Creating Armageddon out of Whole Cloth

We are witnessing a somewhat frightening phenomenon; the rapid rise of paranoia, fear and outright craziness among white, right-wing, evangelical, so-called "Christians". There has always been that element among us, the rural, less educated, lower intelligence, more radical "Christians", the holy rollers, the snake handlers, etc. Radical Christians have always longed for persecution like that of the early Christians, and when they can’t realize it they have always tried to invent it - but this is getting serious.

I see unsettling signs of a gathering storm, the stocking up of weapons, of ammo, freeze-dried food, and survival supplies. These people are apparently convinced that there are evil people in control of our government (Obama and his Muslim minions) who are intending to destroy the US, specifically to kill and imprison white “Christians”, or “Uhmurikins” if you prefer. They fantasize that "white" citizens will soon be attacked by our military, that there will be roving bands of human flesh-eating “zombies” created by some kind of virus or that there will simply be a civil war or a citizen’s rebellion pitting our military against United States “freedom” fighters akin to those uprisings we have seen in Egypt, Libya and now Syria. The “evidence” to support and stoke these fears is being spread by radical right-wing radio talk shows and websites like the madman, Glenn Beck.

There is good evidence that many of the conspiracy nuts among us are infected with at least a mild psychopathic disorder and actually look forward to a stimulating confrontation and shootout with those they unreasonably fear, disagree with or just don’t like because of skin color or ethnicity. A race war, “Christian whites” against just about anyone else, especially Muslims and Blacks, or a war between the right-wing and liberals would fulfill their sexual fantasies. After all, what purpose life if someone isn't out to get you? Jesus, pull the trigger.

In case you haven’t heard, one prime piece of evidence of Obama’s plan to enslave them is the claim that SSA and the DHS are purchasing arms in preparation for civil unrest. This was spurred by an order supposedly placed by those agencies for either 147,000 or 1.6 million rounds of hollow-point bullets (or any number in-between, whichever report you want to believe) for use by their armed officers. The government says this is standard ammo to re-supply the approximately 130,000 federal officers employed by these and other agencies. The wing-nuts would rather believe all this ammunition will be used to attack US citizens and enslave them.

Other claims are circulating that armored tanks are on order to be used against civilians and that FEMA is stockpiling body bags and caskets to hold the victims. The tank rumor is not true, as verified by Snopes.com, and instead of new tanks being ordered to use against citizens it was simply a contract entered into with manufacturers to repair and upgrade tanks being returned from duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, a standard maintenance activity. As for the mountains of caskets to bury you and your neighbors after the Obama machine kills you, the FEMA stockpiling of packaged meals, blankets and body bags is considered prudent in view of the possible catastrophes being predicted by climatologists and the charges that they have been ill-prepared for previous disasters.

Those Chicken Little alarmists who make a fortune spreading fear and those who manufacture weapons and survival supplies have a vested interest in creating a market for their wares. The vulnerable among us will always be prime targets for those with no morals or ethics when it comes to separating fools from their money.

That said, it is always prudent to not hide your head in the sand regarding the possibilities of a devastating interruption of our lives by some unforeseen or distantly possible catastrophe. Every family should take some minimal precautions and have emergency protection against prolonged power outage, disruption of the food supply chain, or – in a more realistic case – the hair-trigger eruption of right-wing crazies in your neighborhood that can’t wait to start shooting at phantom dangers including innocents who might simply be coming over to check on their neighbor’s welfare.

Call of Duty fantasies aside, you can own a weapon or two to guard against an intruder but you don’t need an AR 15. If you have to spray a hail of bullets to defend against an oncoming assault of crazies you are not going to last long regardless. This ain’t a video game and you ain’t Alex Mason.