"…people to either convert to Christianity or get slaughtered by whoever turns out to be the antichrist. (Donald Trump, it is Donald Trump, we never thought God would invest such power in a doddering senile idiot..."
It is funny how the antichrist is always portrayed as some supernaturally smooth operator only for this fucking guy to fit the bill so perfectly. I mean, granted, his ability to evade any accountability is weird.*
*Old English wyrd ‘destiny’, of Germanic origin. The adjective (late Middle English) originally meant ‘having the power to control destiny.'
Anyway this is the part I came to rant about
"…his thoroughly primitive belief that a book patched together from the oral traditions of a bunch of illiterate shepherds trapped in a desert is the literal Word of God."
Yeah right, it's always the "literal word of God" until you get to the parts that don't align with being a racist xenophobe. Then all the sudden these people are aware the Bible uses parables and metaphor. But I didn't come here to rant about conservative cognitive dissonance.
The idea you either have to believe the Bible or disbelieve it is stupid reductive and INCENTIVIZES the worst people to continue using possibly THE most effective tool of grassroots organization ever invented by humanity (religion), while simultaneously PUSHING AWAY otherwise smart people from engaging with it on the fear that they'll look stupid for "being religious."
I once asked a Hindi if he really believed in a multi armed dancing elephant and he said, 'no, no they're just stories, stories.' And it was like a light bulb exploded over my head. Like, of course! They ARE stories, yet they can still inspire you; make you think, or just feel something deep in your bones. Like Star Trek or Les Miserables or Debbie Does Dallas.
And then you hear about someone like Douglas Rushkoff who says he proved the Bible was meant to be an open sourced, collaborative narrative… then all the sudden the Bible looks more sophisticated as the Mike Huckabee's of the world look waaay more primitive lol
I am a Christian who is appalled that the Israelis are treating the Palestinians the way the Nazis treated their ancestors. I do NOT consider Huckabee a real Christian.
The only thing I would take issue with is the statement that "... that attitude might last only until Jared Kushner sees yet another area besides the Gaza Strip that he thinks he can turn into the Middle East version of the Riviera."
Jared would never be able to set his sights (or his taste) so high. His father (now the Ambassador to France) was a Jersey slumlord and felon. To Jared, despite his $10 million Florida island and his $2 billion in "Sovereign Wealth Fund" money, and his Mar-A-Lago Barbie wife, the height of his vision is to turn the Gaza Strip into a Middle East version of Myrtle Beach, SC.
Senator Chris Murphy ... a good listen. Murphy answers questions directly, including his vote on Rubio. Murphy understands what is going on. And no, our CT Senators will NOT be attending Orangini's nazi rally tonight.
The usual exegesis that supports the rapture depends on a couple of very metaphorical verses in Revelations in which the word itself is not used and the concept itself is so indistinct as to require a certain amount of creative interpretation to appear at all.
As an agnostic with a really unfortunate amount of training in Christian theology, I would say Zyx's assertion is consistent with a modern critical interpretation of the text.
There's a great deal of controversy about whether Revelations is legitmately part of the New Testament, but it's been used so heavily by the evangelicals and charismatics that it's more or less a permanent fixture.
The biblical scholars I know, even the literalists, regard Revelations as kind of a carnival side show.
Personally, given the political and social values of the people I know who believe in a Rapture, I'd be thrilled to be left behind.
Why would a citizen of the Space Age want to taint their soul with the vile corruption that passes as "Christianity" in the U.S?
Humans are the absolutely amazing product of billions of years of evolution.
Each and every human living stands at the head of a genetic line that stretches back in an unbroken line, for billions of years.
We are awesome creatures struggling to overcome our base animalistic instincts.
If we have a Divine Creator, that Creator must be thrilled that people are finally smart enough to reject hateful mythology that causes division and strife to instead embrace evidence based science.
