2023 FUTURE OBSERVATORY
2023 FUTURE OBSERVATORY
In the short term, at least, it may be the Western Christian fundamentalist sects which pose the real threat of anarchy - albeit on a very local scale - as they adopt the Millennium as the likely date for Armageddon. Ted Daniels - editor of the Millennial Prophecy Report - estimates that there are around 350 American organizations that predict the millennium will bring some form of Armageddon. More alarmingly, some of them, such as the Sons of God, seem to even think it is their God-given role to create Armageddon themselves! This view was reflected by some of our own groups which suggested, for instance, that the 'second coming of Christ' should be added to their lists - and if , as a Newsweek survey in 1994 reported, 61% of Americans still believe in the literal truth of the bible that Jesus will return to Earth. In view of the increasing instability of the US as a whole this cannot be discounted as an indirect force on the future.
Almost all our groups (especially the experts) were worried about religious fundamentalism in general, and Islamic Fundamentalism in particular; but they had little to say, in detail, about it - reflecting, perhaps, the rather vague fears - accompanied by very limited knowledge - expressed in the media.
Fundamentalism in general is seen to pose a threat, but the greatest threat of anarchy may appear from Christian, rather than Islamic fundamentalists; though it is likely to be confined to regions rather than spread globally - unless cross-border, and cross-religion, 'holy' alliances develop.
Henry Louis Gates suggests, for instance, that "...growth of Islam will fortify the side of faith - the side with which many cultural conservatives in the West have allied themselves. In this sense, the Muslim from South Asia or the Maghreb has more in common with his God-fearing Christian opposite from the Home Counties than with his secular counterpart." In more general terms, Brian Beedham[b], again, highlights the many points on which Islam and Christianity agree; not least on a single God and individual responsibility.
At another level, Lester Thurrow notes that "Interestingly, the Christian ‘Army of God’ and the Iranian Shiite Muslim fundamentalists even use the same terminology, and have the same enemy; the US government is the ‘Great Satan’ - the embodiment of evil."
Ted Daniels - editor of the Millennial Prophecy Report, quoted by Simon Hatterstone in The Guardian - estimates that "...there are around 350 American organizations that predict the millennium will bring some form of Armageddon". More alarmingly, some of them, such as the Sons of God, seem to even think it is their God-given role to create Armageddon themselves! This view was reflected by some of our own groups which suggested, for instance, that the 'second coming of Christ' should be added to their lists - and, as a Newsweek survey in 1994 reported, 61% of Americans still believe in the literal truth of the bible that Jesus will return to Earth. In view of the increasing instability of the US as a whole this cannot be discounted as an indirect force on the future.
Alvin Toffler[d] puts specific words to this fear "...some of the fastest-growing and most powerful religious movements exhibit precisely this lethal combination [of totalitarianism with universalism]...They are determined to impose their own rule over every aspect of human life...They are the agents of a new Dark Age." We, however, suspect that this may overstate the dangers.
16 May 2003
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