The end of Religion is inevitable?

If the rapture were to happen, and hundreds of thousands or millions of living people just disappear, such an event could not just be explained away. Such an event would certainly be provocative and call many things into question. I would put that on the same level as the arrival of an alien space ship that parks itself over a major city.

In 2004 over 200,000 people died in the Indian Ocean tidal wave. I wonder if the rapture will be masked by a simalar disaterous event. It does not seem out of place for Jehova to use such an event to call his faithful to Heaven.

Seems a bit psychotic to use a natural disaster for that purpose (any natural disaster; obviously a tsunami would have zero effect on me personally, given how far I live from the nearest ocean, but this is a tornado region).

Hopefully "the faithful" wouldn't be doing anything important that day, such as minding things at a nuclear power plant or piloting an airplane or performing surgery.
 
If the rapture were to happen, and hundreds of thousands or millions of living people just disappear, such an event could not just be explained away. Such an event would certainly be provocative and call many things into question. I would put that on the same level as the arrival of an alien space ship that parks itself over a major city.

In 2004 over 200,000 people died in the Indian Ocean tidal wave. I wonder if the rapture will be masked by a simalar disaterous event. It does not seem out of place for Jehova to use such an event to call his faithful to Heaven.
The American Shiva has sent many to the same place too. :P
 
The American Shiva has sent many to the same place too. :p
I think you are missing my point. The Rapture is an event to whisk away the faithful to God's embrace. Depending upon how many are included, such an event might well appear miraculous and be God's first overt act in a long time that demosntrates his power and existence to all humanity. @Core Imposter thought that such an event might be "expalined away" by non believers. To my thinking, God's reluctance to show himself in the past 2000 years might mean that he would mask the rapture as a targeted natural event that collects his most faithful without drawing attention to himself. The Tsunami of 2004 was just an example of a event in which over 200,000 'disappeared" The recent pandemic could also have been such an event to collect millions of souls from all around the world who were god's chosen.But i guess those Christains who did not die would be disappointed. Christians seem to expect a dramatic event with god's trumpets blowing and smiling faces sucked into the sky. "I'm saved!" When i look back on the 6000 years of evangelical biblical history, i see god behaving differently. He does not seem subtle or glorious in his actions. Floods, plagues, fire and brimstone, murder and mayhem seem to rule the day. I suspect thta when the rapture comes, he will snatch away his faithful without tipping his hand to make a public announcement of his doig so. Depending upon how many are to be caught up and whisked away, i would suggest a pandemic along with a few targeted natural disaters over a few weeks or months will be his hand at work.
 
When i look back on the 6000 years of evangelical biblical history, i see god behaving differently. He does not seem subtle or glorious in his actions. Floods, plagues, fire and brimstone, murder and mayhem seem to rule the day.
Creation of the Universe Itself could be added to that list of interventions that are on the high-pyrotechnics end of the scale.

He's also presented as acting in a quiet and low-key way, though, sometimes. There's this, from 1 Kings:

Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

And that's where God is, in that instance: in the still, small voice.

And maybe the biggest underwhelming of all: the Messiah, coming not, as expected, as a great military leader to throw off the Roman yoke, but as a teacher and healer, born to nobody parents, poor, rejected by the religious authorities of his day, regarded as a lowlife, executed in grisly fashion.

(The plot twist right after that one is, admittedly, on the more striking end of the scale.)

And the end-time prophesies themselves are all over the map on the question of how dramatic it will be. He might come like a thief in the night. There might be trumpets blaring.

We do get this helpful hint on what to be on the lookout for: wherever the corpse is, the vultures will gather.
 
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I think it is the organization responsible for more good than any other. I also know it has done terrible things. So I agree with your statement and find it crazy not to do so. We're back in the territory where you get madder at me for agreeing with you than disagreeing. It's happened before.


Many would disagree.

 
I know. I think he's wrong on the totality.
 
Anyone here ever have a 1:1 convo with a god? What did they say and what did you ask?
not sure how much to share here. this thread is already sidetracked. also personal. if i'm actually gonna expand on this, it should be a thread.

anyways, so. there's thumping the bible, seeing god in every child's smile, yadda yadda. most abrahamics' translation of this experience is all worldly, personal and such, but it's not manifested. there's also... i don't know. actual experience? something you can touch and feel and see that isn't as ephemereal as god's presence or aura in things or around you. it's all vague presence and admittedly exciting poetry.

let me just say that i have actual experience with this. and i'll just assure people that an actual conversation with god is horrifying.

sometimes it's really frustrating that some posters in here go off about how much whoever hasn't opened their heart and whatnot. that atheists ignore all this proof they have and others don't. buckwild speculations about doomsday because some levantine supposed it, peppered with some math magic. because, no, you didn't actually chat with this being. you whispered at a room, and you're flaunting a bundled stack of papers. consider that others may have.

