Trailer for Mark of the Beast movie

(Video link) "A time is coming when Christians will be monitored, their actions tracked, their lives numbered, and their faith tested." Mark of the Beast is presented by Jack Van Impe Ministries International, which also has an online gallery of lurid paintings depicting scenes from the The Book of the Revelation to John.

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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The Snowden Principle

efalk

It’s projection. They fantasize about what they would do to the rest of us if they could. That’s why theocracies are a bad idea.
- Kimmo
  
  It’s projection. They fantasize about what they would do to the rest of us if they could. That’s why theocracies are a bad idea.
  
  I’m afraid that rings all too true… these nutbag evangelists or whatever are a malevolent blight.
  
  And that’s far from the only reason theocracies are a bad idea, BTW…
Enormo

1. The film represents only one potential interpretation of events presented in the Bible, specifically in the book of Revelation. While the view in the film is most popular amongst evangelicals, it is not the only one and is not the oldest held interpretation of eschatological events presented in Revelation. Amillennialism and Post-millenialism are very different from the Pre-millennial view depicted in the film.

So, they chose to be victims. Awesome.

2. Just because you fill out â€œChristianâ€ on a government form, doesnâ€™t mean youâ€™re a Christian. Churches have plenty of people who attend for many reasons that have nothing to do with a life changing trust in Christ. Many that claim to be a Christian believe that attending church, â€œbeing goodâ€ and checking the box on a form makes you a Christian. It doesnâ€™t.

So you’re the arbitor of the real Christians vs. the fake Christians? How do the “fake” Christians feel about this?

And, tell me, when a religion-fueled anti-gay piece of legislation is inevitably trotted out by a Christian politician will only the real Christians support it? Or will it only be supported by the fake Christians? Or will the real Christians just discount the support of the fake Christians?

3. However, Christians do have it easy in this country when compared to other countries where persecution is more early Roman in nature. Social ostracism, imprisonment and death are not uncommon in some nations, and those are the places where oneâ€™s faith is tested. American Christians are unlikely to experience that anytime soon, much to the disappointment of some of you.

When the persecuted Christians around the world achieve their freedom I hope they have the sense to let those who are not like them live in peace.

And no. Won’t be disapointed is Christians aren’t persecuted. Just want you to leave us alone. Seriously, just… leave… us… alone.

4. Understand the perception of persecution is based on the belief (well founded, I think) that societyâ€™s values have gradually eroded over the years. Ethical guidelines based on the character of God presented in the Bible have and are being replaced with subjectivism and relativism. The cultureâ€™s values and norms oppose those of God. In the eyes of many Christians, the truth is being replaced with a lie.

“Society’s” values have gradually eroded? Wait… you mean *your* values have gradually eroded in society. Because IMO civil rights seem to have been going in a pretty good direction since the founding of this country.

5. I find it odd that those who hold a world view that opposes actions such as murder, theft, adultery and jealousy and espouses virtues such as treating others the way youâ€™d like to be treated, could be held in such contempt by so many. Now do you wonder why Christians feel persecuted?

Oh Jesus.
- Palefire
  
  Nothing either one of us could say is going to change either of our perspectives on Christianity, so I won’t go down that path.
  
  I can see you have a deep and abiding hatred for anything or anyone Christian.
  
  That’s your right.
  
  I will concede you are correct on one point, you indicated in item 4 that “my” or “Christian” values had eroded. You are correct, I should have made that distinction.
rotundo

I somewhat understand they have to put on this show to sync “reality” with some of their favorite magical fairy tales, but come on! America? This country is run by extremist Christians to begin with!!! WTF!?
Anonymous

If the vast majority of “Christians” (or rather, Christists) took as many pains to POLICE their own lunatic violent fringe as they did to wail and gnash their teeth at their imagined persecution, we wouldn’t have to worry about how awful they behave and represent themselves to the world.
iamanumlaut

“A time is coming when Christians will be monitored, their actions tracked, their lives numbered, and their faith tested.”

I wonder how many Christian “liked” the trailer on Facebook.
Flying_Monkey

A friend of mine wrote an academic article on the Left Behind series called ‘The Marketing of the Beast’, which I thought was a pretty classy title…
Baldhead

I noticed that “New World Order” is a phrase that fundies and conservatives have trotted out as a bad thing in recent years- even though it was their leaders who started using it first. It’s as if the suddenly realised that maybe they wouldn’t be the ones in charge in the New World Order.
Anonymous

Why did they arrest Joe from Blue’s Clues?
Anonymous

I truly don’t understand the persecution complex of modern day Christians. Nearly 80% of Americans identify themselves as Christian. How can you fear The Man when you are The Man?
- mdh
  
  have you seen what we (the Man) have been up to? I sure feel we ought to fear ourselves.
Anonymous

Sign me up to help with the monitoring, the tracking, the numbering AND the faith testing.
ASAP
sloverlord

All I can do is shake my head when the fundies go on and on about “Christian persecution in America” when Christians make up, like, four-fifths of the population. You poor, defenseless, oppressed people.

