End of God Days Seems Like End of Days

Submitted by Alex (United States), Nov 12, 2008 at 16:20

I don't know if I believe in an end of days or a messiah (or an anti-messianic figure), but it does seem at least comforting to see the election of Barack Obama and the current chiliasm prevailing in the Muslim world--in addition to the absence of any fourth great totalitarian ideology that could follow Islamism after a world war with Iran in the near future--through the lens of an apocalypse, or at least the ending of an important era.

In another way though, the absence of any ideological barriers to American liberal values around the world after Islamism perishes in a bang--combined with our unprecedented unipolar military and economic strength--makes me think that an Obama presidency will be the last gasp of both third-world ideologies and the Western illiberals who are too ashamed to use our greatest power to confront them.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".