Newsweek Treats Obama-as-Antichrist Wingnuts Seriously

Did we miss something?  Did The National Enquirer or Globe Magazine take over Newsweek while the American public wasn't looking?  Was James Dobson hired to replace Richard M. Smith as Editor-in-Chief?  Something weird must be going on since, in a move that can only be described as batshit crazy, the once-respected news magazine has just published an article (in its print edition!) titled, "Is Obama the Antichrist?" 

The Rapture-friendly piece was written by Lisa Miller who seems to think that our 44th president may indeed be Satan's spawn, citing the fact that in Obama's home state of Illinois one of the (many) winning lottery numbers was - gasp! - 666.  Miller embraces the possibility of Obama's cloven hoofed-ness by presenting the views of various religious wingnuts as credible and important - and virtually unchallenged.  ("No wonder, then, that Obama triggers such fear in the hearts of America's millennialist Christians." - those are Miller's words, not a quote from an interviewee.)  She doesn't offer any serious refutation of these End Times fear-mongerers, but in a lame attempt at "balance" Miller writes:  Mat Staver, dean of Liberty University's law school, says he does not believe Obama is the Antichrist, but he can see how others might. Obama's own use of religious rhetoric belies his liberal positions on abortion and traditional marriage, Staver says, positions that "religious conservatives believe will threaten their freedom."  The people who believe Obama is the Antichrist are perhaps jumping to conclusions, but they're not nuts: "They are expressing a concern and a fear that is widely shared."  (Notice Miller's use of the word "perhaps" between quotes by Staver.)  

Steve Benen at Washington Monthly has this to say:  First, from a theological perspective, the whole thing about "666" being a "mark of the beast" is inherently suspect, and dismissed as nonsense by most scholars. Second, and more importantly, what is the purpose of Newsweek running a story about those who wonder if Obama is the Antichrist? ...I can appreciate the fact that there are a handful of very odd people in the world, some of whom believe the Book of Revelation foretold Obama's election. Strange people can be led to believe strange things. That's not a reason for Newsweek to publish articles about their inanity. 

Benen is more generous in his assessment of Miller's story than we're inclined to be.  At best, it's a strategy to gain popularity with (and sell copies to) Rapture-obssessed evangelicals.  At worst, it reflects the beliefs of some high ranking Newsweek employees.  But whatever the reason, I won't be spending another dollar on that magazine.  If I want to read tabloid journalism I'll do it standing in the checkout line, like everybody else.