NO POINT IN PLANTING SUMMER BULBS THEN I SUPPOSE?

According to a report in no less than an official Iranian government website, it seems that anybody who planted anything for this summer has wasted their time! Okay, I admit that they don’t exactly refer to planting bulbs or anything like that. It’s just the first thing which bizarrely came to my mind when I read they believe that the Islamic Messiah known as the "Twelfth Imam" or the "Mahdi" may come to earth in 2007 and could be revealed to the world as early as the Spring Equinox.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) website, an official government run site, says the world is now in its "last days." It claims that the Mahdi will first appear in Mecca, and then Medina. He will conquer all of Arabia, Syria, Iraq, destroy Israel, and then set up a "global government" based in Iraq, interestingly enough, not Iran. Such Islamic eschatology (end times theology) is driving the Iranian regime and helps explains why Iran has no interest in helping the U.S. and E.U. create peace in Iraq or the region, much less in ending its bid for nuclear weapons.

Anticipation of the imminent arrival or "illumination" of the Islamic Messiah has been steadily intensifying inside Iran since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad emerged as president of the country in June of 2005. A television series on IRIB called "The World Towards Illumination" has been running since last November to help answer the many questions Iranians have about the end of the world as we know it. The series explains the signs of the last days and what to expect when the Islamic Messiah arrives.

However, there is also some seemingly good news for Christians in the programme as well, in that it states that Jesus is coming back to earth soon! The not so good news for Christians is that they say He will be returning as a Shiite Muslim leader! He will be the ‘deputy’, the assistant, to the Mahdi!

So according to these Iranian beliefs, the Islamic Mahdi will "form an army to defeat Islam's enemies in a series of apocalyptic battles" and "will overcome his arch-villain in Jerusalem."

All this possibly as soon as the Spring equinox and the first thing that comes to mind when I read this is, “but what about the summer bulbs”? Actually, thinking about it, knowing that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is about to announce a herbal cure for AIDS, why bother when most of the world is supposed to die in this apocalypse anyway?

The whole thing would be almost laughable if we didn’t know how seriously Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian leadership take these prophesies and how strongly they believe that they can influence these events to help them along. Almost like a self-fulfilling prophesy!