I have been around for at least three predictions of 'The Rapture' and may live long enough to see a couple more. It seems every generation of Christians wants the big R to happen in their lifetime. But you have to hand it to them. They have unquestioning gullibility and shameless tenacity; a dangerous combination.
They said; “if you wake up to find
the faithful have left you behind,
you’ll know that the rapture
failed to recapture
your devious Atheist mind!”
So what did I find when I woke
this morning and looked for you folk?
You-all are still here,
not in Heaven, I fear
‘Cause the whole stupid thing is a joke!
It’s clear that the Rapture’s a con,
with so many dates come and gone.
It seems that the grand plan
is worth even less than
the paper it’s all written on!
First published in Poetry 24, a news based poetry blog that is well worth a look... well, go on!
Thanks for the visit and loved your comment!
ReplyDeleteGreat poem here!
Yes, the Rapture's a con!
What? You mean this ISN'T heaven? "Hi ho the dairy oh a Camping we will go!"
ReplyDeleteRick
Stafford
ReplyDeleteI remember several Judgement Days. The first sometime before the age of eleven, waiting for the final tidal wave - never happened.
Second - Johovahs Witnessess who were welcome to our house for debate - predicting Armageddon mid-seventies. Didn't happen nor did (they) return for debate!
Man (and woman) kind will be the agents of their own destruction - God, if he exists, will have no hand in it.
Anna :o]
One of the craziest things I read about The Rapture was a man spending his entire life savings - $140,000 - on billboards saying it was coming. Wonder how he's feeling right now. Gullibility doesn't even begin to describe it. Sometimes all I can do is shake my head....
ReplyDeleteLove your take on this one... I've always been reluctant to heed any specific dates as have been predicted... yet with the state of the world, with what it's natural disasters and wars leave for us, does make one wonder a little could we be nearer than we think.
ReplyDeleteI can't say I'm disappointed not to have been "beamed up" - but I did wear my Star Trek communicator badge (leftover from my Blue Peter days) all day just in case. As always spot on Stafford!
ReplyDeleteGood, thought-provoking work, agreement with your sentiments.
ReplyDeleteI guess you've heard that Camping moved the end of the world to sometime in October 2011, lol.
So here's the deal. It's folks trying to deal with their own death. Want to make it an event, I guess you can't blame them, after all, their lives are so incredible, their passing should be an event! Marked down in a great book, could it be possible, we are born, we live and we die, nothing so incredible...but am grateful to be here, don't ask for more....you've said it so well!
ReplyDeleteI won't try to reply to all comments except to thank you all but Reflections, may I suggest many are connecting two disconnected ideas.
ReplyDeleteIt is true we are rushing headlong into a crisis for humanity and for countless other species as we are encouraged to pursue economic growth at any cost (and it is costing). How that will be handled can be predicted by seeing how we have handled it so far, which is to basically trust our politicians to fix it while climate change sceptics get away with delaying tactics we cannot afford. Remember what sceptics did to the Tobacco Debates of the 1960’s and the leaded fuel debates of the 1970’s? Then as now, narrow commercial interests delayed reforms at the expense of human lives.
The link between smoking and cancer was first recorded by a physician in France who noted his non-smoking patients lived far longer that his smokers. The year? 1855. It took a hundred and ten years for humanity to act and even now the debate goes on. (The Australian Government is attempting to further curb tobacco sales while the Opposition, that receives donations from Big Tobacco is resisting.)
The second idea that the 'end times' will bring the Christian Jesus back to Earth is so fanciful I wonder if Philosophy should be a compulsory school subject! However, I do genuinely appreciate the frantic efforts made by the Faithful to gather in as many non-believers as possible to share their ‘Paradise to come’. I’d like to believe people holding placards and pleading with us to repent are doing so out of kindness but there are other explanations.
Dare I suggest that there were many times between 1914-1945, covering the Great War, the Depression then the WW2 when upwards of two hundred million died of starvation, disease and violence that people thought the End Times had arrived. There have been countless other such crises since Timothy and Matthew were putting quill to papyrus to scare the living daylights out of their flock, urging them to choose Christ over Rome at its peak of hedonistic excess.
