Armageddonism, Big Money, and Policy Formulation

When analyzing middle east events and ideas, some notable scholars such as Noam Chomsky place a great emphasis on Oil as the driving engine. Their theme follows the logic of:

• We are interested in the middle-east because of energy concerns.
• Politicians are corrupted by oil money.

This however is only a partial answer since it does not address the question of why it is that Armageddonist preachers who don't see a penny from oil still support the policies pushed by those who stand to profit from oil. This is where it helps to look at the links between Armageddonism, Money, and Policy Formulation. The Tom Delay scandal as an example of how things work: If you've followed the delay scandal... the politicians were using the religious leadership to influence the public into supporting a position which the politicians were getting big bucks for in return.

In the Delay scandal, the entities behind the big bucks were Indian Casinos. In the Middle East, those entities are big oil companies with the largest profit margin in the history of the world.

In the Delay scandal, religious leaders told their congregants to oppose casinos from being built as a moral obligation. While in the middle east, religious leaders beat the war drums claiming Armageddon is a birth-pang which will result in peace for the world through the second coming of Jesus Christ.