The subject line, "the end of the world", reminded me of a recent article written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. concerning the horrible Bush environmental record. Kennedy is an environmental lawyer and made an interesting point regarding Reagan's former Secretary of the Interior, James Watt:

"Watt was a proponent of "dominion theology," an authoritarian Christian heresy that advocates man's duty to "subdue" nature. His deep faith in laissez-faire capitalism and apocalyptic Christianity led Secretary Watt to set about dismantling his department and distributing its assets rather than managing them for future generations. During a Senate hearing, he cited the approaching Apocalypse to explain why he was giving away America's sacred places at fire-sale prices: "I do not know how many future generations we can count on before the Lord returns."

Back to Peter T. : Given the central role that Christianity plays among the Bushies,  fundamentalist Christianity to be specific, I wonder if "The Rapture" (the lunatic belief that these people embrace that God will magically transport all of the righteous to Heaven, leaving the heathen rest of us to live during the dark, troubled end days) has a role in their formation of public policy. I mean, who cares if the environment is going to shit, or the national debt, if it's only a matter of time before God pulls the plug on his earthly experiment. Perhaps I am making a connection that doesn't exist (if I start capitalizing my key points you can start worrying about me) but I do wonder if James Watt was a harbinger of our current administration.

Peter T.