Implosion

by Joel C. Rosenberg

  [110] The 46-million figure comes from British historian Martin Gilbert, though he himself acknowledges the number could be significantly higher. See Martin Gilbert, The Second World War: A Complete History (New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1989), p. 746. American historian Gerhard L. Weinberg believes the number of total deaths worldwide was at least 60 million. See Gerhard L. Weinberg, A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1994), p. 894.

  [111] See “Historic World Earthquakes,” U.S. Geological Survey, accessed September 2, 2011, http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/historical_mag_big.php.

  [112] See “Earthquakes with 50,000 or More Deaths,” U.S. Geological Survey, accessed September 2, 2011, http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/most_destructive.php.

  [113] See “Historic World Earthquakes,” U.S. Geological Survey.

  [114] The deadliest quake in all of recorded human history occurred in AD 1556 in China. See “Earthquakes with 50,000 or More Deaths,” U.S. Geological Survey.

  [115] See “Earthquakes with 50,000 or More Deaths,” U.S. Geological Survey.

  [116] Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House (New York: Center Street/Hachette Book Group USA, 2007), p. vii.

  [117] The JESUS Film Project, “History,” accessed on September 1, 2011, http://www.jesusfilm.org/aboutus/history.

  [118] See Lawrence O’Donnell, The Last Word, video segment discussing Glenn Beck and the End Times, March 17, 2011, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/42141858#42141858 and Jonathon M. Seidl, “Wacky MSNBC Segment: Lawrence O’Donnell Begs for Viewers While Blasting Beck & Bible,” The Blaze website, March 18, 2011, http://www.theblaze.com/stories/wacky-msnbc-segment-lawrence-odonnell-begs-for-viewers-while-blasting-beck-god/.

  [119] Gershom Gorenberg, The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount (New York: The Free Press, 2000, updated by Oxford University Press in 2002), pp. 1–4, 223.

  [120] Bill Moyers, On Receiving Harvard Medical School’s Global Environmental Citizen Award,” speech, Harvard University Center for Health and the Global Environment, New York City, December 1, 2004, http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1206-10.htm.

  [121] Kevin Phillips, American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century (New York: Viking Books, 2006), pp. vii, 252.

  [122] Nicholas Guyatt, Have a Nice Doomsday: Why Millions of Americans Are Looking Forward to the End of the World (New York: Harper Perennial, 2007), p. 63.

  [123] Ibid., pp. 18, 91–92.

  [124] Clark Clifford (with Richard Holbrooke), Counsel to the President: A Memoir (New York: Random House, 1991), p. 3.

  [125] Ibid., p. 3.

  [126] Ibid., p. 4.

  [127] Ibid.

  [128] Ibid., p. 5.

  [129] Ibid., p. 10.

  [130] Ibid., pp. 10–14.

  [131] Ibid., p. 14.

  [132] For example, in his 1997 book, Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers), Michael T. Benson of the University of Utah wrote, “The role President Truman may or may not have played in lining up votes supporting partition is still a matter of considerable controversy. Even vocal critics of Truman’s alleged ‘arm-twisting’ concede that if the president did give the order to step up lobbying efforts days before the U.N. vote, no records of such an injunction can be found anywhere” (p. 105).

  [133] David McCullough, Truman (New York: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1992), pp. 601–602.

  [134] McCullough wrote, “It was in late 1947, on Saturday, November 29, over the Thanksgiving weekend, that the United Nations, at the end of a dramatic two-and-a-half-hour session, voted for partition by a narrow margin, the United States taking a lead part behind the scenes to see the measure through. . . . Eddie Jacobson recorded in telegraphic style his own chronicle of the unfolding drama: ‘Nov. 6th—Wash.—Pres. still going all out for Palestine. Nov. 17th—Again to White House. . . . Wed., 26—Received call from White House—everything O.K. Nov. 27—Thanksgiving. Sent two-page wire to Truman. Friday, received call from his secretary . . . not to worry. Nov. 29th—Mission accomplished.’ Truman, Jacobson noted, had told him that ‘he [Truman] and he alone was responsible for swinging the votes of several delegations’” (pp. 601–602).

  [135] For more details on the Partition Plan, including the full text of the resolution and the list of countries voting for and against, see the website of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Guide%20to%20the%20Peace%20Process/UN%20General%20Assembly%20Resolution%20181.

