About Twelvers, the coming of the Mahdi and Ahmadinejad

I have always found religions to be fascinating. The amazing stuff that people of each and every religion on Earth seems to believe in, makes me wonder, only on rare occasions though, whether I am the loony one and whether people of deep religious faith who believe in the impossible, are the sane and sober ones.

Take for example the Shiite (also known as Shia) religion, the religion of Iran and to a great extent the religion of Iraq. A Shiite follower, steeped deeply into this tenet, firmly believes that "an apocalypse or a great chaos in the world" will herald the arrival of the 12th Mahdi and then the world will be at peace. Our favorite madman Ahmadinejad is a staunch believer in the coming of the 12th Mahdi and is rumored to have divulged that he has even been contacted by the Mahdi and has had a conversation with him.

Who is the 12th Mahdi?
“According to the Shiite version of Islam the 12th descendant of Mohammed, known as the 12th Imam or the Mahdi, (Also known as the "Hidden Imam”) went into hiding in 941, some 1300 years ago. At an earlier time of rising tensions, the 10th imam was forced from his home in Medina by the powerful Sunni caliph in Baghdad and was sent to live in Samarra, where he could be kept under closer supervision. Both he and his son were believed to have been poisoned by the caliphate. Fearing such persecution, Muhammad al-Mahdi, was just a child when he became the 12th imam. Then he is said to have gone into what Shiites call occultation, a kind of suspended state from which it is believed he will return. Shiites believe he will reappear when the world has become full of oppression and tyranny. They believe that he is hidden in the Jamkaran well in Iran, which is a place of pilgrimage for believers who drop their requests for help into the well in the hope that the Imam will read them and come to their aid”.

Religious Shiites take comfort in signs that seem to indicate to these believers that the coming of the 12th Imam is approaching, signs like War, Decrease in knowledge of religious things; Acid rain; Increased illegitimacy; Rampant homosexuality; Increase in female singers; Dancing into the night; Taller and taller buildings; Women will look like men, and men like women; Women will not bear children; Increased earthquakes; Time will seem shorter; Smog, etc.

Iranians are not the only ones who believe that the 12th Mahdi's coming is imminent. The Shiite population world-wide is approx. 130 million. Iraq has the largest contingent of Shiites after Iran with approx. 60% of their 25 Million population being Shiite Muslims. India, Pakistan, Turkey and Bahrain are also strongholds for Shiite Muslims.

Shiite organizations are funded primarily by Iran and Sunni establishments by Saudi Arabia. Shiite and Sunnis have never been able to get along with each other. If the world takes action on Iran's growing nuclear power, it will be because of the evil influence  Saudi Arabia has over the world  leaders whose countries depend on Saudi oil  and not because they are in love with Israel. Saudi  Arabia's  petro dollars and oil has the world's leaders in its pocket.  Saudi Arabia fears Iran's nuclear might more than Israel.  That is a fact.