David Mamet, the playwright, has written a wonderful book, The Secret Knowledge, in which he traces his personal journey from liberalism to, well, something to the right of that.

At one point, he writes the following:

“The elections of 2008 were characterized by vicious, indeed vitriolic, feelings and expressions of rage on either side, each side thinking the other on the brink of destroying the world.”

Mamet is right, of course. Republicans and Democrats view the other as dangerous and a threat to our way of life. Republicans are accused of having an itchy trigger finger, while Dems are minutes away from surrendering the fort to Al Qaida.

What does the Bible say about the destruction of the world? (One would have to meet me halfway here, if you don’t embrace biblical eschatology. Play along with me.)

The Book of Revelation outlines a scenario in which Jesus Christ returns to our physical world and puts down, as it were, the supreme rebellion: antichrist, imbued with power from Satan, rallies an impressive army. Christ, simply by his appearing, destroys this beastly army and then we see a sweeping succession of events that culminate in a new heavens and a new earth.

My point here is that—assuming this scenario is true and yet future, and I do assume it—what brings us to this final ghastly scene is not the ascendancy of one side or the other.

Rather, the world is on the brink if destruction because it is a collective effort. Both sides. “Republican” and “Democrat.” Totalitarian and free. Religious and non-religious.

The answer to the question of this post is that all of us, collectively, have the capacity to destroy the planet. The great message of the Bible is that the ultimate hope, Jesus Christ, intervenes at the precise moment we need Him.

And, finally, to really throw your brain into over-drive, the Bible also predicts that the world’s Creator (again, Jesus Christ) will also finally destroy our diseased and dying planet. Then He will re-make it into His original vision, for all time.

What a wonderful world that will be.