  [136] Clifford and Holbrooke, p. 15.

  [137] Ibid., p. 22.

  [138] Truman gave this speech to the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in March 1952. The speech was cited by Samuel W. Rushay Jr., “Harry Truman’s History Lessons,” Prologue, Spring 2009, http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2009/spring/truman-history.html.

  [139] Billy Graham, Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham (New York: HarperCollins, 1997). See the introduction for Graham’s description of President Truman.

  [140] Clifford and Holbrooke, pp. 7–8.

  [141] Benjamin Netanyahu, “Address at Auschwitz Death Camp,” January 27, 2010; see transcript at Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Speeches+by+Israeli+leaders/2010/Address_PM_Netanyahu_at_Auschwitz_27-Jan-2010.htm.

  [142] Tim LaHaye, Understanding Bible Prophecy for Yourself (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2009), p. 94.

  [143] Thomas Ice, “Imminence and the Rapture: Part I,” accessed December 29, 2011, http://www.pre-trib.org/data/pdf/Ice-%28Part1%29ImminenceandT.pdf. As part of his definition, Ice cited Gerald B. Stanton, Kept from the Hour: Biblical Evidence for the Pretribulational Return of Christ, 4th edition (Miami Springs, FL: Schoettle Publishing Co., [1956], 1991), p. 108.

  [144] Justin Berton, “Biblical Scholar’s Date for Rapture: May 21, 2011,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 1, 2010, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/01/BA8V1AV589.DTL&type=printable; see also Guy Adams, “U.S. Preacher Warns End of the World Is Nigh: 21 May, around 6 p.m., to Be Precise,” Independent, March 27, 2011, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-preacher-warns-end-of-the-world-is-nigh-21-may-around-6pm-to-be-precise-2254139.html.

  [145] Jay Kernis, “Camping Prepares for Judgment Day,” In the Arena (blog), CNN, May 17, 2011, http://inthearena.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/17/harold-camping-prepares-for-judgment-day-may-21-2011/.

  [146] See Annalyn Censky, “Doomsday Church: Still Open for Business,” CNN Money, May 19, 2011, http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/19/news/economy/may-21-end-of-the-world-finances-harold-camping/index.htm.

  [147] Jesse McKinley, “An Autumn Date for the Apocalypse,” New York Times, May 23, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/us/24rapture.html?_r=1.

  [148] See David Morgan, “Rapture Predictor Harold Camping Suffers Stroke,” CBS News, June 13, 2011, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/13/national/main20070762.shtml; see also Angela Woodall, “Doomsday Herald Harold Camping’s Radio Show Goes Off the Air at the End of the Month,” Oakland Tribune, June 23, 2011, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2738817/posts.

  [149] Harold Camping, 1994? (New York: Vantage Press, 1992), p. 532.

  [150] Edgar C. Whisenant, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 (Nashville: World Bible Society, 1988), p. 3.

  [151] Ibid., pp. 48, 50.

  [152] Ibid., p. 69.

  [153] Edgar Whisenant and Greg Brewer, The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989 (Nashville: World Bible Society, 1989), p. ii.

  [154] Ibid., p. 1.

  [155] Hal Lindsey and C. C. Carlson, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970), p. 54.

  [156] Hal Lindsey, The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon (New York: Bantam Books, 1982), p. i.

  [157] See Gary Wilburn, “The Dooms
day Chic,” Christianity Today, January 27, 1978.

  [158] Hal Lindsey, Planet Earth 2000 A.D.: Will Mankind Survive? (Palos Verdes: Western Front Ltd, 1994, 1996), sixth page of his unnumbered introduction.

  [159] Ibid., pp. 307–308.

  [160] For more details on the prophecies of Ezekiel 38–39, including historical research that helps us identify Russia as Magog and the modern-day identity of Russia’s allies, please see my book Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2006).

  [161] The nation of India is also mentioned twice in the Bible (in Esther 1:1 and Esther 8:9, in defining the size and scope of the ancient Persian Empire under King Ahasuerus), though not in the context of Bible prophecy.

  [162] E. G. White, America in Prophecy (Jemison, AL: Inspiration Books East, Inc., 1888, republished in 1988), pp. 410–411.

