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Post by onein6billion on Mar 4, 2009 1:53:54 GMT -5
Nah, they'll always be some nutjub waving a sign that says "the end is very fucking nigh." There has been for centuries and I don't see the trend stopping now.
ETA: I will say though that after poking around a little that there seems to be a lot more 20th and 21st century end of the world predictions than any point and time previous. Does anyone think that it means that eventually it'll come to a point where it finally stops or that since we now have the internet you just hear more crackhead predictions than previous generations?
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Post by malicious_bloke on Mar 4, 2009 6:39:20 GMT -5
End times retardedness has been around for thousands of years before Jesusites picked up on it. They never give up
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Post by nowonmai on Mar 4, 2009 7:00:27 GMT -5
It won't wane. Every time their 'scheduled' Rapture fails to happen, they just bend their calendar to pick another date.
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Pookie
Junior Member
Posts: 55
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Post by Pookie on Mar 4, 2009 8:34:31 GMT -5
ETA: I will say though that after poking around a little that there seems to be a lot more 20th and 21st century end of the world predictions than any point and time previous. Does anyone think that it means that eventually it'll come to a point where it finally stops or that since we now have the internet you just hear more crackhead predictions than previous generations? I would say that, for Christians, the 20th and 21st centuries (and probably the 22nd century after that) might have added significance because of astrological phenomena that are alluded to in the bible. In the procession of the equinoxes, each Age lasts between 2100 and 2200 years, and the Age of Pisces will be ending in a relatively short time. Naturally, for Christians, the universe cannot possibly continue existing into the Age of Aquarius as it did through the ages of Taurus and Aries and Pisces, so despite the Bible itself (minus Revelations, silly book) alluding to a peaceful transition into the new Age, Christians are going to fear the worst until proven otherwise. What I don't understand is this correlation between the procession of the equinoxes and the increased paranoia of religious nuts everywhere, when it would be safe to assume that a vast majority of them are unaware of said procession and would probably shoot it down as Satanic propaganda if informed. What? Crazy religious stories based upon the stars? Imposhibibble!
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Post by dasfuchs on Mar 4, 2009 8:47:35 GMT -5
There'll always be gullible, scared people. Religion will suck them up and as long as it makes them all warm and comfy, they'll believe anything their leaders say. They'll always be able to twist everything to fit their teaching. You could have god himself come down, tell them their religion is bullshit, they'd just mark him a fraud and any tricks they'll explain away as smoke and mirrors magic or claim God's a wiccan. that's just the way these people are, the only chance to stop it is to educate more
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Post by Green-Eyed Lilo on Mar 4, 2009 9:03:25 GMT -5
I will say though that after poking around a little that there seems to be a lot more 20th and 21st century end of the world predictions than any point and time previous. Does anyone think that it means that eventually it'll come to a point where it finally stops or that since we now have the internet you just hear more crackhead predictions than previous generations? You know, I think you hit on it. The internet can bring all kinds of, for lack of a better term, minorities together into groups. Pagans, atheists, and bisexuals are just three examples many of us here know well. So rapture-lovers can go from being "that crazy lady at church who gets all intense and red in the face" to being one of many, too. This emboldens them just as it does other groups. Plus, because of the internet and other technologies, it is so much easier and quicker to learn about bad news. We humans have always had our problems; it's just that we didn't always learn that there were riots in Elbonia and a killer earthquake in East Bumfuck the day they happened. So it can easily feel like the world is "getting worse" when really, we're just learning more about it. I don't think it'll stop for a minute. People are getting paranoid and scared. There are groups and individuals who find it profitable to exploit the paranoid and scared, too. (To give an example, I can about punch Glenn Beck on sight right now. He's got my mom and a couple of my aunts scareder than usual. To give another, Evangelical churches are doing better, even here in NYC.) You can't control the world, but you can control what you do. You can have a little sway over those you know. For some of us, this means we use our cute canvas grocery bags and try not to put such expensive stuff into them and recycle our Brita filters and plant container gardens on our balconies. For others, this means we pray more and have sex less and go to church every time the doors are open and hope God sends his angels with the rescue helicopters to swoop the "good" people up and out of here soon.
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Post by Death on Mar 4, 2009 10:29:04 GMT -5
Nah, now they're all hung up on 2012 Next it will be 2033 (2000 years after Jesus left) Then they'll grab onto Newtons prediction of 2060 I've been listening to it since the 60's. I think the only thing making it more noticeable is the internets. lot's of different millenariasts out there another reason I hope that bastard romney doesn't get in
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Post by The_L on Mar 4, 2009 11:03:20 GMT -5
Next it will be 2033 (2000 years after Jesus left) Then they'll grab onto Newtons prediction of 2060 Newton didn't even say it would definitely be 2060. He said it wouldn't happen any sooner than that, and that there was no point in going all doomsday-crazy in the 17th century over something that couldn't possibly happen for at least another 400 years. When a guy who's such a huge religious fanatic he spends the final years of his life trying to prove, scientifically, that there is a god, tells you that the end times are too far away for you to worry about it right now, it makes places like RR look even worse by comparison. Christians need to just chill the fuck out. I'd recommend meditation to them, but since I'm Wiccan, and meditation is often associated with yoga, I don't think it would end well.
