Haven't had one of these in a while... I think it's time for another SHOWERTIME SPECULATION! To be honest, though, this is my second thought, but it got to be soooo long that I decided to compile it into a single post, with my first and third thoughts in a following post!

Second Thought:

To change the subject entirely, I've been thinking lately about end of the world. It's not something I obsess over a whole lot like a lot of other Christians seem to do, but I just wanted to pitch something out there for all you folks that feed off the sheer fundamentalist conservatism of people like me. Basically this: The Rapture. For those who don't know what that is, exactly, the Book of Revelation in The Bible is dedicated to a vision had by someone named John which is basically a giant prophecy of the end of the world. One of the key things in the book is the "Rapture", during which all true Christians are divinely taken off the planet so that Satan may use the remaining days to work his final evils to take as many humans as possible with him to eternal damnation. (Remember folks, Satan was already crushed and defeated when Jesus died and rose from the dead. The only thing left for Satan to do is take everyone else out with him... He's running one giant suicide bombing.) Without getting too much into it, the only thing holding God back from letting the world fall one final time is the fact that there are good Christians still here. But at some point, enough is going to be enough and He will take us all away and effectively remove the barrier stopping the final fall of mankind.

Okay, now... That was only the background to my thought. See, I'm not what people have started to call "Rapture-Ready". I don't go looking around for it and waking up each day expecting it to happen and I don't obsess over it day in and day out. Sure, it's something I realize will happen sooner or later and maybe not even in my lifetime (though I seriously doubt that) but I don't go around every corner in life expecting it to happen. I've seen people who do that and, to be honest, it irritates me. There are people like my Great-Grandma who were passively ready for the Rapture, which was always comforting somehow, but then there are people who just talk about it constantly and somehow seem to be actively looking for it. I dunno... I don't get it. But I realize this: Revelation says that the Rapture will happen when everyone least expects it. With the state of the world right now, everyone seems to be expecting it. To me, that just seems to scream "not going to happen yet". It'll happen in a time of peace and prosperity when nobody expects it. To get political for a monent, everyone thinks that Obama is going to usher in a new low to the country and everything's going to come apart at the seams and it will be a prime time for a Rapture. While I do think Obama is going to utterly destroy the fabric of this country if he's elected, I don't think it's going to be a time "primed for Rapture", because if he does become President, the last thing to happen is peace and prosperity. We're talking Second Great Depression if he gets in office... Not exactly a peaceful and prosperous time.

That being said, I do sometimes wonder what might happen after a Rapture. Think about it! The single most motivating event to sway people to accept government control is what? A catastrophe. After the Rapture, Satan will work overtime to hurtle the world toward its final demise. Revelation talks of a single, massive, one world government that will be corrupt at its core with the Anti-Christ at its helm, performing feats of wonder to convince the world that he actually is God. In the current state of affairs on this fair planet, a one-world government is not something that will ever happen. Some countries seem to be primed for it, but places like Russia and the United States and China just don't currently seem to be the type of countries to give up their power and submit to a global government. Not yet, anyway. There'll be what the Bible calls a "3 day fire war" (which, back then, I'm sure John didn't know what the heck he was seeing, but we all agree today that he witnessed a nuclear war). Of course, that's after the Rapture. The Rapture seems to be the catalyst for all these things to happen in a rapid chain of events. By referring to the history of our country, we can see that a catastrophic event is all that's needed to spur people to panic and to embrace something that might not be the best course of action. And that leads me to my thought:

What will happen the split second AFTER the Rapture? What will the planet do when millions upon millions of humans vanish in an instant. Think Left Behind series... Normal people doing normal jobs. People cooking, driving cars, flying jets. Poof! Gone! Instant panic. This wouldn't be isolated to a single area, it would be the entire planet. Mass, global panic. But there's going to be an explanation... I can't imagine what that explanation might be, so I enjoy trying to come up with examples. The top of my list, however cliche, since I can honestly think of nothing else, is "alien abduction", "attempt at population control", or "those dumb Christians organized this to freak us all out". It sounds insane, but, seriously, how many people do actually believe in sentient life outside our solar system? Would it really be so far-fetched to think that'd be an explanation for mass disappearances? With the cavalier attitude taken toward human life and the climate of this planet, would it really be so far-fetched to think officials might try to cover it up by saying they chose the least fittest to survive in an effort to save the planet? With the cynic nature of humans today, would it be so crazy to insinuate they'd think we all disappeared voluntarily? Who knows! There might never be an official adopted explanation and it might all be left up to the individual to come to terms with. But! I have a NEW idea for why people may vanish!

The Large Hadron Collider! Yep! Sounds crazy (crazier than the Rapture itself?), but it could be just as plausible as anything else. Think of it! A giant particle accelerator designed to recreate the Big Bang. Nobody knows what will happen, and some has even postulated that it'll destroy the fabric of reality or at the very least create tiny black holes that rip the planet apart. The sky's the limit for something like this, really. But, to be honest, I don't care. I don't think anything will happen... We might learn something, but come on. This is science in the realm of trying to prove that God doesn't exist. Do you really think something positive will come from it? It reeks of RMS Titanic: "God Himself cannot sink this ship." "Oops, we hit an iceberg in that one-chance-in-a-million way that would actually sink the ship." But it gives me a new idea to add to my list of Rapture explanations, granted it'll only apply until that moment when they actually activate it, but that really would be the ultimate explanation. "3, 2, 1... LHC ACTIVATE!" Millions of people vanish. "Oops." Yep, it's crazy, and I'll probably get stuck up on Fundies Say The Darndest Things again, but oh well. The fact is, there's going to have to be an explanation for the Rapture.

Now, as a side thought, since the LHC was my main thought, I've always wondered how people will react to everyone vanishing. I mean, to me, if millions of people disappeared, I know I'm going to think "OH MY GOSH I GOT LEFT BEHIND" and I'll know for a fact that Christianity was right all along. It's not like a bunch of people vanishing is going to make me go "Hmm, now why did that happen." I'm going to know exactly what happened. (Of course, I pray I don't get left behind!) Which always begs the question: What are non-Christians going to think? The ones who don't know about the whole Rapture thing are going to be absolutely clueless, but what about people who have Christian friends and they are at least vaguely aware of the Rapture idea? I have lots of friends who are either not Christians or have fallen away and are no longer interested in being a Christian and it grieves me to no end that there's a very good chance that when all is said and done, I'll never see them again. These are people who know I'm a Christian and I've talked to them about it and it's become clear to both of us that they aren't in a state of mind to accept Christian ideas and I'm never going to forsake them, so we just accept the differences. The best thing I can do right now is try to live a good Christian life as an example to them... Granted, I do very poorly, so I'm not sure how much of a positive example I am. But at this point, it seems to me that no ground is going to be made unless there's some sort of proof for them. My friends are very intelligent and scientifically minded, and those are the hardest to convince that there is an Intelligent Design to the universe. At this point, they need proof. They're already acutely aware of what Christianity promises, but that's not enough for them.

So I always wonder... What if their Christian friends one day aren't able to be found? What if my friends someday hear about the countless missing people and I'm part of those they never hear from again? Would they then be able to make the connection and have the proof they need to take that final step? It'll be so vastly more difficult to be a Christian in those final days, but it will be entirely possible. The Rapture is the opened flood-gates to end of times, and a final warning call that people need to wake up. But like in the days of Noah and the Great Flood, the citizens of the Earth had years upon years to change their ways. They saw Noah diligently building his giant ship and they all mocked him... Until they all died. There are going to be some people who go through the Rapture and still not make the connection, whether because they're uninformed of what just happened, or because they willingly turn. I can't help but wonder how many people I know will go through the Rapture and go "FINALLY! Those dastardly conservatives are out of our way!" or go "Ohh maaan, he was right all along." At this point, I think a Rapture or something huge like that is the only way to shake my non-Christian friends hard enough to really think about it. But, you know, by then, it'll be too late for me to be there. But, like I said, they're all smart people... I'm sure they'll be able to find a Bible.

And then there'll always be those Christians who were only Christians in name and got left behind. There'll be people who study Christianity, but aren't actually Christians... I'm sure there'll be learned people who can help start up new churches in those final days, but man, will it be so vastly more difficult to be a Christian in the final days. Americans have it so easy, compared to what will happen and what is happening elsewhere. But I'll be cheering you on from where ever I'll be after I'm taken away!

(How's that for a showertime speculation?)

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 3:09 am and is filed under Religion, Showertime Speculation.