Christianity and the End Times

No, it won't come.
There will never be a rapture, and your entire belief system is based on false hopes.I'm sorry.

What is disturbing is the number of people that not only believe it will come, but are actively pursuing the development of signs of the "End Times" ... such as the unification of Jerusalem/Israel, not for potential for peace but for the potential for End Times war. I think this is the whole crux of the Evangelical support for Trump.Enjoy

I agree. The evangelical movement to support Israel is not based upon concern for Israel or Jews, but rather it is based on the hope that Israel starts a world war that they believe will instigate the return of this mythological Jesus guy. They want to destroy the world so they can go to this nirvana they fantasize about. It is all tied into the whole Christian Dominionist movement, which in actuality is the power behind the evangelical support for Trump. The non-evangelical people in the GOP think they are using this movement. But in reality the GOP is being used by them and very well may destroy this country.

Very disturbing indeed.
Such disturbing issues (putting faith in non-evidenced beliefs) have been at the heart of many (most?) of the wars for most of human history.

Which explains how they can be "pro_Israel" and anti-Semitic at the same time.

I have seen this developing since 1970 with the Jesus Freak Movement. In the 80's, Pat Robertson had plans to set up loudspeakers everywhere proclaiming their message just to fulfill some prophecy requirement that everybody in the world had heard the message and rejected it.Remember when Trump tried to recruit Kasich as his VP? Promised to make him the most powerful VP in history in that he would do all the work while Trump just lazed back and served solely as figurehead. Well, guess what Mike Dense (AKA "Pence", "Dense" was his nickname as governor) has been doing all this time. When Bush 43 (AKA "Dubya") cheated his way into the Oval Office, a fellow chief (albeit a boot chief, having just been admitted into the chiefs' mess), a Religious Programs Chief Petty Officer, expressed his joy at having a "born again" believer as President. Then I pointed out that someone who believed in the End Times now had his finger on The Button and even he had to do a "oh shit!". Now we have an imbecilic President who is itching to push The Button at the close advice of a fundamentalist End-Times VP advising him. What could possibly go wrong?

This is one thing that I have mentioned before which concerns me...the idea that a possible war arises due totally because of self-fulfilling prophecy behavior from evangelicals. Even if such a saga was believed, the belief and subsequent actions of society itself may bring such a war to fruition...and while believers gloat and say that the war would be proof it would, in fact, be their very belief that started it! What does everyone think?

Yikes! Now I need everyone to pray...even non-believers! Perhaps God can save us from ourselves!

Perhaps the real cause of conflict in the world stems directly from the demise of white men in power throughout the US and Europe. We had our day in the sun and we never got tan enough to fit in!

Why waste time? Doing something might actually help.

White men are still in power. White men seem to be the cause of a lot of the conflict. The world at this moment is at one of it's most peaceful periods ever, (that is not to imply at all that there is no conflict) and it seems to be so despite white men still being in power. The amazing thing is that you have no idea how offensive that statement is.

Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot ... Oscar?Screw your no-show god! This is our problem and we need to solve it!There's an old story that I've told before about the beautiful garden. A passer-by remarks to the gardener about the beauty of the garden and what God and the gardener had accomplished with it. The gardener replies, "Oh, that's nothing! You should have seen what a total mess it was when only God was attending to it."We attended a Unitarian-Universalist church (long arduous story there) where the call to prayer included the words: "We say this knowing that prayer does not change things, but rather prayer changes us and we are the agents of change." I have found that outside of UU circles, those words can be very troubling.Trust in no gods! We have to act to save ourselves!

Makes me wonder...If you can "see the pathway" that could create a self-fulfilling war arising due to evangelicals and the "subsequent actions of society itself..."
Getting all carried away with the belief and forgetting to stop and take a look at their fellow man and the world around them.Can you also "see the pathway" that could create a self-fulfilling religion arising due to evangelicals and the "subsequent actions of society itself...?"
Getting all carried away with the belief and forgetting to stop and take a look at their fellow man and the world around them.Because I assure you, this has happened. More times than once. In more religions than one.
In fact, there's a pretty good case to be made that this is how all religions started...

And there has never been conflict among white men? Maybe you want to think that through. Hint: try Googling European history.

In the chess world (not a member) there is a phrase often used: Gens Una Sumus. We are one people.Why is that such a difficult concept for so many people?