  [163] Herbert W. Armstrong, The United States and Britain in Prophecy (Worldwide Church of God, 1942), pp. 3–4.

  [164] S. Franklin Logsdon, Is the U.S.A. in Prophecy? (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1968), pp. 11, 13.

  [165] Thomas Ice and Timothy Demy, The Truth about America in the Last Days (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1998), p. 9.

  [166] David R. Reagan, America the Beautiful? The United States in Bible Prophecy (McKinney, TX: Lamb & Lion Ministries, 2003, 2006, 2009), pp. 76–78.

  [167] Michael D. Evans, The American Prophecies: Ancient Scriptures Reveal Our Nation’s Future (New York: Warner Faith, 2004), p. 5.

  [168] Terry James, The American Apocalypse: Is the United States in Bible Prophecy? (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2009), p. 19.

  [169] Mark Hitchcock, The Late Great United States: What Bible Prophecy Reveals about America’s Last Days (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books, 2009).

  [170] David Wilkerson, America’s Last Call (Lindale, TX: Wilkerson Trust Publications, 1998), p. 17.

  [171] A. P. Watchman, Reaping the Whirlwind: The Imminent Judgment of Babylon America (Xulon Press, 2010), pp. 246, 268.

  [172] Hitchcock, The Late Great United States, p. 15.

  [173] Jeffrey Gettleman, “Babylon Awaits an Iraq Without Fighting,” New York Times, April 18, 2006.

  [174] Ali Abdul Ameer Allawi (Iraqi finance minister), interview with the author, April 26, 2006.

  [175] Joel C. Rosenberg, “U.S. to Help Rebuild City of Babylon in Iraq,” Flash Traffic (blog), February 14, 2009, http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/us-to-help-rebuild-city-of-babylon-in-iraq/. See also Khalid al-Ansary, “Babylon’s Future Written in its Ruins,” Reuters, February 11, 2009, http://uk.reuters.com/article/2009/02/11/us-iraq-babylon-idUKTRE51A0MM20090211.

  [176] See Steven Lee Myers, “A Triage to Save the Ruins of Babylon,” New York Times, January 2, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/arts/03babylon.html?_r=2; Joel C. Rosenberg, “Iraqi Efforts to Rebuild Babylon & Draw Tourists to Hebrew Prophet Ezekiel’s Tomb Focus of New York Times Article, Videos This Week,” Flash Traffic (blog), January 6, 2011, http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/iraqi-efforts-rebuild-babylon-draw-tourists-to-hebrew-prophet-ezekiels-tomb-focus-of-new-york-times-articles-videos-this-week/.

  [177] Myers, “A Triage to Save the Ruins of Babylon.” See also Steven Lee Myers, Stephen Farrell, Shiho Fukada, “A Tour of Iraq’s Ancient Sites,” New York Times, January 2, 2011, http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/a-tour-of-iraqs-ancient-sites/?ref=arts.

  [178] For more detail on why some authors and teachers have argued these points and why they are incorrect, I recommend Mark Hitchcock, The Late Great United States (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah Books, 2009), pp. 11–33.

  [179] Dana Blanton, “Fox News Poll: 79% Say U.S. Economy Could Collapse,” FoxNews.com, March 23, 2010, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/23/fox-news-poll-say-economy-collapse/.

  [180] Specifically, 48 percent of Americans believe a Great Depression is coming. See “CNN Poll: Obama Approval Rating Drops as Fears of Depression Rise,” Political Ticker (blog), June 8, 2011, http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/08/cnn-poll-obama-approval-rating-drops-as-fears-of-depression-rise/.

  [181] See Steve Holland, “Most Americans Say U.S. on Wrong Track: Poll,” Reuters, August 10, 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/10/us-usa-poll-idUSTRE7794EX20110810.

  [182] See Ciera Lundgren, “Bowles: ‘These Deficits Are Like a Cancer,’” CBS News, September 13, 2011, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20105714-503544.html; see also Dan Balz, “Obama’s Debt Commission Warns of Fiscal ‘Cancer,’” Washington Post, July 12, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/11/AR2010071101956.html.

  [183] Michael Crowley, “Deficit Dilemma: Will Washington Finally Tackle the Sacred Cows?,” Time, December 2, 2010, http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2034358,00.html#ixzz1Xw37VXIh.

