Rapture This

A frankly candid look at the unrealistic expectations and false promises sold to those who hold blindly to the teachings of Organized Religion, and the manmade doctrine of a coming Rapture ...

Rapture This

Written By Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham

Copyright © 2015 Marvin Thomas Cox

DBA: Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham

All Rights Reserved

It is said that your very life, full and in Technicolor, flashes before your eyes just before you die. What is on the other side, if there is an other side? No one living really has a clue, though every religion will attempt to fill one's clueless-ness, each with teachings of its own ...

For example: Of the eight or nine people listed within the Bible that allegedly returned from the dead, not a single one remains to tell us what is on that other side, or if that side even exists. Even stranger still is that not a one of them had a word of encouragement to offer within the text of the very Bible that reports their return ...

Even Jesus has been conveniently swept away to prepare mansions that, if he and his alleged father truly had foreknowledge of his mission to earth, should have already been prepared long before his alleged voluntary & willful suicide upon the cross. Now, if there was a logical reason to wait on construction until after the theatrical festivities, just how long does it take the Creator of the entire Universe to build mansions for the very few that are said to be saved? After all, if God made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them in six days, surely He can build a few mansions in a bit less than two thousand years. Patience is a virtue, but something is wrong with this picture ...

And still, beyond sanity's sensibilities, the Christian world awaits a Christ's return that shall never take place; living in hopes of a rapture that will raise them from their graves, or translate them to be swept away to walk streets of gold in a beautiful city of limitless housing where every person (every race, creed, color, or language) has his own individual mansion and there is no wrong side of the tracks where the poor, undesirable, folks of different skin tones, cultures, or languages, are relegated to reside, because everyone (well, the folks selected to live there) will live forever in peace and harmony in a Heaven¹ that does not exist (nor ever existed except in the pagan-fairy-tale-mythological-imaginations of men); to feast at a great banquet, sipping endless supplies of finest wine, while listening to the cries of those starving, uninvited, individuals begging at the city walls; to top the festivities as guests and spectators who are blessed to watch from a safe distance as myriads of helpless people, including loved ones, friends, and relatives (those folks not selected to live in the city of perfect equality called Heaven -- a veritable Socialist paradise), are cast upon the fiery grill to roast in Eternal Suffering² of a sinner's barbecue Hell³ that, coincidentally, also does not exist; to then live forever with Jesus, who just so happens to be God (a merciful, loving, God), who also just so happens to be a man, and so it happens that Jesus (who is God), having always preexisted with the Father, has, then, always preexisted as a man -- has, thus, always been a man …

Wait a minute! Do not all monotheistic religions teach that men are not to worship anyone but the one and only Creator of all that is and will ever be �" that men are not to worship men? Hmmmmm … So why would such a Creator command men to not worship other men, and then appear and exist as a man, a created being forbidden to be worshiped? Perhaps, man has been monking around in penning the text of those very fairy tales that have held Christianity in suspense for over two thousand years now. Perhaps, the pagan world of polytheism has found a clever way to rule over those who believe themselves to be monotheists.

Are we believing what is actually a provable truth? Or are we believing what makes us feel better about our own mortality; makes us feel better than others in thinking we are deserving of Heaven, while others are not; deserving of life, while others are not?

Are we thinking clearly? Are we thinking at all? Or, are we simply living out the programmed lives of cattle fed the fairy tale lies of ancient pagan mythology superimposed upon the Hebrew and Jewish monotheist religion?

I invite you to do some real, in depth, studying of what history has to reveal about the true origins of Christianity … Dare to be a Freethinker⁴: “A person who is willing to accept and explore the possibility that everything they were ever taught to believe as an established truth may not actually be true -- and that honestly, selflessly, and diligently in search of that which is true, rather than choosing to cling, blindly, to accepted and commonly held truths.”

