"The Rapture Racket"-New book slams the "Left Behind" crowd.

[yellowcanine]

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=17713

If you want the goods on how to refute wingnuts pushing the "Left Behind" nonsense this is your source.

[mac56]

1. Great post, great resource.

Thanks.

[yellowcanine]

2. Your welcome. Here is a pithy little quote from Timmy LaHaye.

"Fear can lead many people to Christ."
--Rev. Tim LaHaye


-or make them vote a certain way?

[RobertSeattle]

3. Stick to the Gospels Christians

Revelations is one wack-job of a book.

[DerekG]

8. Martin Luther would've agree with you

When he was translating the Bible into German, Luther was hesitant to include The Book of Revelation, saying "The Holy Spirit is not in it."

I wish he had followed his instinct.

[noonwitch]

10. It makes one wonder what type of fungi grow on the Island of Patmos

It's not the book of the Bible best used to try to convert others. There are a lot of interesting aspects to it. The imagery and symbolism, and the message of hope throughout trials is important if one views the big picture.

Anyways, John and George have to be resurrected first, so they can join their fellow horseman. Charlie has to be released from prison so he can reunite his family and bring on the end of time. That's about as sane as LaHaye's theories, although I guess if you carve a swastika in your forehead, people tend to not take you as seriously as the multimillionare author wearing a polyester suit.



He who has an ear, let him hear.

[K-W]

17. One thing the world will never run out of are

people who think the world will end in thier lifetimes. So self important and ignorant of historical context that they can very easily be convinced it is the end of times. And cult leaders will always know this and use it to enslave people.

[Cats Against Frist]

27. According to Polling Report

http://www.pollingreport.com/religion2.htm

Twenty-five percent of self-identified fundamentalists and 31 percent of self-identified evangelicals believe that the world will end within their lifetime.

That's actually a whole hell of a lot of people -- tens of millions. And evangelicals alone make up 40 percent of the GOP constituency.

People reserve the right to their religion. I reserve the right call those people, particularly those who think people are going to be blinked out of thin air, leaving behind only their action slacks and Bobbie Brooks separates, while the rest of us are chomped up by a many-headed beast, FUCKING INSANE.

And, further, I just finished reading the Amazon.com reviews of Thomas Franks' book "What's the Matter With Kansas?," where every right-winger took the chance to note Mr. Franks' "disbelief" that there are people who "are patriotic and believe in God," while, in the same paragraph, decrying the "identity politics of the left."

Is it just me, as a happy non-Christian, or is their something to the theory that a voting bloc of zealous Christians is ONE BIG IDENTITY POLITIC??? It could be said that since 40 percent of the GOP electorate is evangelical and that the religious right, or whatever you want to call them, is, perhaps the singularly most significant voting bloc, next to minorities -- and they're WAY more organized than minority groups -- that the GOP thrives off of identity politics?

Why is religion given some kind of "free pass?" I also read that some 65 percent or something, of ALL Americans believe in the LITERAL interpretation of the Bible. Literal, meaning, of course, whatever suits them or they can revise -- but it's no wonder that intellectualism is ranked on, and that Tim LaHellfire can sell out these "god-awful" (hee hee) dimestore novels in a country, full of people who's inquiry into the condition of humanity stops before modernity every truly enters the picture.

[Sequoia]

15. John was on drugs, magic mushrooms

which grew on the island where he wrote the book. So says a source I can't name because the original document on parchment has been lost. However, retyping it on one of those Selectric's, a ball bearing AD did not exist.

[TX-RAT]

4. Is rapture even mentioned in the bible?

[Connie_Corleone]

5. Nope.

But the fundies say it's inferred by Paul's description of being "caught up" with Jesus in the clouds.

[AntiSmirk]

6. Ha, Ha, Ha

"Tim LaHaye...said that liberals have created this loving, wimpy Jesus and that we need the judgmental, warrior Jesus."

Good Lord, talk about man creating God in his own image.

