Jesus vs. the Beast of the Apocalypse

I have written many times here at Real Art, in the context of church and state issues, that the United States is a secular, rather than a Christian, nation. Outside of that context, too, it is clear that our nation, and many American Christians, do not even try to embrace central Biblical values; indeed, our nation is often a purveyor of evil, and the loudest Christian voices tend to support that evil.

From CounterPunch:

Evil presents itself as "respectability," as the established way of doing things, as the accepted social morality of a society. Evil hides, they say, in everydayness, in business as usual, in what is given honors and the highest praise. Evil poses as its opposite, for the goal of the Antichrist is to prevent the realization of God's kingdom on Earth, to destroy the possibility of human beings living together in love and peace upon the precious planet granted to us as our home by God.

If one thinks about it, this is fairly obvious. Evil could not be successful in preventing people from living together in peace and harmony on the Earth if it appeared to us as a hideous monster (the traditional image of the devil). We would see it for what it is and turn away in horror. But if evil can cloak itself in the image of good--if it can appear as its opposite--then the destruction of God's kingdom on Earth can proceed unhindered.

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