(Written July 27^th, 2015)

1 Heaven �" Origin Of The Concept Of Heaven: http://www.exminister.org/Jabbar-Heaven-concept-origin.html

Heaven: A fool's paradise: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/johann-hari/heaven-a-fools-paradise-1949399.html

Evolution of Heaven and Hell in the Bible from Zoroastrianism: http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/DebunkingChristians/Page28.htm

2 Eternal Suffering �" The Origin & History Of The Doctrine Of Endless Punishment by Thomas B. Thayer: http://biblemaths.com/thayer.pdf

3 Hell �" “... The simple idea of hell has often functioned as a necessary complement of heaven in an all-embracing moral or hedonistic wish-fulfillment. Men may devoutly desire hell�"for other people. And the assumption that the powers-that-be in the universe, in the role of cosmic police officers, will deal severely with whatever man considers evil is no less a reading of wishes and ideals into existence than the assumption that they are supporting everything he deems good. In fact it is the same assumption expressed differently. The concept of hell is compensatory in so far as it serves to provide a vicarious victory over the evils that so frequently win the day in this-earthly life. And like the idea of heaven it is only too likely to cut the nerve of effective action against the ills of this world. One of the most impassioned of the early Church Fathers, Tertullian, gives us a most instructive paean of transcendental triumph: “How shall I admire, how laugh, how exult when I behold so many proud monarchs groaning in the lower abyss of darkness, so many magistrates liquifying in fiercer flames than they ever kindled against the Christians; so many sage philosophers blushing in red-hot fires with their deluded pupils...” �" Corliss Lamont: The Illusion Of Immortality (1935), page 208.

4Freethinker �" My own definition taken from my article, The Road To All Too Soon https://www.scribd.com/document/320191847/The-Road-to-All-Too-Soon-by-Marvin-Thomas-Cox-Flynn expanded and expounded upon in my philosophical snippet, A True Free Thinker: “A true Free Thinker �" '... any person who is willing to accept and explore the possibility that everything they were ever taught to believe as an established truth may not actually be true, and that honestly, selflessly, and diligently in search of that which is true, rather than choosing to cling, blindly, to accepted and commonly held truths.' �" is best represented by the Atheist willing to entertain and explore the notion that there just might be a Creative Source of some kind �" out there somewhere �" beyond the teachings of Organized Religion, in turn paralleled by that avidly religious person willing to entertain and explore the notion that all he has ever been taught by his chosen religion is but man made mythological fairy-tales ...” �" Flynn de Graham https://allpoetry.com/journal/16056345-A-True-Free-Thinker-by-Flynn-de-Graham

Author's Note

EVIDENTIAL FOOTNOTES:

1 Heaven — Origin Of The Concept Of Heaven: http://www.exminister.org/Jabbar-Heaven-concept-origin.html

Heaven: A fool's paradise: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/johann-hari/heaven-a-fools-paradise-1949399.html

Evolution of Heaven and Hell in the Bible from Zoroastrianism: http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/DebunkingChristians/Page28.htm

2 Eternal Suffering — The Origin & History Of The Doctrine Of Endless Punishment by Thomas B. Thayer: http://biblemaths.com/thayer.pdf

3 Hell — “... The simple idea of hell has often functioned as a necessary complement of heaven in an all-embracing moral or hedonistic wish-fulfillment. Men may devoutly desire hell—for other people. And the assumption that the powers-that-be in the universe, in the role of cosmic police officers, will deal severely with whatever man considers evil is no less a reading of wishes and ideals into existence than the assumption that they are supporting everything he deems good. In fact it is the same assumption expressed differently. The concept of hell is compensatory in so far as it serves to provide a vicarious victory over the evils that so frequently win the day in this-earthly life. And like the idea of heaven it is only too likely to cut the nerve of effective action against the ills of this world. One of the most impassioned of the early Church Fathers, Tertullian, gives us a most instructive paean of transcendental triumph: “How shall I admire, how laugh, how exult when I behold so many proud monarchs groaning in the lower abyss of darkness, so many magistrates liquifying in fiercer flames than they ever kindled against the Christians; so many sage philosophers blushing in red-hot fires with their deluded pupils...” — Corliss Lamont: The Illusion Of Immortality (1935), page 208.

4Freethinker — My own definition taken from my article, The Road To All Too Soon https://www.scribd.com/document/320191847/The-Road-to-All-Too-Soon-by-Marvin-Thomas-Cox-Flynn expanded and expounded upon in my philosophical snippet, A True Free Thinker: “A true Free Thinker — '... any person who is willing to accept and explore the possibility that everything they were ever taught to believe as an established truth may not actually be true, and that honestly, selflessly, and diligently in search of that which is true, rather than choosing to cling, blindly, to accepted and commonly held truths.' — is best represented by the Atheist willing to entertain and explore the notion that there just might be a Creative Source of some kind — out there somewhere — beyond the teachings of Organized Religion, in turn paralleled by that avidly religious person willing to entertain and explore the notion that all he has ever been taught by his chosen religion is but man made mythological fairy-tales ...” — Flynn de Graham https://allpoetry.com/journal/16056345-A-True-Free-Thinker-by-Flynn-de-Graham