  [184] Testimony of Professor Simon Johnson to the Senate Budget Committee, February 9, 2010, http://baselinescenario.com/2010/02/09/revised-baseline-scenario-february-9-2010/.

  [185] Nouriel Roubini, “A Presidency Heading for a Fiscal Train Wreck,” Financial Times, October 28, 2010, http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/dd140d16-e2c2-11df-8a58-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1XJFgtU82; see also “U.S. On Track for ‘Fiscal Train Wreck’: Roubini,” Reuters, October 29, 2010, http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/10/29/us-roubini-idUSTRE69S0ZJ20101029.

  [186] Testimony of Alice Rivlin to the Senate Budget Committee, March 15, 2011, http://www.brookings.edu/testimony/2011/0315_senate_budget_rivlin.aspx.

  [187] Stuart Butler, et al, “Saving the American Dream: The Heritage Plan to Fix the Debt, Cut Spending, and Restore Prosperity,” The Heritage Foundation, Special Report #91, May 10, 2011, http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2011/05/Saving-the-American-Dream-The-Heritage-Plan-to-Fix-the-Debt-Cut-Spending-and-Restore-Prosperity.

  [188] Paul Ryan, interview by Evan Harris, “Rep. Paul Ryan on Budget Work: ‘I Sleep Well at Night,’” ABC News, April 30, 2011, http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/rep-paul-ryan-budget-work-sleep-night/story?id=13499775.

  [189] David Brody, “Speaker Boehner to NRB Tonight: National Debt Is a ‘Moral Threat’ to America,” The Brody File (blog), CBN News, February 27, 2011, http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2011/02/27/speaker-boehner-to-nrb-tonight-national-debt-is-a-moral.aspx.

  [190] “Employment Situation Summary,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, September 2, 2011, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.

  [191] Dan Levy and Prashant Gopal, “Foreclosure Filings in U.S. May Jump 20% from Record 2010 As Crisis Peaks,” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-13/u-s-foreclosure-filings-may-jump-20-this-year-as-crisis-peaks.html.

  [192] Les Christie, “Foreclosures Up a Record 81% in 2008,” CNN Money, January 15, 2009, http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/15/real_estate/millions_in_foreclosure/index.htm.

  [193] Lynn Adler, “U.S. 2009 Foreclosures Shatter Record despite Aid,” Reuters, January 14, 2010, http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/01/14/us-usa-housing-foreclosures-idUSTRE60D0LZ20100114.

  [194] Corbett B. Daly, “Home Foreclosures in 2010 Top 1 Million for First Time,” Reuters, January 13, 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/13/us-usa-housing-foreclosures-idUSTRE70C0YD20110113.

  [195] Leah Schnurr, “Foreclosure Filings Hit Four-Year Low in 2011,” Reuters, January 12, 2012, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/12/us-usa-housing-realtytrac-idUSTRE80B08H20120112.

  [196] John Gittelsohn and Kathleen M. Howley, “U.S. Home Prices Face 3-Year Drop as Inventory Surge Looms,” Bloomberg, September 15, 2010, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-15/u-s-home-prices-face-three-year-drop-as-inventory-surge-looms.html.

  [197] Floyd Norris, “For Home Prices, It’s Back to At Least 2004,” New York Times, July 1, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/business/02charts.html.

  [198] Charles Riley, “Fed: Household Down 23% in 2 Years,” CNN Money, March 28, 2011, http://money.cnn.com
/2011/03/24/pf/financial_crisis_outcome/index.htm.

  [199] See chart, “Annual Business and Non-business Filings by Year (1980–2009),” American Bankruptcy Institute, http://www.abiworld.org/AM/AMTemplate.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=63164&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm; also, John Hartgen, “Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Increase 9 Percent in 2010,” American Bankruptcy Institute, January 3, 2011, http://www.abiworld.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=62756.

  [200] Richard McCormack, “The Plight of American Manufacturing,” The American Prospect, December 21, 2009, http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_plight_of_american_manufacturing.

  [201] Blake Ellis, “Food Stamp Use Rises to Record 45.8 Million,” CNN Money, August 4, 2011, http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/04/pf/food_stamps_record_high/index.htm.