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colbor1 - in most instances I would have to agree
Each one to his own in terms of what people believe but there are many other considerations when something such as the widespread belief in the Rapture takes root. The first thing that comes to mind is that a lot of these people need profesional help. They do not need others to reaffirm their delusions. Then we must consider the implications of the message itself. The proliferation and growth of a belief such as this is in effect promoting dropping out of society and ignoring present day challenges. That is an unhealthy message by any standards.
posted by
gomedome
on August 17, 2006 at 8:44 AM
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Each one to his own!
posted by
colbor1
on August 17, 2006 at 8:20 AM
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GEPRUITT - that is very true but we are not speaking of "someone" here
.... as in the singular.
Rapture Ready is an online community with thousands of members. That is the alarming part of it.
posted by
gomedome
on August 17, 2006 at 6:00 AM
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gomedome
Oh well, "Here; pick a lunacy, any lunacy!" ... and SOMEONE will certainly be sure to pick it!
Gerald
posted by
GEPRUITT
on August 17, 2006 at 12:32 AM
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cantey_1975 - That is my beef with the underlying premise of this belief
".........a bunch of people who appear to be irresponsible, weak, and cowardly. " Not only does this sort of belief pander to these deficiencies in people, it normalizes these weaknesses. Critical mass is attained, which in turn fuels momentum for a mind set that does no one any good, at least as far as I can see. All of this, the cloistering in an online forum, the reaffirmation of others and the size of the group itself lends a form of credence via consensus to the weak minded.
posted by
gomedome
on August 16, 2006 at 11:42 AM
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Gome
unfortuantly for myself and many others, a very large portion of " adherants" to Christianity do in fact, I would wager, suffer from ( sometimes severe) mental and/or emotional illness. I am very interested in what research reveals. Fervancy can be sincere and even edifying, but it also can be sick and sad ( and annoying). I have read through that web site, it is quite embarrasing because what it presents to non believers is a bunch of people who appear to be irresponsible, weak, and cowardly.
posted by
calmcantey75
on August 16, 2006 at 11:06 AM
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cantey_1975 - you be the judge
HERE is the link to the forum thread. ....and this is very well put: "Sometimes silly people who become silly people plus faith get a little carried away." ....there is no doubt in my mind that these people are more representative of a particular type of mental disorder than anything else.
posted by
gomedome
on August 16, 2006 at 10:55 AM
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I hope
the individual whom you were quoting was not being serious. Sometimes silly people who become silly people plus faith get a little carried away.
posted by
calmcantey75
on August 16, 2006 at 10:44 AM
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sannhet - I would bet that most people that subscribe to this belief
have very little of value.
There is a tone of desperation underpinning all of the forum's threads and comments. It would be reasonable to assume that a belief such as this attracts a certain type of person. Those who are displaced or disenfranchised within their own communities, or those who simply cannot make it in life.
posted by
gomedome
on August 16, 2006 at 10:39 AM
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Gome -
A sad state of affairs, huh? Maybe we should contact these people and offer them pennies on the dollar for all of their stuff, since they believe so strongly that they soon won't be using it anymore.
posted by
sannhet
on August 16, 2006 at 10:32 AM
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FactorFiction - persons holding that attitude also beg another question
How can they be so certain that they themselves will be "raptured" when the time comes? . . and what about their friends and families? The rapture has to be a time of separation amongst families, which most clear thinking individuals would not invite.
posted by
gomedome
on August 16, 2006 at 9:27 AM
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Maybe we could encourage them to hit the road now?
I have long hated the mindset of we're right and everyone else is wrong.
posted by
FactorFiction
on August 16, 2006 at 9:02 AM
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RckyMtnActivist - scary? - - what's so scary?
So the man that controls the world's largest nuclear arsenal believes in a glorious doomsday scenario. How is this scary?