Rome did implode as did many more modern states, the latest being the USSR.
It should be instructive that prior to the 1985 ‘Rapture’, it was the USSR Christians were denouncing as the Satan we were all about to be beamed off to fight in Israel!
However, nobody will have their mind changed by anything I say. Faith and Biblical prophesy are two basic Religious needs. They provide an illusion of security and predictability and clearly for many, illusion is enough.
I loved your poem (left you a comment at Poetry24 if you haven't looked) :)
ReplyDeleteStafford, sadly my reincarnated gold fish succumbed to the 'Rapture' RIP Peter-Otto II see: http://mymissinglife.blogspot.com/2011/05/peter-otto-and-end-of-world.html
ReplyDeleteThe only Rapture that interests me is the ecstatic detachment from reality that occurs when one is immersed in good literature.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I keep coming back here.
spot on Stafford, but did you notice that all our followers have disappeared? Did they "beam up to heaven"? Or is it just a huge glitch in Blogger land?? In addition, commenting has become more of a chore as login id's do not work and one has to use name and URL to enable commenting. I think Blogger is coming down with the flu. Happy weekend anyhow!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about the goldfish in a little hat. You must miss him/her terribly!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes kathie, Blogger has been very difficult lately. Commenting has become very slow and difficult. I thought god must have smitten my computer but as you have also been smote it can't be that! I'll just have to ask a chaplain.
I think it's a Google conspiracy ... everything works fine using Google Chrome ... not so much with Internet Explorer.
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ReplyDeleteTypo above, darnit. #1 read: In case of rapture this car will be unmanned.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! Loved it.
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised that the judgment day announcement was made from someone in the US as religion is very powerful in this country, the Christian religion that is. I had read earlier that this Rapture phenomenon was due to a series of books, written by US authors. I just came back from a trip to France and stayed a few days with my cousin who lives in a small town, about 40 miles from Paris. The city has about 24,000 people and one church (XII century.) On my way to the market on Sunday I looked into the church, at mass time, and saw about 45 people or so - here in Georgia, there would have been a full house with people standing at the back, plus a couple more dozen churches in a town of 24,000. I don’t say this is bad, I just say that we are in a very religious country here in the US. I read on a UK newspaper that Saudi Arabia is considered the most Muslim religious country and the US the most Christian. So we get a lot of announcements from “true believers.” Thanks for coming to my blog a while back. I went on a trip shortly afterwards and could not make it to your blog until now. I enjoyed reading your posts.
ReplyDelete'Rapture ' Too beautiful a word for such a ' Stupid Bunch of ' Loonie Religious Nutters '.
ReplyDeleteTruth be known , ' They ' are suffering from a good case of ' The Vapors '..
Best to ' Stay Downwind of Them At All Times ' for the ' Odor ' is ' Terribly Offensive '.
' Rapture 'is what we feel, as we ' Smirk At Their Stupidity ...
Dear dear Stafford,
ReplyDeleteI lost my comment twice.
Anyway, I was saying - If you stay away from all the schmooze and chatter, it would seem that nothing was said, nothing happened and nothing changed.
Yes, nothing changed. Though a lot happened.
There will be those who will always insist that 'something' must be done. 'Something' is going to happen. To them. To others.
Instead of saying, 'We are in this together. Let us do this. You. Me. And that stranger who is going to be a trusted friend at the touch of the keyboard.'
Cheers!
Hahahahaha! Excellent! Those nuts give the rest of us crazies a bad name! :D
ReplyDeleteHas the Rapture got you after all?
ReplyDeleteI hope not. Or perhaps you are at sea?
Lots of great poems here.
Best wishes, Isabel
Our intentioned friends of the ultimate salvation vs. doom fascination were/are wrong about timing because they practice FALSE prophesy. (Can not reasonably argue with that, no?)
ReplyDeleteSomewhere in the teachings of the omnipresent and infinite -- without beginning or end -- God is the perhaps insulating and protective truth that I weakly paraphrase:
No man will know the time.
Personally, I am glad to have a bit more time to enjoy the gift of life here on this orb of God's creation
..
Unquestionably believe that which you stated.
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