When Political Enemies Become Enemies of God

In the run up to the 2008 presidential election, we heard some pretty radical rhetoric coming from the Religious Right as they ratcheted up their opposition to Obama. Some, in fact, even played the Antichrist card. With another election year approaching, no doubt we'll see another round of this. The post below comes from John Fea at The Way of Improvement Leads Home.

Is Obama the Antichrist?

Some conservative evangelicals fear that Barack Obama may be the Antichrist. The Antichrist, according to a dispensational reading of the Bible, is the Satan-inspired world leader who will at first appear to be a popular and charismatic figure, but will eventually turn on Christians and usher in a devastating season of persecution known as the "tribulation." He will finally be defeated by a returning Jesus Christ at the Battle of Armageddon.

In yesterday's New York Times, Matthew Sutton, a historian of American evangelicalism who teaches at Washington State University, published a piece titled "Why the Antichrist Matters in Politics?" He argues that evangelical Christian fears of Obama are not unlike the kind of fears conservative Protestants expressed about FDR and the New Deal.

Here is his conclusion:

The left is in disarray while libertarianism is on the ascent. A new generation of evangelicals — well-versed in organizing but lacking moderating influences — is lining up behind hard-right anti-statists. While few of the faithful truly think that the president is the Antichrist, millions of voters, like their Depression-era predecessors, fear that the time is short. The sentiment that Mr. Obama is preparing the United States, as Roosevelt did, for the Antichrist’s global coalition is likely to grow. Barring the rapture, Mrs. Bachmann or Mr. Perry could well ride the apocalyptic anti-statism of conservative Christians into the Oval Office. Indeed, the tribulation may be upon us. Fair enough. I have no doubt that there are evangelical and fundamentalist Christians in America who believe that Obama is the Antichrist. But I am not yet convinced that this kind of apocalyptic vision will play a major role in the GOP election. We will see if Sutton is correct. In the meantime, I would like to know which one of the GOP candidates is using such rhetoric. I haven't heard it yet.