I remember reading a pamphlet, or maybe it was a Jack Chick comic, given to me on the street that said something like, “These days, calling yourself a Christian is just about enough to land you in a mental institution”, and I was thinking that anyone who seriously believes that probably should be in a mental institution, which is at least two levels of meta-irony.
- Gyrofrog
  
  “All I can do is shake my head when the fundies go on and on about ‘Christian persecution in America’ when Christians make up, like, four-fifths of the population.”
  
  Yes, but dozens/hundreds of different denominations (presumably) can’t all be right (e.g. see restorationism, “One True Church,” excommunication etc.). So (presumably) some or all denominations are (presumably) seen as apostates by some Christians.
  
  Christianity might account for 4/5 of the US population, but there’s probably a long tail of smaller churches that individually account for 1/80000 of the US population, and if it’s them against everything/everyone else (Methodists, Catholics, Wahabbists, Unitarians, Jainists, Wiccans etc.) then I can see where collectively a significant portion of that 4/5 believes it is persecuted.
Stefan Jones

I heard that this film will be part of the curriculum for Current Events classes in Texas.

Available now: Apocamon: The Final Judgement!
- eviladrian
  
  Available now: Apocamon: The Final Judgement!
  
  Fokk, that was like, the coolest fokkin religion I ever seen in my whole life!
ill lich

First off, they WANT this to happen, because if it DOESN’T then the Rapture won’t come, and they won’t go to Heaven, and thus the Bible is bunk. They will bitch and moan about how horrible the “mark of the Beast” is, but on the other hand the NEED it to fulfill their prophecy. Makes me wonder why they don’t speed up the “End Times” deliberately by voting for the most evil candidates they can . . . oh wait, maybe they ARE!
- Nadreck
  
  Don’t worry. Cadres of dedicated Satanists are working to make sure that the world doesn’t end.
TinSoldier

Am I the only one who sees the irony in the name “Jack Van Impe”? Anyone? Anyone?
Anonymous

The distance between the perception of persecution of Christians and the reality of its lack is as immense as the gap between Christian understanding of reality and fantasy.

Churches on every corner. Tax free business operations. Sale of a non-existent product. Immense influence without evidence. On and on, Christians have it easy. But like a spoiled child, anything less than complete control and complete lack of criticism is unacceptable.
Flaminica

“A time is coming when Christians will be monitored, their actions tracked, their lives numbered, and their faith tested.”

If only.
- Ugly Canuck
  
  Rather presumptuous and vain to expect such, IMHO – how does this differ from any other predictions as to the shape of the future?
  
  And how would such differ from the many persecutions of many minorities which have occurred in the past?
  
  But as such persecutions have indeed happened all too often, and to far more than just Christians (indeed, sometimes Christian on Christian sectarianism has produced similar circumstances to those predicted) in the past, perhaps this prediction can find some support in that – as the future often follows the pattern of the past.
  
  But a claim to victimization by persecution, based only upon what one believes, is scarcely a modern Christians’ sole and exclusive property!
  Ideological persecution has occurred throughout the ages, and across many many cultures.
TombKing

Wait, wasn’t Joan of Arc set on fire by other Christians? Or are they just relying on the ignorant rubes to not think…. oh yeah forgot that is how the system works.
Anonymous

These Futurists make a mockery of the Christian religion. Jesus said he was coming it that generation not ours.

Read Josephus’ “The Jewish War” and compare to Mathew 24 for all the particulars.

These Futurist prophets of doom have been wrong every time they prophesy and they still don’t shut their mouths. They bring Christianity as a whole to scorn because of their willfully false propaganda.

The keys are at the door (shortly), not 2000+ years and away.
aldasin

“A time is coming…”
Sounds good to me, let’s bring back the lions.
osmo

The christians have just forced a law via the European Union that makes it legal for hospitals and doctors to refuse doing abortions based on their faith without reprimands. They can simply ignore the procedure and refuse to give out further info.

