Scholar Warns Iran's Ahmadinejad May Have 'Cataclysmic Events'
Moms View Message Board: The Kitchen Table (Debating Board): Scholar Warns Iran's Ahmadinejad May Have 'Cataclysmic Events'
WSJ: Scholar Warns Iran's Ahmadinejad May Have 'Cataclysmic Events' In
Mind For August 22
Tue Aug 08 2006 10:22:35 ET
In a WALL STREET JOURNAL op-ed Tuesday, Princeton's Bernard Lewis
writes: "There is a radical difference between the Islamic Republic of
Iran and other governments with nuclear weapons. This difference is
expressed in what can only be described as the apocalyptic worldview of
Iran's present rulers."
"In Islam as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs
concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time -- Gog and Magog,
anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return
of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good
over evil, however these may be defined."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "and his followers clearly believe that
this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and
is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several
references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the US
about nuclear development by Aug. 22," which this year corresponds "to
the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition,
is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the
prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to 'the farthest
mosque,' usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back
(c.f., Koran XVII.1).
"This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic
ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain
that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for
Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind."
great :0(
I've read about this idea several times over the last few weeks and it's just one more thing that's making me anxious about the situation in the Middle East.
Then again it could be another date, hyped up by the media, etc. like Y2K, that never ends as badly as it is portrayed. I'm hoping the latter is true.
That's very interesting. I had never heard that before. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I didn't know that Islamics believed in Armageddon, too.
I'm hoping that Cori is right. I know that June 6th of this year, a third of our high school was empty. Parents refused to send their kids to school that day because there had been rumours of a "Columbine-like" tragedy that was supposed to go down at the school on 6/6/06.
Well, today's the day. Let's say our prayers and keep our fingers crossed.
Ame
Well, it's August 23. What happened?
I understand the anxiety about unrest in the Middle East. But think of it this way. You know what happens when you clean out your closet? You take everything out of the closet, sort it by deciding what to keep, what to give away, and what to throw away, and then you organize it and put it back in an orderly fashion. You end up making a bigger mess in order to clean it up, don't you? When everything is taken out of the closet, it looks like a big mess.
Perhaps the Middle East NEEDS to explode in order for the mess to get cleaned up and put back in an orderly fashion. We did it in Afghanistan and we are doing it in Iraq.
Sometimes it is necessary to make a bigger mess in order to clean it all up.
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