Homosapiens have walked this Earth for over 200,000 years and we will continue to thrive long after Christianity becomes a defunct religion.
Thundering idiots don't seem to understand why a secular government is necessary to protect religious freedom.
When a country is composed of a multitude of religious denominations that have a history of violence, the government must be neutral, or secular to prevent one denomination from abusing the others.
Christians are well known for their abuse of other denominations. Catholics and Protestants murdered each other for centuries. Protestants hunted Mormans and scared the Mormons so badly they ran from Illinois to Utah in 111 days, on foot!
Sane Americans refuse to taint their souls with the broken, corrupted belief system that masquerades as American Christianity. So the Evangelicals are trying to establish a theocracy to eradicate their competition.
Jefferson was responsible for churches' tax exemption. He was afraid Christian majority state and local legislatures would use the power of the purse to stifle Jews and Muslims from establishing places of worship.
The guy who played Urkel knew he was doing it for the joke and other than one of the kid actors on the show who lost their job, no one was hurt by Urkel.
The guy who plays Huckabee is actually hurting people and the only surprise I will have when his name comes out in the Epstain files is that Epstain would have anything to do with someone as slimy as a Huckabee.
I used to have a cat who figured out how to work a doorknob. His lack of thumbs and small paws prevented him operating one, but we swore never to get a door with a lever/latch kind of one while he was alive, and didn't.
The Israelis have to build the temple first....( I think )
I say we break those Seals ourselves and let the good times roll. I want to watch the "Christians" who don't get Raptured. Popcorn?
😁
"…people to either convert to Christianity or get slaughtered by whoever turns out to be the antichrist. (Donald Trump, it is Donald Trump, we never thought God would invest such power in a doddering senile idiot..."
It is funny how the antichrist is always portrayed as some supernaturally smooth operator only for this fucking guy to fit the bill so perfectly. I mean, granted, his ability to evade any accountability is weird.*
*Old English wyrd ‘destiny’, of Germanic origin. The adjective (late Middle English) originally meant ‘having the power to control destiny.'
Anyway this is the part I came to rant about
"…his thoroughly primitive belief that a book patched together from the oral traditions of a bunch of illiterate shepherds trapped in a desert is the literal Word of God."
Yeah right, it's always the "literal word of God" until you get to the parts that don't align with being a racist xenophobe. Then all the sudden these people are aware the Bible uses parables and metaphor. But I didn't come here to rant about conservative cognitive dissonance.
The idea you either have to believe the Bible or disbelieve it is stupid reductive and INCENTIVIZES the worst people to continue using possibly THE most effective tool of grassroots organization ever invented by humanity (religion), while simultaneously PUSHING AWAY otherwise smart people from engaging with it on the fear that they'll look stupid for "being religious."
I once asked a Hindi if he really believed in a multi armed dancing elephant and he said, 'no, no they're just stories, stories.' And it was like a light bulb exploded over my head. Like, of course! They ARE stories, yet they can still inspire you; make you think, or just feel something deep in your bones. Like Star Trek or Les Miserables or Debbie Does Dallas.
And then you hear about someone like Douglas Rushkoff who says he proved the Bible was meant to be an open sourced, collaborative narrative… then all the sudden the Bible looks more sophisticated as the Mike Huckabee's of the world look waaay more primitive lol
https://archive.rushkoff.com/articles/on-the-ledge.html
I am a Christian who is appalled that the Israelis are treating the Palestinians the way the Nazis treated their ancestors. I do NOT consider Huckabee a real Christian.
Huckie-poo-poo just shit the bed again.
Great post. Thank you.
The only thing I would take issue with is the statement that "... that attitude might last only until Jared Kushner sees yet another area besides the Gaza Strip that he thinks he can turn into the Middle East version of the Riviera."
