RecoveXM Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evelyn Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Yeah, I was raised on "rapture" theology, whew! Here is a forum thread that talked about a prank some people pulled on a girl to make her think it happened (click on the "lolz" link in the first post) Rapture Prank thread I tried searching for some "rapture" threads on the forums here and found some. I seem to remember a thread from a couple of years ago that explained the history of "dispensationalism" the doctrine of the rapture. I didn't know that it is a fairly recent doctrine. You can also try reading a couple of books by Hal Lindsey, "The Late Great Planet Earth" and "There's a New World Coming", which goes through the Book of Revelations, to gain an understanding of what some believe about the rapture. These books sparked the surge of belief in the rapture and the Second Coming in the 1970s. I found a thread or two where people said the fear of the rapture made them remain xians for a long time as they were afraid to be left behind. That was true for me in one of my re-conversions, so to speak. I had drifted away from the church but when my husband became an xian after we got married, I came back as I was didn't want to be left behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecoveXM Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MesaGman Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 rapture is just as real as the year 2000 scam. Just a bunch of fear mongers that want us to buy their survivalist gears. Now... the Zombie apoclypse THAT'S real! real by meaning, that starving hoards will pour into the cities, destroying civilizations, as they try to steal food and medical supplies and riot. Very terrestrial end, none of this Demons running amuck with fire and brimstone stuff.... Anyways, if there were a rapture. I'd celebrate because the Christians are leaving, with their stinky undies and socks behind... meaning that we left behind can repair this planet, and should these deserting cowards return. They'd be embarresed that THEY were the cause of the world's ills. That no magical sky daddy would wave his hands and restore life to deserts from their love for the oil industry.... (or the Calgarian Christians anyways). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobbler Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 The rapture doctrine is an insidious one almost just as much as the hell doctrine. I based my life on the assumption that I was going to get raptured out of here when things started to turn sour. It makes you complacent as far as attending to your own worldly needs. Such as saving money, buying a house, having kids, etc. Why do all that stuff when you'll be leaving soon! It is all based on fear. You always had to repent and make sure you were "right with the lord". I had a fellow christian tell me one time the rapture doctrine was a fairly recent contrivance. He said christians would go through the tribulation period. I can't tell you how much dread that put into my heart. I was literally scared to death of this possibly happening. Lo and behold I was comforted by other like-minded christians about the pre-trib rapture. I even bought into the Y2K hysteria. Bought a lot of shit I didn't need. I look back on it now and feel like an idiot for believing such hoohah! Like that girl in the video it can literally suck up your life and mind. It was as if it were a drug that you constantly had to increase the dosage so you could feel that same high! If you want a good laugh or you may vomit, just go to http://www.fivedoves.com Hit the link on latter day letters and you will find some strange shit. These people are expecting the rapture any second now. They come up with some lame-ass excuses when their target time isn't fulfilled though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWIM Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 My theory is they misunderstood the word "rapture" with "raptor". A time shall come when the Burger King will send the great raptor to devoure everyone eating at McDonalds, and call all BK followers to the great drive-thru in the sky, where we shall be super-sized by the king! Booyah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 The church I was raised in was heavily into dispensationalism and the rapture. We were supposed to believe that all the prophecies had been fulfilled and that Christ could come back at any time. These fairly old preachers (to me at the time) would get up and preach how they thought they would never die. As a 10 year old this was pretty darn convincing to me and every time I would lose sight of my parents I would think it had happened and they were raptured. I was sure I would be left behind. It was really no laughing matter because then the tribulation was going to happen and terrible things were going to occur to the world and I would be left alone. I read Hal Lindsey and Salem Kirban. I actually believed this stuff. As Gobbler says above, this is great incentive to do nothing to prepare for a future. Why think about what you want to do for a career, etc. when you may go at any time? Indeed, why make plans of any kind? For a young person this is quite a difficulty when later you are suddenly confronted with having to make decisions such as what you are going to do with the rest of your life and the rapture still hasn't happened. Yes, all this sounds ludicrous now, but as a child when your parents and other adults seem absolutely serious in their belief about the rapture, it is hard not to take it seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobbler Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 My theory is they misunderstood the word "rapture" with "raptor". A time shall come when the Burger King will send the great raptor to devoure everyone eating at McDonalds, and call all BK followers to the great drive-thru in the sky, where we shall be super-sized by the king! Booyah! I must confess my sins and get right with the BK. I have replaced the Whopper with a Big Mac and Wendy's double combo. For there is no Burger King close by where I live in the Philippines. I know it's blasphemy, yet what can I do oh BK? Don't leave me behind! I want to be super-sized by the King! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecoveXM Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonderer Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I loved the prank! The moral of it seemed to be, "It's OK to believe in this shit - just don't take it too seriously!