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The Rapture?
14 years ago
Well, since everyone else seems to be doing Journals on Macho Man Randy Savage, I thought I'd cover a different news article.
As many of you may be aware, it is alleged that The Rapture, the (Christian only?) event where many people will vanish from the earth to go to heaven while the rest of us rot here to suffer. Try to put it nicely as you please, that's the gist of it. Good people get taken to heaven, everyone else is stuck on Earth as it goes downhill.
Now, I am Catholic (which does conflict with my possible bisexuality, probably my scaly-hood, and definitely my fat furdom), and I do not believe in The Rapture, despite capitalizing it. There are several reasons why I don't, some to do with my religion, some to do with logic.
Number 1 is that Catholics are taught a certain prayer that goes "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, amen." While I admit I'm not the most devout Catholic (As my shennanigans in role play and taste in mature video games accounts to), I do still believe in God. Despite my crisis of faith, where I don't know WHICH God or Gods are the true ones, if any of the mainstream ones even are. And I do still believe in that prayer.
Number 2 brings up the fact that we don't know WHICH religion is right or wrong. While I'm partial to Omniquantism (I'm a fan of the Webcomic Freefall), the fact does stand that The Rapture is just one religion out of many that could be true. Ergo, the actual odds for it happening are relatively low. Doesn't mean it won't happen, and if it does, I'll look pretty stupid, but frankly, my money is on it not happening.
Number 3 is the simple logic that God, if he is all loving, would not permit those of us who didn't convert before a set date to suffer for no good reason. True, there are deplorable sinners, but there are also good people who happen not to be Christian.
Number 4 is the logic that God, being all-knowing, wouldn't be prone to such an illogical action, on grounds that there may be Christian people doing important work for the good of humanity, or otherwise be occupied in some sense that their absence endangers others, such as flying a plane. You can cite the myth that Airlines do not permit both pilots to be Christian, but this is simply not true. Not to mention doctors, police officers, and others. Ask yourself if God would REALLY take these people when they are still needed?
Number 5 relates to 4, in that God should also know that he would be condemning those left on Earth to damnation unfairly, particularly newborns, decent people who just happen not to be Christian, and the doubters like me. Is this the act of an all-loving God? Should these people be condemned simply for having sin on the soul they have not yet been absolved of if it is minor or original sin?
Number 6 is the fact that it is human beings who are giving the date of the occurance, not God. God isn't making the announcement himself, so how do we know that he will do this tomorrow? Or any given day? This one isn't denying The Rapture, just human ability to discern when or if it'll happen.
Number 7 is the fact I have Heroclix Tournaments on Saturdays, and I will be really upset if The Rapture were to disrupt them. Or in other words, I simply don't want to believe it'll happen. This reason can be skipped.
Number 8 is the evidence that the world will continue on for a long time to come. The Sun isn't going out for over a billion years, we're not stupid enough to issue nuclear armageddon, and even if Earth were in danger, we're well on our way to colonizing other planets.
Number 9 isn't a reason against The Rapture so much as it is against those of you who will immediately decry me as some sort of evil trying to sway people, or otherwise accost me by asking questions such as "How do you know how God will act?". The same logic that tells most people there is a God (Which is the Chain of Dominoes theory), tells me that if he is as all knowing as he is claimed to be, he would know that such an event would not be all-loving. Families would be divided, friends would be taken from friends, and those who were on their way to converting but not there yet would be instantly damned because anyone trying to practice Christianity after The Rapture would be doing it to save themselves.
If you are one of those religious zealots who would request my journal be bannated or flame me, go right ahead. I'm just giving my opinion, and am also curious to see who will respond.
As for my opinion on God, well, that's another story.
As many of you may be aware, it is alleged that The Rapture, the (Christian only?) event where many people will vanish from the earth to go to heaven while the rest of us rot here to suffer. Try to put it nicely as you please, that's the gist of it. Good people get taken to heaven, everyone else is stuck on Earth as it goes downhill.
Now, I am Catholic (which does conflict with my possible bisexuality, probably my scaly-hood, and definitely my fat furdom), and I do not believe in The Rapture, despite capitalizing it. There are several reasons why I don't, some to do with my religion, some to do with logic.
Number 1 is that Catholics are taught a certain prayer that goes "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, amen." While I admit I'm not the most devout Catholic (As my shennanigans in role play and taste in mature video games accounts to), I do still believe in God. Despite my crisis of faith, where I don't know WHICH God or Gods are the true ones, if any of the mainstream ones even are. And I do still believe in that prayer.
Number 2 brings up the fact that we don't know WHICH religion is right or wrong. While I'm partial to Omniquantism (I'm a fan of the Webcomic Freefall), the fact does stand that The Rapture is just one religion out of many that could be true. Ergo, the actual odds for it happening are relatively low. Doesn't mean it won't happen, and if it does, I'll look pretty stupid, but frankly, my money is on it not happening.
Number 3 is the simple logic that God, if he is all loving, would not permit those of us who didn't convert before a set date to suffer for no good reason. True, there are deplorable sinners, but there are also good people who happen not to be Christian.
Number 4 is the logic that God, being all-knowing, wouldn't be prone to such an illogical action, on grounds that there may be Christian people doing important work for the good of humanity, or otherwise be occupied in some sense that their absence endangers others, such as flying a plane. You can cite the myth that Airlines do not permit both pilots to be Christian, but this is simply not true. Not to mention doctors, police officers, and others. Ask yourself if God would REALLY take these people when they are still needed?
Number 5 relates to 4, in that God should also know that he would be condemning those left on Earth to damnation unfairly, particularly newborns, decent people who just happen not to be Christian, and the doubters like me. Is this the act of an all-loving God? Should these people be condemned simply for having sin on the soul they have not yet been absolved of if it is minor or original sin?
Number 6 is the fact that it is human beings who are giving the date of the occurance, not God. God isn't making the announcement himself, so how do we know that he will do this tomorrow? Or any given day? This one isn't denying The Rapture, just human ability to discern when or if it'll happen.
Number 7 is the fact I have Heroclix Tournaments on Saturdays, and I will be really upset if The Rapture were to disrupt them. Or in other words, I simply don't want to believe it'll happen. This reason can be skipped.
Number 8 is the evidence that the world will continue on for a long time to come. The Sun isn't going out for over a billion years, we're not stupid enough to issue nuclear armageddon, and even if Earth were in danger, we're well on our way to colonizing other planets.
Number 9 isn't a reason against The Rapture so much as it is against those of you who will immediately decry me as some sort of evil trying to sway people, or otherwise accost me by asking questions such as "How do you know how God will act?". The same logic that tells most people there is a God (Which is the Chain of Dominoes theory), tells me that if he is as all knowing as he is claimed to be, he would know that such an event would not be all-loving. Families would be divided, friends would be taken from friends, and those who were on their way to converting but not there yet would be instantly damned because anyone trying to practice Christianity after The Rapture would be doing it to save themselves.
If you are one of those religious zealots who would request my journal be bannated or flame me, go right ahead. I'm just giving my opinion, and am also curious to see who will respond.
As for my opinion on God, well, that's another story.
