SOME SEE IRAQ WAR IN SCRIPTURE FUNDAMENTALISTS SAY THE END IS NEAR.

Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - For millions of Americans, the looming war with Iraq is far more than an effort to eliminate a dictator and his weapons of mass destruction. Citing Scripture, they fervently believe that the conflict is yet another strong sign that the end of time is approaching.

Christian conservatives who adhere to a strict literal interpretation of the Bible see ample indications of fulfilled prophecies in the Middle East conflict and strongly back President George W. Bush's war plans.

``This is part of the overall picture of what the end times will look like,'' said Manuel Gonzalez, pastor of the Calvary Chapel in Chatsworth. ``The stage is being set.''

The end scenario, say Christian conservatives, is clearly laid out in the Bible. The events, centered in Israel and nearby nations including Iraq, include seven years of violent upheaval culminating in Armageddon, a battle between good and evil. A returned and victorious Jesus Christ would then rule the Earth for 1,000 years before rendering a final judgment.

Adherents further believe that they would be spared the violence of the end times by being transported to heaven in a phenomenon called ``the rapture.''

Such beliefs have led to strong conservative-Christian support for Israel as well for Bush's Middle East and anti-terrorism policies.

Warren Duffy of Huntington Beach, host of ``Duffy and Co., Live From L.A.'' on Glendale's KKLA-FM, said he firmly believes in prophecy and argued that Christian conservatives are misunderstood, especially by the mass media.

``If you can get beyond all the rhetoric, we are just people who believe the Bible is true, and the Bible is 35 percent prophecy,'' said Duffy, whose drive-time show includes guest interviews and listener call-ins on KKLA, which bills itself as the nation's top-rated Christian radio outlet.

He cited interest among his listeners in the Iraq crisis and other events in the Middle East, but stressed that ``we're not cheering this war on.

``We're probably, all of us, going to die and go to (Jesus) before He comes for us,'' added Duffy, who said he saw more portents of the end of time in growing lawlessness in American society than he did in a war with Iraq.

Still, as the crisis with Iraq has deepened, Christian-right Internet Web sites have filled with speculation about fulfilled prophecies, citing Saddam Hussein as the Antichrist and noting direct links between modern Iraq and Biblical references to ancient Babylon.

Most leaders of moderate mainline Christian denominations have taken an anti-war stance, and some even have intimated that as they pray for peace, the conservatives appear to be praying for war. That charge is denied by Christian conservatives.

``I don't know any Christian who wants war to happen,'' said Gonzalez, of the Calvary Chapel. ``We hope that President Bush has made the right decision and pray for him every day that God will guide him.''

But some other Christians hold sharply contrasting views.

``I think the Christian right has misread the Bible,'' said leading peace advocate Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, which includes 36 Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox denominations. ``They see a Messiah who leads an army and kills the bad guys, we see Jesus coming as a man of peace.''

Edgar, who from 1990 to 2000 was president of the Claremont School of Theology, the United Methodist Church seminary and training center in Los Angeles County, added: ``Bush has won his war. The inspectors are in Iraq. If they need more time or more inspectors, give it to them. There is no need for armed conflict.''

Christian conservatives say some of their critics are off the mark.

``I don't think war with Iraq has to do primarily with Armageddon,'' said Dr. R.L. Hymers of Sunland, founding pastor of the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle in Los Angeles, ``but it is a step, just as World War I and World War II were steps.''

Saying that ``sometimes Christians jump too quick to judgments,'' Hymers recalled that ``I once thought the world was going to end in 1964. You had Vietnam, the Beatles, hippies and flag burners. I was obviously wrong.''

``People think that if you're a Christian, someone must have cut a hole in your head and poured your brains out,'' said Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar. Miller, who supports Bush on Iraq, is an active member of Calvary Chapel, one of the nation's fastest growing conservative Christian ministries.

While citing his adherence to literal interpretation of the Bible, Miller said his faith has had no direct bearing on his support of Bush.

``When I voted to authorize the use of force by the president, I didn't think about the Book of Daniel or the Book of Revelation,'' he said. ``This is about Saddam Hussein, and he brought this upon himself.''

``We very much support the president's war on terrorism,'' said Ronn Torossian, media director of the Christian Coalition, a group founded by televangelist Pat Robertson. ``And we urge all naysayers to recall the horrible events of Sept. 11, 2001.''

Asked if his group's support for Bush's war aims is directly tied to prophecy, Torossian declined to give a direct answer but said, ``Everything we do is because of Scripture. It's because of Scripture that we support the state of Israel.''

For Jewish leaders, Christian conservative support for Israel and interest in Middle East events is a mixed blessing.

``We appreciate their positions on the Middle East, but we do not go into an alliance with them on domestic politics,'' said Eugene Korn, director of interfaith affairs for the Anti-Defamation League, a group that supports Israel and battles anti-Semitism. ``And their concept of Armageddon makes many, many Jews very uncomfortable. After all, it calls for us to convert to Christianity or be destroyed.''

Korn noted that, in the Jewish tradition, scripture is to be interpreted, not taken literally. And he stressed that the Jewish end scenario calls for the onset of a Messianic Era and a world permanently freed of hatred and conflict.

``We believe in the Messianic Era,'' said Korn. ``We just haven't made a religion out of it.''

``We would like to think that our churches view the Gospel as one of justice and peace,'' said Jim Wetekam, spokesman for Churches United for Middle East Peace, a group of 17 mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic denominations and organizations, including the NCC. ``Peace is always preferable to war.''

Both Wetekam and Edgar stressed that, for Catholics and mainline Protestant believers, the end of time also calls for a last judgment but without conservative Christian prophesies of warfare, bloodshed and upheaval.

``You get the impression that some fundamentalists are disappointed that Jesus came among us as an infant and as a man of peace instead of at the head of an army,'' said Edgar, who sought to end U.S. involvement in Vietnam as a Democratic House member and recently returned from a ``humanitarian inspection mission'' to Iraq.

Edgar blamed some of the religious fervor over a possible war with Iraq on ``people who like simplistic answers. God comes back with his army, the good guys are saved and the bad guys are destroyed.'' He also blamed ``some preachers who prey on the fear of people. There's been plenty of fear to exploit since 9-11.''