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathGeek Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 My first introduction to the rapture was through "Left Behind" as a college freshmen or senior in high school. My aunt "left behind" the first book and I was into it. I liked the idea of a society left seriously fucked up by a mass disappearance and I think it was my first REAL introduction to fundamentalist theology. I have most of the series buried in a box someplace, but it was decent fiction for the time. Most of the spiritual warfare/rapture fiction is good if you like to turn your mind off every once in a while, but if anybody takes it seriously should probably consult their closest secular psychologist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha centauri Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Oh boy, don't even get me started. I remember as a child reading the Jack Chick tracts, and stuff by Hal Lindsey and being terrified. I'd have nightmares and wake up in a cold sweat. It's bad enough for an adult to be subjected to that, but honestly, it probably would have been better for my parents to let me read and watch hard-core pornography then to allow me access to that religious mumbo-jumbo. Some of these lunatics are looking for an escape hatch from the world. They can't handle reality, so they think their invisible (and unfortunately for them, IMAGINARY) friend in the sky is going to take them away and leave the rest of us to a festering hell on earth, before casting us into an eternal hell a short time (seven years) later. There's not much incentive for these doomsday Christians to take care of the environment, or plan for a better future on earth, because they believe god will destroy the earth and then create a new earth for them to come back to. The Rapture is a pretty controversial subject even among Christians. Some believe it is the absolute truth, others have rejected it as complete nonsense. The battles between those who disagree on the validity of the rapture can get pretty nasty, and then there's the argument of the rapture's timing for those who do believe. The scary thing is that evangelical politicians have no reason to compromise or work to make a better world today. They see the earth as just a cosmic battleground, a place where the forces of good and evil will wage war, and they believe that these wars must happen before the Lord will return. It's a pretty fatalistic philosophy, and one that can be pretty dangerous — especially when pitted against an equally fatalistic religion in the form of radical Islam. Plus, they see anyone who disagrees with them as pawns of the devil, someone to oppose at all costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathGeek Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 The scary thing is that evangelical politicians have no reason to compromise or work to make a better world today. They see the earth as just a cosmic battleground, a place where the forces of good and evil will wage war, and they believe that these wars must happen before the Lord will return. It's a pretty fatalistic philosophy, and one that can be pretty dangerous — especially when pitted against an equally fatalistic religion in the form of radical Islam. Plus, they see anyone who disagrees with them as pawns of the devil, someone to oppose at all costs. See, makes for great fiction. A society descending into chaos, factions with force behind them fighting others tooth and nail, barbaric action in the streets and battlefields. Fuck, where's ma gun when I wan' it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 rapture is just as real as the year 2000 scam. Just a bunch of fear mongers that want us to buy their survivalist gears. Now... the Zombie apoclypse THAT'S real! real by meaning, that starving hoards will pour into the cities, destroying civilizations, as they try to steal food and medical supplies and riot. Very terrestrial end, none of this Demons running amuck with fire and brimstone stuff....Whoa! If there's zombies involved, I'm moving in with Skip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendredie Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I too was raised in rapture theology. gaah. I also read Left Behind in middle school, it scared the crap out of me and caused me to accept Christ again... I knew it was only one person's interpretation of Revelations but it still scared me... it took me a long time to realize that it was a myth, just a simple myth, rather than prophecy. And I dismissed it and didn't give it another thought until someone told me that Revelations could also refer to the fall of the Roman Empire. It didn't help that most adults I knew from ages 12-14 actually believed in it too. I was so scared about being left behind and being raptured or going to hell or dying horribly... at 12-13 years old. wtf. 12-13 year olds should not be forced to think about this so much... it's terrifying at any age, but especially as a kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piprus Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 I had never heard of this thing called The Rapture until long after I had actually stopped being a christian. I brought up the subject with a minister, a US Navy chaplain, actually, and he characterized it a "heresy". I read the Hal Lindsay books that were popular in the 1970's, and they sounded like a real pile of bullshit to me then...so the idea of the Rapture is still, to me, bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smellincoffee Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Anyways, if there were a rapture. I'd celebrate because the Christians are leaving, with their stinky undies and socks behind... meaning that we left behind can repair this planet, and should these deserting cowards return. They'd be embarresed that THEY were the cause of the world's ills. That no magical sky daddy would wave his hands and restore life to deserts from their love for the oil industry.... (or the Calgarian Christians anyways). Well, we'd still have to deal with the Muslims and Hindus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazycatlady Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Anyways, if there were a rapture. I'd celebrate because the Christians are leaving, with their stinky undies and socks behind... meaning that we left behind can repair this planet, and should these deserting cowards return. They'd be embarresed that THEY were the cause of the world's ills. That no magical sky daddy would wave his hands and restore life to deserts from their love for the oil industry.... (or the Calgarian Christians anyways). Well, we'd still have to deal with the Muslims and Hindus... Not to mention that all the real fundies would probably be left behind as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LtJayson Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Not to mention that all the real fundies would probably be left behind as well... Considering the requirements for going (and I know them well), I don't think ANYONE would go! If you take the requirements (no sin), they would have to admit that their own "savior" wouldn't go unless held to a different standard (which takes away from that humanity thing)...the sin of the world was on him...remember :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts