Rapture anyone?

[HouseOfDialysis]

So, it seems some crackpot thinks a Rapture will start at 6pm today and the Universe will end on Oct 21st, 2011.

I'm calling shenanigans.

[willowtreewren]

But, then again, think of all the left over stuff that would be available for us "sinners"!!!

 

I agree with you, though. I feel sorry for all the poor folks who got conned into believing this hooey. And the waste of money spent on "promoting" it. We saw a banner plane fly over yesterday with a warning to be prepared for today. Imagine how many hungry people could have been fed with the money spent just on that one expenditure.

As an atheist I tend to focus more on helping people in the here and now. Today is what matters, not some pie-in-the-sky imaginary future life.

Come tomorrow there will be such an apology of back-peddling. Oh, the calculations were in error, yada, yada, yada. They will come up with some new formula to keep people living in fear instead of living their lives free from undeserved guilt.

Aleta

[HouseOfDialysis]

In religions of revelation, which there are many, it is important for their deity of reference to communicate directly to its devotees. However, when a message is touted to be received from said deity that goes against a common consensus or a previous communicated revelation that is accepted by all, then it is heresy or insanity. Lesson derived, Gods can't change their minds.

It's something I've never understood. Someone claims to have a one-on-one with God and they are labeled "insane", yet people who claimed to have heard God's voice to sacrifice their oldest son's life or what have you, that can't be witnessed first hand is okay... Doesn't that sort of set the precedent?

[boswife]

i can only say that i will be broken hearted if im 'left behind' 

[boswife]

i can only say that i will be broken hearted if im 'left behind'     

That is...........if im still around when that time comes 

[HouseOfDialysis]

Well, for what's worth... I'll still be here, regardless.

[willowtreewren]

No need to be broken hearted, Boswife! We are ALL going to be here! 

I'm off to town to pick up props for the end-of-school play my kids are performing on Wednesday. I'm going to keep on living each day and doing what I can to make the world a better place.

Somehow I can't imagine even wanting to spend eternity with some deity who would punish all of humanity with floods and other calamities. What's with that? Most people I know are nicer than anything I read about ANY of the gods out there.

Aleta

[jbeany]

Well, I'm still here, and it doesn't sound like the traffic is any lighter on the main road a block away, so I'm thinking pretty much everyone else is, too.  Of course, the 21st isn't over until midnight....

I've been reading a lot in the local papers lately, the endless arguments over whether the average person has gotten to far away from the "Vengeance is mine" sort of God who exists in the Bible.  Most of it inspired by the "Love Wins" by local author Rob Bell, who wrote about how God is Love and anyone who loves will go to heaven.  Such a backlash from that! I'm all for the good that can be done in the name of religion, but some of these arguments are starting to sound like kindergartners arguing over who has the better imaginary friend. 

"Well, my god is giving me a mansion and streets paved with gold and a thousand pink ponies to ride whenever I want!"
 
"Well my god is better!  He's picky and won't let just anyone in and you'll have to share all those ponies with everyone else!"

[HouseOfDialysis]

I have a friend who is a Lutheran minister. I'm what I like to call an apatheist. Combine apathy and theism, apatheist! But anyway, he's of the opinion that God is loving and merciful as Christ put forth and this hellfire and brimstone script is just to scare people into behaving themselves.  Sure, in the Old Testament, god was quite the less than comforting god, but I guess having a son calmed him down a bit.

[jbeany]

Well, it's 6pm, the time for my time zone when everyone going was supposed to be gone.  Huh - didn't get any quieter around here!

[Hemodoc]

I have a friend who is a Lutheran minister. I'm what I like to call an apatheist. Combine apathy and theism, apatheist! But anyway, he's of the opinion that God is loving and merciful as Christ put forth and this hellfire and brimstone script is just to scare people into behaving themselves.  Sure, in the Old Testament, god was quite the less than comforting god, but I guess having a son calmed him down a bit.

Actually, the NT is the fulfillment of the OT and the prophesies placed there. Harold Camping does not speak for me at all, he has his million dollar empire that in my opinion is making merchandise of the people. The Bible tells us no man will no the date, period, only the Father in Heaven. So the next time you hear a person claim he knows, they are just making merchandise of folks, nothing more, nothing less.

As far as hell fires and brimstone, if people actually read the Bible, they will find that it was Jesus that taught more about hell than He did about heaven. He spoke about it as a literal place with literal punishment. I know folks like to denigrate the entire Bible whenever we have nut jobs like Harold Camping out there collecting his donations and selling his books, but I would carefully consider that the Bible is true. If folks don't want to believe it, so be it. But it would be a sad thing to wrongly believe that the works of a man like Harold Camping represents the truth of the Bible.

[HouseOfDialysis]

I'm dismissive of any religious text just based on certain factors with regards to literacy, power structures, and biblical telephony. That goes for the Torah, Bible, or the Qur'an. In the same vein that some Christians dismiss some Mormons and some Muslims dismiss some Hindus. Even the story of Babel sets me off on a sour note.

But anyone seeking the apocalypse should be patently ignored.

[aharris2]

I wasn't paying attention, is anyone missing?

[jbeany]

If folks don't want to believe it, so be it. But it would be a sad thing to wrongly believe that the works of a man like Harold Camping represents the truth of the Bible.

That's the worst part about men like Camping.  He makes it easier to consider everything in the Bible or any other religious text a joke.  And while I have my own issues with a belief in a powerful deity, that doesn't mean that lessons about forgiveness, loving thy neighbor, offering mercy or charity, and doing the right thing even when it's the harder choice are wrong. Camping's drivel inclines a lot of people to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

I wasn't paying attention, is anyone missing?

Not in my neighborhood, and heck, if they haven't vanished from one of the most staunchly religious counties in my state, there isn't anyone else around who is going, either!

[Poppylicious]

I wasn't paying attention, is anyone missing?

Hmmm, my mum texted me about five hours ago and I haven't heard from her since. 

Crikey ...

(Of course, it is the middle of the night over here.)

 

[greg10]

Erapture! Iceland Grimsvotn Volcano Has Erupted

All you heathens' hearts just stopped for a second, didn't they?    Doesn't look too serious, nobody "disappeared", actually nobody got hurt.

"May 21, 2011
A volcano began to erupt under Iceland's biggest glacier on Saturday, but a geologist said he did not think it would cause the same disruption to air traffic as one that exploded in a different area last year.

The Grimsvotn volcano, under a massive glacier in southeast Iceland, has thrown a plume of white smoke about 15 km (9 miles) into the air, Met Office geologist Hjorleifur Sveinbjornsson told Reuters. He said Grimsvotn last exploded in 2004.

"It can be a big eruption, but it is unlikely to be like last year," he added, referring to the eruption early last year under another glacier which caused air traffic chaos after spewing dark ash into the air"

[HouseOfDialysis]

Those who want to find Hell on earth will find it. Those who seek the Apocalypse will find it. Just like anyone who sees what they want to see.

I like the Eddie Izzard stance on Jesus being relaxed and groovy, but that's about where it ends for me.

[willowtreewren]

The new spin is that this was just a way to test the faith of true believers.

The amount of money spent on "advertising" this non-event must have been obscene. What a waste. 

hose who want to find Hell on earth will find it. Those who seek the Apocalypse will find it. Just like anyone who sees what they want to see.

I'm with you there. 

[YLGuy]

Erapture! Iceland Grimsvotn Volcano Has Erupted

All you heathens' hearts just stopped for a second, didn't they?    Doesn't look too serious, nobody "disappeared", actually nobody got hurt.

I predict that on a certain date something will happen somewhere in the world!

Let's see if my prediction comes true.

[Stoday]

I haven't settled on a god yet. Perhaps I should see what the market in gods offers.

A front runner is the god that offers 72 virgins. Now he only needs to guarantee to give me the capability of deflowering 'em all...   

[HouseOfDialysis]

Careful what you wish for... You may get a whole set of 72 Star Trek nerds, Word of Warcraft geeks, or a busload of tribal herdsman who never knew the touch of a woman but a few good threaded stock.

[Rerun]

Read "Heaven Is For Real" it just came out.  Which deductive reasoning would reveal that "Hell is for real too". 

Don't take any chances......   I'm just say'en.

[Hemodoc]

Read "Heaven Is For Real" it just came out.  Which deductive reasoning would reveal that "Hell is for real too". 

Don't take any chances......   I'm just say'en.

You said it well as always Rerun.

[HouseOfDialysis]

Sounds more like Pascal's Wager, which doesn't sound like a held belief but insurance at a blackjack table. I can't do it if it isn't genuine and sincere. I could play it off like I believe. Hell, I'd like to have that comfort of something beyond the physical world. But, I don't have that connection.

[Rerun]

Sounds more like Pascal's Wager, which doesn't sound like a held belief but insurance at a blackjack table. I can't do it if it isn't genuine and sincere. I could play it off like I believe. Hell, I'd like to have that comfort of something beyond the physical world. But, I don't have that connection.

I'm sorry.  Because you are missing out on such a peace of being.  But, I can't force you.  God gave you free will.