Joking aside, we are seeing a unique and very dangerous belief being fueled by a group hysteria.
posted by
gomedome
on August 16, 2006 at 8:53 AM
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strat - what absolutely amazes me is how they can ignore all precedents
Like what are a person's chances of being right about predicting the end of the world when billions have been wrong before them? In the Rapture Ready forum, the setting of end time dates is prohibited because they have had problems in the past of the nature that you mention. Problems such as: people ridding themselves of their possessions then the resultant acrimony towards the person that made the false prediction. . . wow.
posted by
gomedome
on August 16, 2006 at 8:49 AM
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Good post Gome.......and you know what is the scariest?
We have world leaders such as our president that believe this way. I can't help but think this affects their decision making!
posted by
RckyMtnActivist
on August 16, 2006 at 8:45 AM
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It's truly nutty stuff.
And sadly, it happens all the time, some with terrible consequences. Remember Jim Jones? Or the Halle-Boppe comet group that drank arsenic waiting for Captain Kirk to stop the bus at Planet Hollywood?
Right here, in my little home town down south of the Mason Dixon line, we had a wild bunch of tongue speaking snake shakers suddenly decide the world was going to end -- this was in about, oh, '78 or so. They quit jobs, sold worldly possessions, gathered on rooftops literally across the country, and waited for the world to end. When it didn't happen, there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth -- how do rescind a home sale for 20 bucks when you expected to go to heaven the next day? And many of these were seemingly normal folks -- including our district postmaster.
posted by
strat
on August 16, 2006 at 8:43 AM
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TVBlogger -- I got much the same things from it as you have
The proliferation and expansion on the belief of the rapture is extremely sad for those who are caught up in it. I also agree that in most cases we should not worry about what others believe but this is a little different. There is a point where compassion for our fellow man kicks in, there is also a point where any message being proliferated within the society we live must be examined for its overall affect on society. We sure as heck don't need more people living for today with no plans for the future, we sure as heck don't need more people that have bailed out on all of the problems that our species needs to solve. The last thing we need is another religious belief being fabricated that affects the mental health of those who live precariously in the real world.
posted by
gomedome
on August 16, 2006 at 8:42 AM
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Sad, sad, sad
I read that post and those like them and just felt really bad for these people. What kind of belief system has you pretty much suicidal? What happened to their belief that God gives them peace and joy? There was no peace and joy there, just sadness, depression and a longing for death. And how depressed and foolish are they going to feel when they have to unpack those "left behind" boxes? It's even more painful because this is not a Biblical teaching and instead has become popularized from the pulpit. Too many shepherds leading their flocks over a cliff. Sad.
(I know this comment sort of goes against my previous comment where I said it would be nice if we didn't waste energy feeling sorry for other's beliefs, but come on... how can you not feel sorry for people so distraught?!)
posted by
TVBlogger
on August 16, 2006 at 8:24 AM
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SuccessWarrior -- there are so many bad things that can come out of this
type of thinking.
Attempts at self fulfilling the end times prophecies may be the most dramatic but there are a host of subtle effects on society that cannot be ignored either. These people are simply bailing on life and their responsibilities but unfortunately when someone does this it is not just themselves that they harm. They contribute less to society while promoting a notion that has them as one of a very select few.
posted by
gomedome
on August 16, 2006 at 7:14 AM
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The bigger the group they amass,
the bigger the threat to the rest of the world.
posted by
SuccessWarrior
on August 16, 2006 at 7:08 AM
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SuccessWarrior - the things you mention in your comment are the real
concerns that we should all have.
People such as this need help. This individual has not found any kind of peace, he has given up on life and as you say; should be on suicide watch. People such as this do not need their crazy delusions pandered to and reaffirmed by others.
posted by
gomedome
on August 16, 2006 at 7:06 AM
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It sounds like a suicide note
That's probably what will happen to many of these people when the end of the world doesn't happen. They will end up killing themselves. It's sad to see so many mentally ill people and know this is the potential but my main hope is that they only kill themselves. These are the kind of people that will try to hurry the rapture along.
posted by
SuccessWarrior
on August 16, 2006 at 7:01 AM
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