The Obama-Nation that Causes Desolation

Christian Newswire:

John McCain's campaign ad "The One" has generated a lot of buzz regarding the Left Behind series [pious fictionalizations of a Christian apocalypse]. Political commentators are comparing McCain's portrayal of competitor Barack Obama with the blockbuster apocalyptic series' depiction of the antichrist. But even the series authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins don't think Obama is the antichrist.

Well thank the gods someone has finally had the guts to put out a viral video implying his political opponent is the anti-Christ. All aboard the Straight Talk express!

Amoral Rovian tactics aside, this is a rather clever strategy. McCain cannot come across as convincingly born-again like George II, but he can subtly and deniably spread the meme among credulous evangelicals that Obama is the anti-Christ, “The One.” Having followed Evangelical Christian apocalypticism for years before LaHaye started “writing” his novels (the first of which I actually slogged through) I caught the undertones of this video the very first time that I saw it. Nevertheless, the video breakdown and analysis from TIME magazine notes several particular symbols and allusions which may be easily missed.

Genes, Memes, Temes

It would seem that the brilliant minds over at TED are catching up with the speculative fiction of Ghost in the Shell and only a decade or so after the original prophecy:

Project 2501: It can also be argued that DNA is nothing more than a program designed to preserve itself. Life has become more complex in the overwhelming sea of information. And life, when organized into species, relies upon genes to be its memory system. So, man is an individual only because of his intangible memory... and memory cannot be defined, but it defines mankind. The advent of computers, and the subsequent accumulation of incalculable data has given rise to a new system of memory and thought parallel to your own. Humanity has underestimated the consequences of computerization.

Genes – a genetic “program designed to preserve itself”

Memes – “intangible memory” which “defines mankind”

Temes – “a new system of memory and thought parallel to your own”

How are all three concepts fundamentally similar? You'll have to watch the video for yourself. (If you happen to be reading this on an iPhone, here is the lower-quality YouTube version.)