“You know why Obama is the Antichrist, don’t you?” asked the moron cutting my hair. “He’s got 18 letters in his name,” she continued, ignoring my forced indifference.
“You know what that means? Six, six, six,” she explained, shaking her head with concern as she cut my bangs too short.
Careful not to tip her, I paid for my sloppy haircut and returned to campus knowing this would not be my last experience with someone convinced Obama is the ‘beast with seven horns and ten heads’ (Revelation 13:1), which surprisingly wasn’t part of the Republican Party’s scare tactics in its last frantic week of campaigning.
It is likely that McCain and Palin’s constant attacks saying Obama is a “domestic terrorist” will in some way influence certain regions of this country to fear our next president is the harbinger of the end of days.
More terrifying is the thought that the reckless GOP ticket has planted the idea in some Joe Six-Pack’s head to ultimately assassinate the president-elect. Regardless still of desperate and futile GOP shenanigans, certain Americans are exclusively compelled to label Obama the Antichrist. I am disturbed by the number of people so eager to brand Obama “the One,” which interestingly enough was the title of a McCain ad that aired over the summer, hinting that the president-elect “may be the One.”
This is not the only instance in which a politician accused another for lacking in religious piety. Elizabeth Dole released a deeply offensive ad asserting that her opponent Kay Hagan was “godless” for attending an event regarding an atheist organization. Kay Hagan is not an atheist, and it should not be considered a problem if she were. A citizen does not have to believe in God to effectively function in any place of business or generally any medium of human interaction. Such logic implies that Osama bin Laden is better qualified to contribute to American society than an atheist. Fortunately, Dole’s disgusting “godless” ad was no more effective than McCain’s “the One” ad. Hagan defeated Dole in a resounding victory.
I find it ironic how few people cringed like I did in response to Sarah Palin’s belief that she was transcending her deity’s plan by running for office; it sounded to me like she had a much more extensive agenda than Obama regarding holiness, which is a major indication of the Antichrist in action.
I may be a little biased, but I find it much more likely that Palin is a savage wolf in sheep’s clothing, whether or not the Republican Party paid for her wardrobe. She “reinvigorated” the GOP and undoubtedly has plans to run in 2012, unless of course Obama manages to initiate Armageddon in his first term.
Politicians are projecting the narrow-mindedness that has quickly and vastly become this nation’s trademark. Words like “atheist” and “Muslim” carry connotations that stifle and offend. If a politician were atheist or Muslim, I don’t see the conflict. Perhaps I am again biased since I think we’re all equal and deserving of equality, but we’ve had plenty of Christian presidents who mucked up their jobs quite royally. From my understanding of history, the job description of whom should be qualified as president of the United States need not revolve around his or her religious background but overall ability to aid and support those in need.
Honestly, why worry about an Antichrist? We are nearing the fifth-year anniversary of a blatantly moronic war in which tens of thousands have been killed.
To be accurate, the death toll is between 89,111 and 97,276 deaths concerned solely with the Iraq war (www.iraqbodycount.org). One in eight Americans endured starvation last year. Equality continues to be treated as something that can simply be voted for or against. And yet countless citizens are unnerved by their superstitions and stupidities. Repeatedly, churches decry Obama as being a Muslim as if Christianity were untainted by a legacy of despotism and hedonistic war.
The number of letters in a person’s name should not serve as a warning of the world’s end. Global warming – the increasing power and frequency of hurricanes, the melting ice in the Poles, the spreading of diseases, the extinction of mass species – should be at the forefront of humanity’s concerns.
Ronald Wilson Reagan had 18 letters in his name too. Somehow, society overcame that potential Antichrist.
Must we continue belittling those who believe in a different deity or simply nature itself? Or shall we develop as a species and move forward to keep our world habitable?
The Dalai Lama said it best: “With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” We do not need a deity to build a better world.
We need each other.

Author