Russia Threatens Poland With a Nuclear Strike

I am shocked and disturbed when I consider what Americans focus their energies on in regards to what may be considered "news worthy." Sure, it is natural to be self centered. It is important to follow the pedantic and baseless speeches made by our presidential nominees. It is important to watch their ridiculous pep rallies conventions. It is important to keep tabs on Miley Cyrus gas prices.

If anyone has followed this blog for a while, they will know I have been wary at times of things going on over in Easter Europe. The fact that Iran and Russia (two nations led by outspokenly anti-American megalomaniacs) are becoming increasingly "buddy-buddy." You could have cut the tension between Bush and Putin at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics with a knife!

So I could not have been more alarmed when I read about the US's latest endeavor: Setting up a defensive missile base on Polish territory. The conservative Polish (one of two nations being stinkers about the European Union), easily obliged the wishes of the US. Upon hearing the news of this new base close to their soil, General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the Russian armed forces' deputy chief of staff stated:

“Poland, by deploying [the system] is exposing itself to a strike - 100 per cent,” he was quoted as saying, before explaining that Russian military doctrine sanctioned the use of nuclear weapons “against the allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them.”

Yeah...who threatens another country action anymore!?!? And we all thought the cold war was over...

Russian Doomsday Cult

I was impressed with myself when recently I was offered the opportunity to join a local religious cult. Yes, I have arrived.

I have long been fascinated by the belief systems of modern cults. I admire their tenacity and commitment to belief. Labeling a movement as a "cult" and all the implicit negative connotations that accompany the term is risky, since it is such a subjective label. And besides, all the characteristics of a "cult" are evidenced in early Christianity: Extremist (at least in perception), living in unconventional manner under the guidance of a charismatic leader, esoteric, apocalyptic focus...

With all the cults that have popped up in recent years (Koresh, Heaven's Gates, Jones), I think America assumes we own the market on all things cult-ish. Not so. Enjoy the pictures of the Russian doomsday cult that, until recently, has been holed up in a cave awaiting the end of the world, which they believe is coming in May. The group believes, among other things, that barcodes are evil--a sign of the beast, refuse to consume processed food, and believe that credit cards are from Satan. The group, a splinter sect of the Russian, are absolutely devoted to God, and left the bunker only after melting snow caused collapse.

Cult members leaving bunker with emergency workers.

Pyoder Kuznetsov, leader of the sect.


Cult members.

Inside the cave where members lived for six months.

Entrance to the cave.

Home where cult members now reside.

Crosses outside the cults home.

Random Stuff

1. I recently read an interesting blog post about Hell, so I thought I would post a picture of my dog, Oscar, who looks somewhat like a demon. Sometimes I get the impression others find my blog boring so I thought this might spice things up a bit.
2. Last night I saw an old Seinfeld episode in which a character consistently spoke in third person ("Jimmy's new in town...Jimmy likes you too...etc.") and have decided to speak in the third person here and there in this blog. Ivan thinks it is a good idea, do you?
3. Did you know that 1 in 100 American adults are behind bars? That's 230 million adults. Beurocrats blame poverty. Michael Moore blames a dysfunctional health care system. Last night Ivan watched 3:10 to Yuma. Subsequently he had a strange desire to rob a stagecoach to pay off his mortgage. Ivan wanders if that has anything to do with it?
4. Ivan apologizes for not being a faithful blogger recently, but will be putting up three posts (at least) next week on interesting topics--at least they are interesting to him. (The Rapture, Sola Scriptura, and poverty and abortion).
5. Ben Stein has a new documentary coming out on an interesting subject. Unfortunately, the trailer pitches the film with a conspiracy theory flavor. The last conspiracy theory film Ivan watched and all its pseudo-scholarship has Ivan doubting whether he will actually watch Stein's film. If you end up watching it and find it breathtaking, let Ivan know.
6. Tommorrow Russia will elect a successor to Putin, who served two terms characterized by unbridled popularity. There is little contention that Putin's man, Medvedev will win. Ivan finds it relieving to set aside his ethnocentricity and offer up a prayer for an election not so close to home.
7. Abstaining from meat in this Lentin Season has been a bit more difficult than Ivan expected--but far more spiritually centering than he expected.
   

Russia, America, Iran, and...Jesus?

Apparently, Ronald Reagen was more of a fundamentalist than I had initially given him credit for. It is alleged that the actor-turned-president fostered quite the relationship with Jerry Falwell, a well known dispensationalist personality in 1980's. The relationship progressed into Reagan's buying into Falwell's eschatology, which stated that the battle of Armageddon was at hand including a critical skirmish with the Soviet Union. Thus, the arms race, the cold war, and neon leotards...ok, not the leotards. This is the theory put forth by Campolo who goes so far as to blame Falwell for the Cold War--a stern warning against the politics of religion, but perhaps Tony went too far.

Ancient history...right? Not quite. But we sure seem to have forgotten.

After Boris Yeltsin gave the preverbial boot to USSR-esque socialism in favor of a more American open-ended capitalism, Joe Shmoe American has decided to forget the silent superpower, especially recently. The imminent concern for upcoming elections, the war in Iraq, and Britney Spear's divorce and custody woes has certainly misdirrected our focus.

But what does the American/Russian relationship look like today? Just like it was before power was handed over to Vladmir Putin? I think not. The current ex-KJB president does tend to favor and revert back to older ideals but that is not the only correlation. It should be no surprise that relations are strained in light of the involvement of the US in the Middle East. It is common knowledge that Putin is sympathetic of what the US deems terrorist nations. As Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad buddy-up, talk of partnerships involving transit, oil, and nuclear powerplants surface--definitely not music to the ears of the current administration.

Campolo suggests that the war in Iraq is fueled by dispensationalists who feel in order to hasten the return of Jesus Christ, Israel must be protected and sustained. According to this theory, (Zionism) post WWII US government was the tool of God in returning Jews to the Holy Land, and has been crucial in their sustenance to this day. Theorists like Campolo believe that Conservative, White, Upper Class Christians have wielded secret power to ensure this, and terrorist groups like those responsible for 911 attacks are fueled by this knowledge.

Whether this is true or not, relations with Russia are at stake. Recently Putin spoke out publicly against the US and its foriegn policy. He condemned America's action, reinforced his willingness to help expand Iran's nuclear capability, and issued a stern warning to the US that any attempt to grab Russia's wealth of fossil fuels was an idea equal to "political erotica."

There doesn't seem to be much difference between 1985 and 2007 besides the lack of interest in maintaining a cordial US/Russian relationship, both by American media and American citizens.