July 4, 2004 by s.z.

For extra credit, interpret the above banner.  Here's mine: As indicated by their white clothing, Laura and George are dead.  However, the dark yet fiery scene on the right shows that they didn't make it to heaven.  No, they are in the pit, where there is weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, and burning of American flags for all eternity.  While this seems like kind of a harsh judgment on Laura and George, since it comes from Bush-Cheney '04 (noted for their outreach to the evangelicals), I guess we have to accept it. 7:31:27 PM

Oracle Cartoon: Where Religion and Politics Meet, Have Bastard Children, and End up Dying in Murder/Suicide Pact Happy 4th of July, even to those of you who may be Canadian or inhabitants of socia-secularist Europe, like Seb of Sadly, No!, who stole our precious. In commemoration of the day, I'll try to come up with some red, while, and blue content.  To start with, let's examine today's Hal Lindsey's Oracle Cartoon (as recomended by 4 out of 5 dentists, and Pete of The Dark Window: The Cartoon: A middle-eastern man holds hands with a boy under crossed swords with a French-looking flag on top; they are looking Barbie's Dream Iraqi Village, and not at the sky, where Democracy and Freedom have exploded. Underneath the scene is this Bible verse:  "Do not call to mind former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold, I will do something new . . . I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert."  Isaiah 43:18-19. Analysis: I'll leave it you noted textual scholars to explain this cartoon, but I do want to share with you Isaiah 43:14, which gives some context for the verses cited by cartoonist John Rule: Thus saith the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. So, this section is about how God has brought down the nobles of Babylon (Iraq), and also the Chaldeans (the Iranians), for the sake of Israel.  So, if we use Isaiah to interpret this cartoon, the "liberation" of Iraq wasn't about helping this Iraqi man and his son; no, it was about helping eliminate the threat to Israel posed by Saddam, so that Israel can attempt to regain all of its Biblical territory, causing the forces of the anti-Christ to unite against it, thus ushering in Christ's second coming.  No wonder the man and the boy don't look up at the fireworks -- they know that they're not for them.  Prediction: Pencil in October 12, 2007 for Armageddon (note: this date may change, pending on whether Bush is reelected or not). 7:00:42 PM