We all should be as scared as Woody Allen in “Annie Hall” [FN1] in a car driven by a man who just had confided to Allen’s character suicidal impulses. [FN2] U.S. commanders told personnel that U.S. attacks on Iran were “part of God’s plan.” [FN3] 1/13

We should be angry. One sub-set of one religion has key positions of control over our military. The U.S. was not created as a Christian nation. [FN4] Separation of church & State has been part of our system since before the Bill of Rights was ratified. [FN5] There’s more. 2/13

Hegseth, et al, are almost giddy that they have control over nuclear weapons in these “end times.” [FN6] THIS IS NOT BIBLICAL. If people are going to carry out murderous bombings of other countries & kill people here in the streets, we have a right to call out [bulls***]. 3/13

The bogus construct known as “rapture” was not mentioned before 1830. Christian authorities for that statement are numerous. [FN7] John Nelson Darby, a co-founder of Plymouth Brethren came up w/that notion. [FN8] Today “Rapture” theology makes big money. [FN9] 4/13

A high-profile advocate was Hal Lindsey: his “Late, Great Planet Earth” made him millions & enabled him to have offices in “a posh Santa Monica high-rise for the personal management firm that sinks his royalties into long-term real estate investments.” [FN10] 5/13

Under the 1st Amendment, the truth or falsity of a religious belief and the sincerity of believers are safe from examination by any government. [FN11] Once someone grabs weapons & is giddy about blowing up the World, the rest of us have a right to call it what it is. 6/13

Footnotes:
FN1. “Annie Hall” (1977), MGM/UA, directed by Allen and starring Diane Keeton, who won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role. 7/13

FN2. Given that U.S. military attacks on Iran appear to be an attempt by trump to divert attention from release of the Epstein files, reference to a work by a person (Allen) who was often a guest of Epstein, at least to dinners in NYC, seems germane. 8/13

FN3. See, Jonathan Larsen, “U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for ‘Armageddon,’ Return of Jesus,” Jonathan Larsen’s Substack, 03/02/26, accessed 3/3/26.
FN4. See, CDN, 7/1/25.
FN5. See, Proceedings of the first ratification convention of North Carolina. Hillsborough. 4 Elliott’s Debates, pp. 191-200. 9/13

FN6. “Armageddon”: “unrestricted euphoria [over] ‘biblically-sanctioned’ war is clearly the undeniable sign of ... the fundamentalist Christian ‘End Times’ as vividly described in the New Testament Book of Revelation.” See, Larsen at FN3. 10/13

FN7. E.g., “For 2,000 years, the Orthodox Church has taught one Second Coming, one Resurrection, and one people of God. The Rapture isn’t part of that — and never was.” Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America's Post, 7/8/25, accessed 3/4/26. 11/ 13

FN8 “Where did he [Darby] get it? The reviewer's answer would be that it was in the air in the 1820s and 1830s among eager students of unfulfilled prophecy". (F. F. Bruce, Book Review of "The Unbelievable Pre-Trib Origin" in The Evangelical Quarterly, (Vol. XLVII, No. 1). 12/13

FN9. Tim Beal, “The Rise of Rapture Horror Culture,” 43 HUMANITIES 4 (Fall 2022), 10/27/22, accessed 3/5/26.
FN10. Erin A Smith, “The Late Great Planet Earth Made the Apocalypse a Popular Concern,” 38 Humanities 1 (Winter 2017), accessed 3/3/26.
FN11. U.S. v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78 (1944). 13