Jared would never be able to set his sights (or his taste) so high. His father (now the Ambassador to France) was a Jersey slumlord and felon. To Jared, despite his $10 million Florida island and his $2 billion in "Sovereign Wealth Fund" money, and his Mar-A-Lago Barbie wife, the height of his vision is to turn the Gaza Strip into a Middle East version of Myrtle Beach, SC.
No Republican President has been able or willing to leave the Middle East the fuck alone.
Well partly that is from the efforts of very powerful lobbies.
Senator Chris Murphy ... a good listen. Murphy answers questions directly, including his vote on Rubio. Murphy understands what is going on. And no, our CT Senators will NOT be attending Orangini's nazi rally tonight.
𝗜𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀: 🚨 𝗗𝗲𝗺 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗕𝗢𝗬𝗖𝗢𝗧𝗧 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽'𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗛𝗜𝗠 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗧𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡!
https://youtu.be/7_ZP5IMMNxo [~22 minutes]
Ta, Gary. Covetous creep. Btw, there is NO biblical backup for the rapture. None.
The usual exegesis that supports the rapture depends on a couple of very metaphorical verses in Revelations in which the word itself is not used and the concept itself is so indistinct as to require a certain amount of creative interpretation to appear at all.
As an agnostic with a really unfortunate amount of training in Christian theology, I would say Zyx's assertion is consistent with a modern critical interpretation of the text.
There's a great deal of controversy about whether Revelations is legitmately part of the New Testament, but it's been used so heavily by the evangelicals and charismatics that it's more or less a permanent fixture.
The biblical scholars I know, even the literalists, regard Revelations as kind of a carnival side show.
Personally, given the political and social values of the people I know who believe in a Rapture, I'd be thrilled to be left behind.
Why would a citizen of the Space Age want to taint their soul with the vile corruption that passes as "Christianity" in the U.S?
Humans are the absolutely amazing product of billions of years of evolution.
Each and every human living stands at the head of a genetic line that stretches back in an unbroken line, for billions of years.
We are awesome creatures struggling to overcome our base animalistic instincts.
If we have a Divine Creator, that Creator must be thrilled that people are finally smart enough to reject hateful mythology that causes division and strife to instead embrace evidence based science.
Homosapiens have walked this Earth for over 200,000 years and we will continue to thrive long after Christianity becomes a defunct religion.
Thundering idiots don't seem to understand why a secular government is necessary to protect religious freedom.
When a country is composed of a multitude of religious denominations that have a history of violence, the government must be neutral, or secular to prevent one denomination from abusing the others.
Christians are well known for their abuse of other denominations. Catholics and Protestants murdered each other for centuries. Protestants hunted Mormans and scared the Mormons so badly they ran from Illinois to Utah in 111 days, on foot!
Sane Americans refuse to taint their souls with the broken, corrupted belief system that masquerades as American Christianity. So the Evangelicals are trying to establish a theocracy to eradicate their competition.
Jefferson was responsible for churches' tax exemption. He was afraid Christian majority state and local legislatures would use the power of the purse to stifle Jews and Muslims from establishing places of worship.
The Huckabees have the potential to be the most toxic American political dynasty since the Bushes or the Cheneys.
The guy who played Urkel knew he was doing it for the joke and other than one of the kid actors on the show who lost their job, no one was hurt by Urkel.
The guy who plays Huckabee is actually hurting people and the only surprise I will have when his name comes out in the Epstain files is that Epstain would have anything to do with someone as slimy as a Huckabee.
Let's not forget that the family has their own history with dogs.
I'm guessing he misses talking about snacking on squirrels in college.
Like a puppy trying to figure out how to work a doorknob. Excellent. That is Tucker’s exact facial expression.
I used to have a cat who figured out how to work a doorknob. His lack of thumbs and small paws prevented him operating one, but we swore never to get a door with a lever/latch kind of one while he was alive, and didn't.
But kitty was also very handsome and well-liked.
Ah, Carlson furrowed his brow. He's very SERIOUS.
Somewhere, Susan Collins is concerned.