Iraq war generates predictions of Apocalypse
Since Jesus said that only God knows the hour or day of the Second Coming, preachers and self-appointed doomsayers have been trying to predict when it will happen — and watching the sun rise on another generation.
Now the prophetic interpreters have been citing a new reason they believe the end is coming: the U.S.-led war with Iraq. Anxious discussions have arisen recently on prophecy Web sites, in Bible study groups and churches, and at such gatherings as last month’s 20th International Prophecy Conference in Tampa, Fla.
Many see evidence of Iraq’s significance in end-time scenarios in key passages of the apocalyptic New Testament Book of Revelation.
Dear all
In the light of the outbreak of war in Iraq in the last 12 hours, our recommendations for the scheduling and content of videos and programmes are as follows:
1. Video recommendations
Obviously, there will be heightened public sensitivity to representations of war, soldiers, bombing, destruction of buildings and public unrest at home. The ITC Programme Code requires us not to broadcast material which offends against good taste or is offensive to public feeling. We therefore recommend that videos featuring the following are not shown at the moment:
war
soldiers
war planes
bombs
missiles
riots and social unrest
executions
other obviously sensitive materialExamples include:
System of a Down “Boom!” – anti-war video containing facts and figures about, amongst other things, the projected casualties in the war in Iraq.
Aerosmith “Don’t want to miss a thing” – contains footage from the film “Armageddon”.
Manic Street Preachers “So Why So Sad” – contains footage of soldiers being killed and man throwing a hand grenade.
Passengers/U2 “Miss Sarajevo” – contains missiles, guns and buildings being blown up.
Bon Jovi “This ain’t a love song” – contains war scenes and victims in distress.
Iggy Pop “Corruption” – contains wars, riots, guns and captions “we love guns” and “we love rifles”.
Paul Hardcastle “19” – contains war footage.
Radiohead “Lucky” – contains war footage including injured children.
Billy Idol “Hot in the City” – contains an atomic explosion.
Armand van Helden “Koochy” – contains an atomic explosion and ships being blown up.
Trick Daddy “Thug Holiday” – contains soldiers being killed at war.Furthermore, videos with words such as “bomb”, “missile”, “war” or other sensitive words in the artist or song title should not be shown at the moment.
Examples include:
Outkast “B.O.B (Bombs over Baghdad)” – song title may offend.
Radiohead “Invasion” – song title may offend.
Megadeth “Holy Wars” – song title may offend.
Gavin Friday “You, Me and World War Three” – song title may offend.
B-52s videos.
When the Washington Post revealed the existence of an American “shadow government,” operating secretly in Tora Bora-style mountain bunkers over the six months since Sept. 11, it shocked even some congressional leaders, who learned about it March 1 from the Post, not the Bush administration.
Now civil libertarians on the left and right are raising new questions about the shadow government — about its secrecy, its leadership, and the way it involves the military in domestic roles. In particular, plans to have the military assume domestic police functions in case of national emergency alarm some scholars and advocates, who believe the shadow government could be an early step on the way to martial law.