Lisa Miller of Newsweek, for penning a column that is not satire called “Is Obama the Antichrist?”

Now Strandberg was receiving up-to-the-minute news from his constituents in Illinois. One of the winning lottery numbers in the president-elect’s home state was 666— which, as everyone knows, is the sign of the Beast (also known as the Antichrist). “It is very eerie, and I take it for a sign as to who he really is,” wrote one of Strandberg’s correspondents.

…

No wonder, then, that Obama triggers such fear in the hearts of America’s millennialist Christians. 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,” Staver says.

Before Christ comes again, those who are saved will ascend to heaven, according to this end-times theology, in a huge, upward whoosh called the Rapture. Strandberg is so certain that the Rapture is coming, he’s bought a number of Internet addresses in addition to RaptureReady: AntiAntichrist, Tribulationus and RaptureMe. In the event that RaptureReady crashes during the apocalypse, anyone who needs an update will, with a simple Google search, be able to get one. Strandberg says Obama probably isn’t the Antichrist, but he’s watching the president-elect carefully. On his Web site, he has something called the Rapture Index, a calculation based on signs and prophecy of the proximity of the end. According to Strandberg, any number over 160 means “fasten your seat belts.” Obama’s win pushed the index to 161. [Emphasis added]

It’s pretty stunning that has made it into one of the country’s widest read weekly publications. Miller presents radical fringe religious ideas as reasonable, expected fact. She gives multiple radicals a platform to say the same thing, while providing no backing for its content: namely, Obama’s probably the Antichrist and fundamentalists are scared. Since when does the random occurrence of three lottery balls have meaning meritorious of elevation to the national press? Is Staver so naive that she thinks there’s actually a need to *not* wonder about why fundamentalist Christians are scared of Obama? Look lady, just because some kook has bought domain names doesn’t mean that what they’re about is reasonable and a good idea (see: PalinforVP.com).

There are a lot of crazy things happening in the world. Times are changing and some of our fellow citizens aren’t really excited about that prospect. But just because a non-quantitative assessment on a scale exists on a website somewhere, it doesn’t mean it has validity. Rather than assigning negative religious roles to the next leader of the free world, Miller and Newsweek would be better served trying to report on why radical Christian fundamentalists are so scared about electing a Democrat to the White House who happens to be black. There are still real problems of bigotry and hate in America; Miller’s article elevates them, rather than trying to marginalize the people who perpetuate them. It’s appalling and the editors at Newsweek ought to be ashamed of themselves.