Eternity in a Black Hole

According to Jack Van Impe ministries this is the time line of upcomming events which we need to prepare ourselves for. I am not sure how it works in other parts of the United States but here in Minneapolis at 11:00 pm on Sunday nights Jack Van Impe and his wife Rexella (yes, ironically, she is named after a Dinosaur...or as SNL put it, a "Jesus Horse") have their weekly television show in which they discuss the comming of....you guessed it....Jesus Christ. This show has been on the air for as long as I can remeber. On the show Rexella reads current headlines which Jack then analyzes using bible verses (on the televangelist scene he is known as "the walking bible"). Recently Jack has predicted that the Apocalypse will begin in 2012. Prior to this he predicted that there would be wide spread catasrophe surrounding Y2K (this proved to be inaccurate). He was also quoted as saying, "black holes fulfill all the technical requirements to be the location of Hell." Mostly Impe preaches an "end of times" philosophy which puts him at odds with other religious leaders. (In 2005 he hated on Pat Roberson by comparing him to the likes of Osama Bin Laden.)

The question I often grapple with when thinking about the current Evangelical slant in the United States is, "What is motivating these people?" Are we really expected to trust televangelists? are there really that many people out there who buy this stuff? Why are they all white, middle class, old guys?

Since when has the book or revelation become the basis for the way many people think? More important than the idea that church and state should be seperated...one of the very concepts that this country was founded on. Does Democracy mean anything anymore?

Stephen Colbert put it quite pointedly what he asked, "why can't these people just say 'I don't know'?" Is the fear of the unknown so difficult for us to comprehend that we have to scare people into believeing a book that is most probubly a work of fiction? I am not saying that the prophesies found in the book of revelation are impossible I am just pointing out that they are highly improbable. Evangelicals make up a minority of United States citizens yet their presence is having an extreme impact on us all. This can be seen in environmental legislation, money for wars, etc. . .

Why can't people keep their dooms day babble to themselves?