Mastodawn

Owlet of Minerva

To read the news while rereading @cstross’s The Labyrinth Index (plot: U.S. gov’t captured by shadowy security-agency cultists to make Cthulhu great again) is like a bad trip.

“[A commander] said [to tell the troops] that ‘President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,’” the NCO continued. “He had a big grin on his face when he said all of this which made his message seem even more crazy.”

https://newrepublic.com/post/207270/military-leaders-iran-war-donald-trump-jesus-armageddon

Military Leaders Say Iran War Is So Trump Can Bring About “Armageddon”

Troops have logged more than 110 complaints about such comments with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

The New Republic

Andrew Deacon Mar 3

@noctuaminervae what happened to Matthew 5;9
“Blessed are the peacemakers”

hallunke23 🇺🇦

Well, Rump is not blessed.

@aadeacon @noctuaminervae

DressToKILT Mar 4

@aadeacon @noctuaminervae You can't counter Christofascist arguments with scripture because that's not their religion.

Plsik (born in 320 ppm)Mar 3

@noctuaminervae @cstross They must be joking.

Charlie Stross Mar 3

@plsik @noctuaminervae No, they're American Christian Nationalists; this bullshit is part of their religious doctrine, and has been for several decades—they have a convoluted to-do list in order to invite Jesus to return, and blowing up the middle east is part of the agenda.

Administrator Mar 4

@cstross @plsik @noctuaminervae ...is Jesus Cthulu in this instance? Uh oh

DressToKILT Mar 4

@cstross @plsik @noctuaminervae America's ludicrous devotion to Israel completely hinges on this death cult ideology. Fundamentalists believe that America needs to safeguard Israel at all costs because Armageddon is coming and their god will punish them if they didn't defend the Temple.

Not the Jewish people, of course. They're useful tools to defend the land in the meantime, and their god will of course smite them for killing Jesus.

Jargoggles Mar 4

@cstross @plsik @noctuaminervae
Yep. I grew up with this shit. They are dead serious about it.

Plsik (born in 320 ppm)Mar 4

@jargoggles @cstross @noctuaminervae OMG. SHIT

@noctuaminervae @cstross Where in Ghod's name is my bourbon

Grumble 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇬🇱Mar 4

@noctuaminervae @cstross It's hella ironic that these chuckleheads want to bring back Jesus. It's pretty clear that they haven't read much about him or his policies...

Grumble 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇬🇱Mar 4

@noctuaminervae @cstross I'm not sure about the "anointed by Jesus " thing, but if Trump's head gets near an open flame that hair product and bronzer is going to go off like a Roman candle.

@noctuaminervae @cstross I don't believe this actually happened.

Ermin Međedović Mar 4

@galar Ker sta oba previdna z izjavami?
@noctuaminervae @cstross

@Ermin @noctuaminervae @cstross Ne, ker ne najdem verodostojnega vira.

Ermin Međedović Mar 4

@galar Eh, niti zajebavat se ne morem več : )

@Ermin Aja sori k sem špilferdirber :)

Owlet of Minerva Mar 4

@galar @cstross The quote is from an anonymized email supposedly sent by an NCO to a group called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. As such, it’s hard to verify independently. I can’t vouch for the MRFF but see no obvious reason why they’d make it up. OTOH it seems perfectly believable that some American commanders might say stuff like that. (Remember Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin from around the Iraq war?)

Charlie Stross Mar 4

@noctuaminervae @galar Yeah, and this dispensationalist premillennial shit has been endemic in the US military since the late 80s—remember the US Air Force academy in Colorado Springs was riddled by it in the 90s/00s?

Owlet of Minerva Mar 4

@cstross @galar Huh. I didn’t, but I see that’s the background of the MRFF director, because his (Jewish) son was attending it and being told that he was a Christ-killer. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Kingdom+of+heaven%3f+Fundamentalist+Christian+Crusade+at+Air+Force...-a0133493940

I also vaguely remember reports about LaHaye’s Left Behind books being distributed to U.S. troops in Iraq… though I can’t place where I read about it now.