Here in Sweden we just had article that pointed out that even though pro-choice seems to be in overwhelming majority its only from a swedish perspective (where being anti-gay or pro-life more or less marks you out as mildy insane) and that infact we are in minority compared to the large extreme right wing movements in Europe.
kydelic

So heaven is a DMT trip? Sweet.
Skidds

You know I think Christian music would do a lot better if they would just cut out the snare reverb and eased up on the symbol crashes.
- Gilbert Wham
  
  ‘Symbol crashes’ is either a very funny pun, or a splendidly apposite typo. Either way, well done.
Maddy

it’s funny when the people who generally create victims, realize it’s important to wear the victim-crown …
Sagodjur

You can tell someone’s a Conservative Christian when he yells, “stop persecuting me for my faith!” as he stones you to death.
Nadreck

Hey! That barcode ends in “661″?! It’s five off!
Art

Oy Vay!
Maiku81

I wish Jack Van Impe would go away and read some Shusaku Endo. Silence by Endo is one of the best novels written about religion ever. The main character has to deal with the fact that maybe… just maybe, the silence of God in the face of religious persecution means that shock horror! – there might not be a God after all. Endo was a rare type of Christian though, in that he was also unflinchingly honest about his doubts.

Also I heartly recommend the Slacktivist blog. The guy who writes it has spent the last few years essentially fisking rapture theology. It’s brilliantly written and does a good job of exposing the paradoxes inherent in apocalyptic thinking.
donniebnyc

This movie is definitely needed because it is a well known fact that white male christians are the most victimized and discriminated against group in America today. If you’re not sure, just ask them.

Someday they shall overcome!
Frank W

A time is coming when Christians will be monitored, their actions tracked, their lives numbered, and their faith tested.

It’s not just Christians. It’s everybody.
That said, I would love to see all of this bulldada epic.
Anonymous

Impe’s name is even associated with the word ‘familiar’ in the video. Whoever made that video plays D&D!
nyar

Those are not lurid depictions of the book of John, those are Blue Oyster Cult album covers.
hapa

the golden rule is flexible enough to use as a power doctrine. that’s why the druids had to die, that whole ‘but harm none’ business didn’t bend the right ways.
- Ugly Canuck
  
  The Christians did not suppress the Druids. Nor were they suppressed for “religious” reasons:
  
  http://books.google.ca/books?id=jIPS0d7UTT8C&pg=PA88&lpg=PA88&dq=suppression+of+the+Druids&source=bl&ots=pqR0Jfy5VX&sig=d3v-P0xSUPFB_g0eoLcT61epdPA&hl=en&ei=V1e3TLqfNIP-8AaDxeiCCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=suppression%20of%20the%20Druids&f=false
  
  They were the political/religious masters of their realm, which was to be conquered by the Romans – Romans who did not profess Christianity – and who followed no “golden rule” when it came to barbarians.
  - Anonymous
    
    Uglycanuck, the source you list says: “The exinction of the druids was due to two causes: in Gaul and S. Britain… perhaps in some degree to Christian influences; in Britain… entirely to the introduction of Christianity and the opposition of the Christian priesthood.”
    
    So – your quote says the opposite of what you’re trying to prove. Check your sources before referencing.
    
    I know there are examples of sane, loving Christianity, but the batshit crazy, enjoy-everyone-else’s-suffering kind seems more popular.
Cassandra

“A time is coming when Christians will be monitored, their actions tracked, their lives numbered, and their faith tested.”

The time is here when the secret police will monitor the activities of queer men, the assistant AG of Michigan will track the actions of the gay student body president, and queer religious people of all stripes will have their faith tested or denied outright by intolerant Christians and other religious fundamentalists of all stripes.

There, I fixed that for Jack Van Impe ministries.
Donald Petersen

Is this even recent? It looks like it was made 15+ years ago, and the trailer voiceover is badly miscast–I expected him at any moment to break into the “Operators are standing by” hymn.
- Anonymous
  
  No, it isn’t. I remember watching this very trailer in my church’s youth group over ten years ago. I thought it looked pretty hokey back then, too.
Palefire

Well, after reading many of your responses, I can understand why Christians might feel that the events of the film in question could be possible. Some points:

1. The film represents only one potential interpretation of events presented in the Bible, specifically in the book of Revelation. While the view in the film is most popular amongst evangelicals, it is not the only one and is not the oldest held interpretation of eschatological events presented in Revelation. Amillennialism and Post-millenialism are very different from the Pre-millennial view depicted in the film.

2. Just because you fill out â€œChristianâ€ on a government form, doesnâ€™t mean youâ€™re a Christian. Churches have plenty of people who attend for many reasons that have nothing to do with a life changing trust in Christ. Many that claim to be a Christian believe that attending church, â€œbeing goodâ€ and checking the box on a form makes you a Christian. It doesnâ€™t.