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Post by Caitshidhe on Mar 4, 2009 11:16:08 GMT -5
I agree with Onein6billion and GreenEyedLilo---a consequence of our time is the proliferation of the internet, and ideas and philosophies that were once (often WISELY) ignored or dismissed for being too fucking stupid to merit thought are now broadcast over message boards and websites to millions of people. It's not that the idea has gained significant momentum in the last twenty-some-odd years--though it might well have been gaining some momentum--it's more that the audience is much, much bigger than it used to be. People that might not have believed it or heard of it are now being 'converted', for lack of a better word, to the stupid.
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Post by wisechild on Mar 4, 2009 11:26:14 GMT -5
Yes, the Internet does indeed bring together people's little niche groups in one place. However, I was thinking more in terms of church leadership. If the "megachurch" even though it is often associated with Right-Wing leanings, it also wants to appropriate some concepts from the general culture, and if society moves towards being more community oriented and wanting to live for tomorrow, care about more issues, then anticipation for a sliding decline leading towards epic ruin and destruction, well, people's attitudes will improve.
Obama managed to get more (young) Evangelicals to vote for him, then the Democratic candidates of the recent past. The other Evangelicals might have to co-opt some of the issues concerning the environment, health care, AIDS relief in other countries, etc. a little longer than other people.
Falwell died at a timely moment. The man was only concerned about sticking it to the gays and abortion, and whatever social issue wild card of the day. He blamed 9/11 on his laundry list of enemies. He, surely was totally obtuse to other issues like the environment and poverty. His followers had that "five to ten year" mentality I mentioned before.
Rick Warren, thinly veiled Right-Wing hack, is open to other issues. As much as I can't stand the guy, he could get other thinking about other things besides moral decay and doom and gloom, although I don't expect him to push The Rapture too far away off in his follower's minds. Not the best of an example, sorry.
Some theologian might come along and write a book about rearranging priorities, seeking a more moderate Evangelical Christianity, while not totally forsaking Rapture Doctrine, like say for example state that 'the Second Coming is probably decades off, so knock off the sour attitiude', then the nutjobs at Rapture Ready will come down so hard on that person, calling him or her a heretic.
The self-help pastor-author is an emerging trend, afterall.
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Post by headache on Mar 4, 2009 11:37:38 GMT -5
The rapture happened October 28th 1992: If you are here today, you missed the Rapture!
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Post by Caitshidhe on Mar 4, 2009 11:52:45 GMT -5
Headache, is that your picture? Where did you find it? That's hilarious. XD
I remember Dave Barry doing a bunch of columns about the crazy religious people being totally convinced that the End of Times was coming soon, and then being forced to change their minds and their theories when it didn't happen. (And I remember reading a quote on the mainpage some time ago about how preserving the environment and trying to save the planet was all a waste of time because, quote, "We won't be here much longer, anyway. Jesus is coming for us soon!" It's not only hard to wrap my mind around, but it's a brain-beatingly stupid thing to think.)
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Post by The_L on Mar 4, 2009 12:15:23 GMT -5
Headache, is that your picture? Where did you find it? That's hilarious. XD I remember Dave Barry doing a bunch of columns about the crazy religious people being totally convinced that the End of Times was coming soon, and then being forced to change their minds and their theories when it didn't happen. (And I remember reading a quote on the mainpage some time ago about how preserving the environment and trying to save the planet was all a waste of time because, quote, "We won't be here much longer, anyway. Jesus is coming for us soon!" It's not only hard to wrap my mind around, but it's a brain-beatingly stupid thing to think.) This comic sums up my feelings about rapture-crazy anti-environmentalists quite nicely, as it happens:
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rhi
New Member
The day needs my saving expertise!
Posts: 24
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Post by rhi on Mar 4, 2009 12:44:17 GMT -5
Today's Fresh Air has the author of Jesus Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them). There's an interesting discussion on this very topic.
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Post by schizophonic on Mar 4, 2009 12:49:12 GMT -5
End times retardedness has been around for thousands of years before Jesusites picked up on it. They never give up It really does seem to wax and wane, though. I think we'll see it decline in the next couple of years. It'll never go away, barring an age of enlightenment of unprecedented proportions, but I think we'll see it die off somewhat for a while. And then, it'll become retro and all the kiddies will be into it.
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