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This may have been covered, if so I apologize for posting this.
Anyone know why so many Christians have to constantly come up with a new date that the world will end on? Don't get me wrong I love Sci Fi films, but they are just that, FICTION. As is all this end of the world prophesy Moderator cut: deleted. They all say "It states in scripture this and that and Moderator cut: deleted at insulting/attacking
I sound pissed, right? Well I am a little because if I say I believe in Aliens they will say I am insane, yet they can believe in the same sort of fiction and because there was a book about it it's ok!
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Now the end is 2012... last time it was 2004..2001...2000...1999....1996...and all the way back thousands of years. People, wake up! I think it's "wishful thinking" on their part. Are they really so miserable in their lives they have to prey for it to all end? Moderator cut: deleted as insulting
Simple. They keep having to come up with new dates for the end of the world because it doesn't happen on the date previously selected. They are looking forward to the Rupture...er, Rapture, and seeing everyone else descend into everlasting suffering while they ascend. That's true Christian love (not to mention the characteristics of the god they believe in).
I think the fervent and illogical belief in this "heaven" thing is psychologically damaging. If you are always told and believe that death is better than life (and that is what they are being taught), then your actions are very different if you believe life is all you have and is a wonderful thing. An extreme version of this belief system is the suicide bombers. They take the death is better than life idea to an extreme and use it to justify murdering others.
And yeah, they have to keep coming up with a new end of the world date because they keep getting proven wrong. The fact that the end of the world hypothesis is continually proven wrong for some 1800 years now never gets into their brains that duh, the hypothesis is invalid. I saw on another forum someone listed all the end of the world/rapture dates - it was a very long list of proven to be incorrect dates.
They are anxiously awaiting the rapture, so rather than stewarding the life we have on this planet they're kind of standing around adjusting the clothes in their suitcase waiting for the taxi to arrive - but it just doesn't.
Btw - the 2012 date has nothing to do with Christianity. It was the end of the Mayan Calendar made over 2,000 years ago and which has proven pretty darn accurate over those 2,000 years by many accounts.
Doesn't matter, though. If you ask me - there is something to the 2012 date, but not the end of the world. Perhaps just the end of a major multi-thousand year phase of human development. I suspect it's the end of the physical maturation of our society and the beginning of the mental maturation - sort of like an adolescent transitioning into young adulthood.
Honestly, I think one has to recognize that "The End" is, in almost every circumstance, a fundamental tenant belief of the modern-day Christian religion. They're driving around with bumper stickers explaining how their vehicle will be unmanned in the event of Rapture (in many cases, I might be safer if their vehicle was unmanned); they create websites showing that if a worm farts in Maine it is a sign of the impending rapture; whoever wins the Presidential election - one side of Christians will claim the victor is the Anti-Christ while the other side will defend it; most of all, they are on a mission to let each and every person know that as a sign of all these things we unbelievers should realize 'the truth' and assist others in finding their way to eternal bliss and happiness.
Forgive my cynicism, perhaps I've been living in Mississippi for too long but essentially with "The Rapture" or "The End Times" being a part of the Christian religion you will always have people of that faith trying to figure out when it's going to happen.
This always make me wonder, how is it that these people are so unhappy with life that they hope for the destruction of all life, it's kind of sick.
There has been many predictions about the "end of days" and we're still here. One would think that if this God told them when it was going to happen, God would at the very least get one of the dates right.
The thing is that if the end of the world happens, so what? We can't stand around afterwards and complain about it. So why waste energy and time trying to figure out when?
I had a sister in law that was convinced that the Rapture was coming and she would be one of those taken up while the rest of us suffered because we didn't live right. Well, she developed cancer and was given only a few weeks to live. The woman may have died from fright, for while she was ready for the Rapture, she was not prepared to just die like everyone else. She literally yelled and fought until she was too weak to do more than just lie there and die. What was it about death that frightened her so? Did she not really believe she was "saved?"
I think the belief in the End of the World or the Rapture is one of those things that some people need to prove that they are better than everyone else. You know, what I mean, "I'm headed for a better place, and you aren't." It's like children on a playground.
And yes, I think that at sometime, this earth, as we know it will be destroyed. Whether the sun will explode or a huge meteor will hit.... maybe an earth wide plague of some sort. Next week? next million years? No one knows and no one will ever know.
Honestly, I think one has to recognize that "The End" is, in almost every circumstance, a fundamental tenant belief of the modern-day Christian religion. They're driving around with bumper stickers explaining how their vehicle will be unmanned in the event of Rapture (in many cases, I might be safer if their vehicle was unmanned); they create websites showing that if a worm farts in Maine it is a sign of the impending rapture; whoever wins the Presidential election - one side of Christians will claim the victor is the Anti-Christ while the other side will defend it; most of all, they are on a mission to let each and every person know that as a sign of all these things we unbelievers should realize 'the truth' and assist others in finding their way to eternal bliss and happiness.
Forgive my cynicism, perhaps I've been living in Mississippi for too long but essentially with "The Rapture" or "The End Times" being a part of the Christian religion you will always have people of that faith trying to figure out when it's going to happen.
I feel for ya down in Mississippi. We'd like to get beyond cliche stereotypes, but the fanatical fervor is so much stronger in that region than it is up north.
Besides the line "I'll pray for you" (...that you will someday agree that I am right or perish in eternal damnation), I think my biggest pet peave with all of it is when they use the phrase "the Truth".
It takes an extraordinary amount of arrogance and PROFOUND ignorance about the workings of the world for any one person to claim to hold the truth. I, personally, have experienced plenty that shatters their belief and any conventional assumptioni of what we believe to be true about reality. I've also experienced enough in the supernatural / metaphysical realm to be very humbled. The more you know, the more you realize you don't know.
Very VERY great input everyone, thanks!
Many great points made.
"He will come like a thief in the night to take his followers to the golden thrones of heaven. Then the meek will stay on earth."
Many, many problems with this analogy...
First of all, if he's gonna come "like a thief in the night" then how can you possibly cast a prediction? Can you predict when a thief is gonna bust out your window and steal your car stereo? If you could then you could wait behind the bushes with a 12 gauge. If you knew when god was coming you could go stand out by the curb, you know, to make it easier to be picked up to go to heaven.
Very VERY great input everyone, thanks!
Many great points made.
"He will come like a thief in the night to take his followers to the golden thrones of heaven. Then the meek will stay on earth."
Many, many problems with this analogy...
First of all, if he's gonna come "like a thief in the night" then how can you possibly cast a prediction? Can you predict when a thief is gonna bust out your window and steal your car stereo? If you could then you could wait behind the bushes with a 12 gauge. If you knew when god was coming you could go stand out by the curb, you know, to make it easier to be picked up to go to heaven.
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Isn't it supposed to be a good thing when the meak inherit the earth? I also heard recently the antichrist is supposed to bring 1,000 years of peace.
Jesus had 2,000 years of bloodshed and chaos. Maybe we should give this Antichrist guy a chance!
Last edited by june 7th; 03-02-2009 at 06:02 AM..
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