Moving Toward armageddon – Micheal Baigent
I believe that the author is viewing religion from a secular view in which religion with organization is not a good thing for him after all. If you read the whole book, it just criticizes all three main Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, by giving some sort of proves, and history. The main idea is that all three religion pay their attention on a place, a holy land called Jerusalem. Why this place is so important? This is because this place where all three religion apocalyptic view as a place where the messiah will come, and the final fight between the evil and the divine forces in Armageddon. I understand that the author’s approach is mainly want to convince the reader to know more about the radicalism of the three main religions, and also what will be in future if people embrace and involve deeply inside it. He is the one who stand for the truth that God may not be exist, and all the texts either from Torah, Bible, or even Koran, is just a piece of art that derive from imitation of others cult and culture. He would like to remind the people of America that don’t fanatic for Jesus, as if we do so, the world will be end very soon because of our radicalism. Islam wait for the Mahdi to come back in Jerusalem to reign the world from the capital, and fight with dajjh, which is the Antichrist. Christians are waiting for the second coming of Jesus, the rupture and judgment day, and reign in New Jerusalem. While the Jews waiting their messiah to come back to reign like a king, and rebuild the temple of Solomon for their God, Yahweh. All these makes conflict more complicated as, more radical group forms from each religion that will put the world at risk. After all, the author gave a grey ending for the book, which I think is like encourage us not to believe any one of it, the religion, and also mainly not religion is the matter, but the individualism is more appropriate, for the world now. I think this book had given me a very good perspective on the three religion in an secular’s eyes. Moreover, it is informative that gives us a lot of challenge that makes me have the initiative to find the truth myself as a Christian. It doesn’t bend down my beliefs but it stimulate and trigger my instinct to hold and protect my beliefs from the arrows and swords from the people which they against my God.