(and yep, i'm an atheist. also not talking about you here. i don't know your position.)
 
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Moderator Action: Off topic and personal attack posts removed.
 
I think it is the organization responsible for more good than any other.

A weak line of reasoning altogether. So they made a few good things once, sure, sure. But how can they invoke interest in 12 y. olds, who like mass murdering their school buddies in Quake and build Paradise on Earth in Minecraft, hm? That is the question. What holy church has to offer to those little demons, the future of humanity? This thread is essentially asking another question - how can anything inside this religion be relevant to a modern 12 year old?

I talked to my 12 yo nephew about religion once. I mean... I won't go on with details, I'll just say this - There is 0 need to make an atheist out of the little fella. He's way past it of his own accord. So, I am mildly curious what "Buddy Christ" will the church come up with in order to stay relevant.

Personally I think This is the step in the right direction:

Spoiler Jesus Skates :
 
It was not answering that question. Edit: Ah, the context that statement was answering was removed from thread. Now it just sits there, orphaned by the quality of the conditions that spawned it.

As to your point, yes. I understand that a great deal of people are historically and just generally... what is the word? Let's go with "challenged."
 
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The question Joij asked can't be answered with evidence.

Is there any evidence that it doesn't go black?

I think Occam's Razor applies in which the least exotic thing is the most likely. An afterlife or some sort of reincarnation is obviously far more exotic (and therefore least likely to occur) as an explanation of what happens after death. The complete cessation of consciousness (that is it all goes black) is less exotic and therefore more likely.

Therefore my claim that you'd be a sucker to alter your life (and thus live a potentially cowardly life) for metaphysical beliefs still stands. YOLO!
 
Is there any evidence that it doesn't go black?

I think Occam's Razor applies in which the least exotic thing is the most likely. An afterlife or some sort of reincarnation is obviously far more exotic (and therefore least likely to occur) as an explanation of what happens after death. The complete cessation of consciousness (that is it all goes black) is less exotic and therefore more likely.

Therefore my claim that you'd be a sucker to alter your life (and thus live a potentially cowardly life) for metaphysical beliefs still stands. YOLO!
Occam's Razor isn't a truism. You're trying to position a belief as a factual outcome, when the reality is that none of us know.
 
Creation of the Universe Itself could be added to that list of interventions that are on the high-pyrotechnics end of the scale.

He's also presented as acting in a quiet and low-key way, though, sometimes. There's this, from 1 Kings:



And that's where God is, in that instance: in the still, small voice.

And maybe the biggest underwhelming of all: the Messiah, coming not, as expected, as a great military leader to throw off the Roman yoke, but as a teacher and healer, born to nobody parents, poor, rejected by the religious authorities of his day, regarded as a lowlife, executed in grisly fashion.

(The plot twist right after that one is, admittedly, on the more striking end of the scale.)

And the end-time prophesies themselves are all over the map on the question of how dramatic it will be. He might come like a thief in the night. There might be trumpets blaring.

We do get this helpful hint on what to be on the lookout for: wherever the corpse is, the vultures will gather.

The American Shiva has sent many to the same place too. :p

I pray to Grover Shiva Cleveland every time a flood comes that I might be promoted from a Bill to a Law.

American Shiva Grover Cleveland.png
 
From an atheist perspective, there are many unproven supernatural claims the athiest doesn't subscribe to.
From a theist perspective, there is one less.

Because there are so many claims, both the atheist and the theist live their lives ignoring a great deal of supernatural claims.
Furthermore, the theist doesn't usually alter their live to fit their religion, but choses parts of the religion that fit their live.

Exceptions to those generalisations of course exist.
 
And they say AI can't make art smh
Of course, they only say that . . . because it's true. Loving the 17-striped flag in particular. And I don't know whether he's holding the eagle's perch . . . or the eagle!
 
I think he went for a deep scratch with that 6th finger before the bird sat on it.
 
Of course, they only say that . . . because it's true. Loving the 17-striped flag in particular. And I don't know whether he's holding the eagle's perch . . . or the eagle!
I think he went for a deep scratch with that 6th finger before the bird sat on it.
Clearly St. Shiva of Grover Cleveland is manifesting the world around him as he sweeps Super Delegates up in his electoral waves of salvation.
 
Clearly
 
Which is why his party has kept so much power in the superdelegates?
 
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