[evannever]

9. I know so many who are so brainwashed....

by those books. I have a collegue in the Army who believes that we are in a reprieve from the end days as long as dubya is president. ...my jaw hit the floor.

[theHandpuppet]

22. Jesus was a warrior?

I guess Matthew Chpts 5,6 & 7 sure fooled me.

[On the Road]

7. Yes, The rapture is a Relatively Modern Development

although it's difficult to convince an evangelical of this. Church historians, no matter how conservative their religion, rarely buy into the end times scenarios because they know the history -- both the mainstream of rejecting apocalyptic forecasts and the repeated false predictions of the end times by people on the fringe.

Personally, I believe the Bible contains teachings which are all over the map. But if you believe the Bible is inspired and take its teachings as a whole, it leans much more toward postmillenialsim -- the idea that Christianity will gradually become universal.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which is the smallest of seeds but which grows to become a large plant. In Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2), the rock that strikes the statue becomes a huge mountain that fills the earth. Jesus sends his disciples out to convert the nations.

Why do Christians believe in the tribulation and other odd things about the apocalypse? Because they don't believe all those terrible prophecies refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. But what can you do? It seems to be a national delusion.

[Connie_Corleone]

11. Preachers can make more money if people are afraid.

If there is no tribulation, no apocalypse and no hell, people will have nothing to fear.

[On the Road]

14. Absolutely

When the Bible was written, people were afraid of persecution. There was no need to pump those feelings up artificially.

[Connie_Corleone]

12. I might have to get that book

Sounds good.

[blm]

13. Scratch the surface of a fundie and you'll find a Moonie.

Tim LaHaye has been closely aligned with RevMoon for decades.

[K-W]

16. Fundementalism is a cult, look at thier leaders.

Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell... are these people any different than Rev. Moon. They are liars and dissemblers who pretend to lead religion when all they really do is persue thier own insane and selfish motives.

The fact that Rev. Moon has managed to get power and influence in the Religious Right is just further proof that the entire movement is completely morally bankrupt.

I am not, myself, a christian, but I hope true christians can take back thier faith. The teachings of Christ are very positive things, this psuedo-biblical cult worship is sickening.

[hatrack]

18. About damned time!

And when you're finished with this, read "Sleeping With Extra-Terrestrials" by Wendy Kaminer.

[GreenPartyVoter]

19. Great article!

---------------------------------------------------------------------
And God told His children: "I love you. Play nice."

Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/liberalchristians.htm

[izzie]

20. This sounds to much like the 7 virgin thing to me.

I swear we are down to one group of nuts fighting anther group of nuts and both saying their God is right. I have giving up going to church once more. Even my church does not seem anti-war any more. May just be the preacher but alot of these nuts around now.

[Swamp Rat]

21. good post

[VOX]

23. The book sounds great - and useful as a tool to counter rapture-junkies...

Of course, they'll refuse to listen to anything that runs contrary to their fixed mindset, but nevertheless, it's always worth a try.

:kick:

[Q]

24. Judgmental, Warrior Jesus!

"Tim LaHaye said that liberals have created this loving, wimpy Jesus and that we need the judgmental, warrior Jesus. The big question now is what is the true image of Jesus? A loving Jesus is not wimpy. A loving Jesus is precisely who Jesus is, and that is how he is portrayed in the Gospels."

- LaHaye can't sell his crap to peaceful, loving people. His product is fear, hatred and suspicion of anyone who doesn't buy his swill.

[democracy eh]

25. might order a copy for my ex-girlfriend who has gone all fundie.

self-delusion is a powerful force.

[Justice]

26. What I always say about the end of the world is that if the world ends

during our lifetime, we largely in the United States, we are all toast. It will be those in Africa and other parts of the world that survive. Because if God is looking at the world today and sees us in the United States with our houses, cars, health, electronics and all of our other stuff, our tendency to be overweight etc -- and looks at other places in the world where people have absolutely nothing, no health care, no decent drinking water etc etc -- God will ask why we didn't help others when we had more than enough for ourselves and to share.

That usually makes people stop talking.