> and wafted up to heaven during an event called the Rapture. Not
> only do the worthy get to sit at the right hand of God, but they
> will be able to watch, from the best seats, their political and
> religious opponents being devoured by boils, sores, locusts and
> frogs, during the seven years of Tribulation which follow.
>
> The true believers are now seeking to bring all this about. This
> means staging confrontations at the old temple site (in 2000, three
> US Christians were deported for trying to blow up the mosques
> there), sponsoring Jewish settlements in the occupied territories,
> demanding ever more US support for Israel, and seeking to provoke a
> final battle with the Muslim world/Axis of Evil/United Nations/
> European Union/France or whoever the legions of the antichrist turn
> out to be.
>
> The believers are convinced that they will soon be rewarded for
> their efforts. The antichrist is apparently walking among us, in
> the guise of Kofi Annan, Javier Solana, Yasser Arafat or, more
> plausibly, Silvio Berlusconi. The Wal-Mart corporation is also a
> candidate (in my view a very good one), because it wants to radio-
> tag its stock, thereby exposing humankind to the Mark of the Beast.
>
> By clicking on www.raptureready.com, you can discover how close you
> might be to flying out of your pyjamas. The infidels among us
> should take note that the Rapture Index currently stands at 144,
> just one point below the critical threshold, beyond which the sky
> will be filled with floating nudists. Beast Government, Wild
> Weather and Israel are all trading at the maximum five points (the
> EU is debating its constitution, there was a freak hurricane in the
> south Atlantic, Hamas has sworn to avenge the killing of its
> leaders), but the second coming is currently being delayed by an
> unfortunate decline in drug abuse among teenagers and a weak
> showing by the antichrist (both of which score only two).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1195568,00.html
Ted