Burke: …And they vote?!
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh deary, deary me — the end is nigh. The Great Tribulation is upon us. It’s the end of the world. Judgment day. Armageddon.
It’s the END TIMES!
So, cancel my Herald subscription; forget my mortgage; deep-six our cruise to Alaska; and say, “Ciao” to friends and neighbors.
And yeah, those pesky mid-term elections, the presidential in ’28, and what Congress does (or mostly doesn’t do) doesn’t matter.
And why worry about $5.79+ a-gallon gas, a $400 million East Wing Ballroom, the Wall (he’s still building it), Trump crypto-grifting, or the upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship extravaganza on the White House lawn to celebrate Trump’s 80th birthday, America’s 250th, and Flag Day (in that order). And yes, that’s a real thing — what could be more American and reflective of celebrating 250 years of freedom, democracy, and sacrifice than a bunch of guys, locked in a cage, beating the crap out of each other while the president cheers?)
And then there’s foreign policy and our support for Israel, the war in Iran, tariffs, China, Putin, the 760,000 we killed in Africa when we canceled US AID, and the abandonment of allies around the world.
None of that matters, gentle reader, because it’s the End Times and we’d best be spending our remaining hours repent’n; not fight’n, legislat’n, or relax’n.
‘Cause according to Pew Research polling, “In the United States, 39% of adults believe ‘we are living in the end times.’”
Now End Times definitions are extra-ordinarily nuanced, but here’s the short take: Jesus will return to Earth in a “second coming;” which will be preceded by “great tribulation,” except for the Rapture when true believers will be whisked to heaven and everyone else will battle it out, or something, before the millennium begins.
So what does that mean for, say, social security, the deficit, and the marginal tax rate?
Who cares?
‘Cause if I believed the world were soon ending I’d be laying in hard-core survival supplies (freeze dried food, bottled water, first aid kits, guns ‘n ammo, and doggie treats for the neighborhood puppies). And praying, not worrying about earthly futures.
And I wouldn’t be too concerned with voting, either.
But that’s the problem, isn’t it? That if it were actually the End Times, voting wouldn’t matter?
To me it seems perplexing that those who think we’re on the eve of destruction — based on vague Biblical passages, fringe theories from the 19th century, or that the “Left Behind,” novels are sound theological thinking — should factor in deciding the future of millions of souls who may not believe.
But there’s another bunch of folks whose use of the franchise concerns me.
That’s the sizeable chunk of Americans who think “The Flintstones” is reality TV.
That’s right people; for many, Fred ‘n Wilma, Pebbles, and Dino aren’t just cute, “Honeymooners-themed” 1960’s Hana-Barbera cartoons, but a true-to-life depiction of life 6,000 years ago.
Ya see, decent swaths of the American voting public (30% of Texas residents in one poll, 41% nationally in another) reject Darwin and science; and as Young Earth Creationists believe the earth is only 6,000 or so years old (not 4.54 billion years) and man and dinosaurs co-existed.
And for proof, they venture far beyond the works of Irish Archbishop James Ussher (1581–1656), who first calculated the earth’s 6,000-year age. Yep, they spend considerable time and money (daily admission from $65.00 to $110.00, plus $15 parking) to visit Noah’s Ark and the Creation Museum, in Williamstown, KY to see for themselves a full-size “replica” of Noah’s ark (510 feet long!) stuffed with pairs of static, plastic-molded species, including dinos, who the creators of the theme park say lived with Noah and his family during the flood. (With two of every species aboard, sanitation must have been “interesting” – how Noah’s small crew handled a couple of tons of “excrement” a day was the true miracle, not surviving the flood [for which no geological proof exists]).
My dilemma then is how to view those rejecting documented history and proven science, and yet still want to vote?
Alas, the Constitution says we can look at them askew, but they have the right to cast their ballot.
I can live with that. It’s what they believe.
But for the record, while I “Believe in God, the Father almighty … maker of heaven and earth” and the rest of the Baltimore Catechism I learned growing up; and I accept as a doctrine of faith that Christ will come again, in glory, to judge the living and the dead; it’s (probably) not tomorrow. (According to Jesus, no one, but the Father, knows when, which suggests we better “live right” now, just in case.)
But to say, today, that these are the End Times, that the anointed will soon be rapture-transported to heaven, and our support for, say Israel, or our war with Iran should be crafted to fulfill fanciful prophecies rejected by most of the world; well, let’s just say I think that’s misguided.
As I’ve expressed before, Christian nationalism and the idea the United States was founded as a “Christian” nation and should be now governed as a theocracy, is, to be polite, misreading history.
As is End Times thinking and Christian Zionism. They should not guide public policies or international relations.
Rather, voting (blue) in November could be a key to moving back to a better America, as wrote St. Hippolytus, “Blessed shall they be who overcome the tyrant then … these overthrow the accuser himself, the son of perdition!”
Amen.
Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.