3. However, Christians do have it easy in this country when compared to other countries where persecution is more early Roman in nature. Social ostracism, imprisonment and death are not uncommon in some nations, and those are the places where oneâ€™s faith is tested. American Christians are unlikely to experience that anytime soon, much to the disappointment of some of you.

4. Understand the perception of persecution is based on the belief (well founded, I think) that societyâ€™s values have gradually eroded over the years. Ethical guidelines based on the character of God presented in the Bible have and are being replaced with subjectivism and relativism. The cultureâ€™s values and norms oppose those of God. In the eyes of many Christians, the truth is being replaced with a lie.

5. I find it odd that those who hold a world view that opposes actions such as murder, theft, adultery and jealousy and espouses virtues such as treating others the way youâ€™d like to be treated, could be held in such contempt by so many. Now do you wonder why Christians feel persecuted?

Just my perspective.
- sgreddin
  
  I agree. I’m a Christian, but I really don’t feel persecuted in the slightest. But I will say that you should really think about what you’re saying. Bring back the lions? Seriously. We’re people.
  
  We’ve got nutjobs (Westboro Baptist… *shudder*) just like any other faith. Please, don’t judge us as a whole.
  - Palefire
    
    You may have missed my point. I wasn’t saying that Christians should be persecuted, particularly in the manner of early Rome. I was indicating that there are countries currently where Christians suffer violent persecution. The US is not one of those places and I am thankful for that.
lewis stoole

call me an old man, but if russell s. doughten jr. didn’t produce it, then what you basically got here is 90 minutes of crap. unite!
JohnP

Who’s this “Mark” guy they’re talking about?
Anonymous

Forgive my ignorance of this subculture but, I have two minor observations:
Their first example is probably history’s most famous cross-dresser
and
the only person of color in the trailer is a conspirator – with the only drawn gun.
Bruno Bolisarte

Does anyone else get into a quandary over whether to click through and watch these nutjob videos? I’m sickly fascinated and want to watch, but I don’t want to give de facto support to their cause by increasing their web stats.
Anonymous

Christians could probably go the intellectual property route. I mean if any religion would have copyrights on that it’s them. “Your oppression of me based on my religion infringes on my monopoly on oppressing others based on their religion!”

The religion with the most blood on their hands since the dawn of life should just shut the f*ck up and take it. They had it coming for at least a millennia.
Anonymous

JVI has been a rather placid character for decades. I guess he’s decided to ramp up the fear-mongering of late, however, in order to compete.
Brainspore

More entertainment designed to appeal to those who believe that good Christians who live by the rules of the Bible will be transported to heaven in the upcoming rapture. What they don’t know is that the rapture already happened, but hardly anyone noticed because only six people made the cut.
- Felton / Moderator
  
  What they don’t know is that the rapture already happened, but hardly anyone noticed because only six people made the cut.
  
  The Rapture sounds a bit like American Idol. Come to think of it, do you suppose the six people who made the cut were the only Christians who weren’t watching American Idol at the time, thereby committing the sin of idolatry?
Hopeful_Greis

I recommend watching their regular program – The Jack Van Impe show. With other televangelists, the hypocrisy is painfully obvious. They simply sweat greed. Jack Van Impe and his wife are a different experience – they are pleasantly clueless and sweetly sincere. The literal content is rubbish of course, but, as far as religious programming goes, they are quite likable.
Anonymous

I find it amusing that the comments for this post are split between people who can’t understand “the persecution complex of modern day Christians” and people who are ready to “bring back the lions.”
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  I find it amusing that the comments for this post are split between people who can’t understand “the persecution complex of modern day Christians” and people who are ready to “bring back the lions.”
  
  Given that the Christians have the entire US military at their disposal, you can scarcely begrudge us a few felines.
Kimmo

What’s with this paranoid idiocy? It truly boggles the mind…

Sif the elite have any problem whatsoever with the opiate of the masses.

They’re totally free to continue their ruthless consolidation of power while so many are so deeply entrenched in irrelevant fantasy.

What we need is the mental equivalent of antivirus software for these folks.
HatOfEdshu

I wonder if this is a reboot of the 1980 flick, “Image of the Beast.” I was made to sit through this in church when I was 11. The film tries to scare you into loving god, by showing you what’ll happen to you if you don’t. It *marked* the beginning of my break with the church.
JayConverse

It must be for real. They don’t just have experts, they have “top ranking” experts!