Reviews

[Fabian G. Franklin]

I do not consider myself a "Christian" but I am a believer and follower of Christ. I do not belong to an organized religion but I do belong to my Lord. You asked a question here that is addressed and answered in scripture. You asked why would God come in human form. God came in human form to offer Himself a sacrifice for His creation. There was no man without guilt so God Himself performed the duty. Without sacrifice there is and can be no love. Surely, common sense must make that clear. Every parent certainly knows it. And without love there can be no consideration of forgiveness or atonement provided. We do not go about bailing every stranger out of jail but for a brother...maybe. In Isaiah the Lord says through that prophet, "He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal." Isaiah 59:17 and again "I looked, but there was no one to help, And I was astonished that there was no one to uphold; So My "own arm" brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me." Isaiah 63:5 But I do not seek to proselytize or preach. I believe what I believe because of personal experience and you cannot become me so that is rather useless for both of us. But my faith is immovable because it is built upon the One and only Rock; the only God and Creator of the universe. I have a personal relationship with my Lord. I call and He answers me. That is enough for me. But as Paul said, "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit." 1 Corinthians 2:14 But I can tell you that I would not trade places with you for all the knowledge in the world or of the world because my reward is elsewhere. Paul also said, "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles." 1 Corinthians 1:22 So what seems like foolishness to those without the Spirit is the entirety of Being and Way and Life to those with the Spirit. I count myself among those, not as a "Christian" or religious zealot but as a mere believer and one blessed with faith through grace.

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham]

Fabian,

I respect you beliefs and value your commented input ...

As one who was a preacher for many years, one who know the truth that the Church does not teach the layman in the pew, I have learned, no longer believe the lies and deception, for there is no Spirit, and no God of Organized Religion, as the characteristics of, both, God and Man are identical : God is Man as Man is God: Man created and fabricate the concept of God and dressed the tree of his own creation in the trappings teachings and doctrines fabricated by each of the 3 major avenues of Organized Religion ...

I am an Intelligent Design Free Thinking Creationist who does not support Organized Religion ... That is my stand's position of viewpoint and belief after many, many, years of in depth historical and biblical research and study ...

However, I fervently support the right of Religious Freedom of Practice and Expression for all Humanity, even those who disagree with my, personal view ... Thank you for reading ...

[Fabian G. Franklin]

As I said, I believe what I believe from personal experience. Personal experience is not something you can learn or teach. It simply is what it is. I certainly won't make myself a liar to appease or agree with anyone. But I'm also not in the "religion" business or trying to make converts. I do know that "intellect" and intelligence have nothing to do with faith. C.S. Lewis was a brilliant atheist. Then, he became a saved follower. He was still just as brilliant but with "faith".

[W. Barrett Munn]

Very well presented argument-in-a-poem. Hard to do well but you accomplished it.

The problem as I see it-how can so many really intelligent people believe-is that the need to believe is based not on cognition but in psychology, the fear of the unknown. If someone requires a belief like that in order to cope with the reality of death, so be it. The difficulty lies in the surrounding countryside, where there is a belief that all that is wrong will be made right, that there will be retribution for wrongs, that a perfect judge will make everything square.

That latter part is what cause Lenin to call religion the opium of the people, because it takes away the desire, or necessity or man fixing man's problems and instead relying on some magical elixir that we all get to drink after death.

God made man in his image? I think it is the other way round.
Winston

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham]

Winston,

Thank you for reading, and for you very insightful and valued input of shared thoughts that are astutely logical ...

I consider myself an Intelligent Design Free Thinking Creationist who does not support Organized Religion, for, the reality is, God is Man as Man is God, as every Characteristic's attribute of God is identical to Man: Man fabricated and created the concept of God as means of power and control over the lives of ignorant, superstitious, men and women ... And yet, the Universe of existence within all Existence did not pull itself from the Magicians Hat of its own arse, which necessitates the existence of some type of Ultimate It, that is not God, which does operate as a Creator of all that is and will ever be out there in that realm of beyond Man's grasp of comprehension as An Extant Catalyst Reactant Ultimate Source Point Of Origin Of All Existence, which Man has never met or spoken with or to, and shall, likely never know or meet ...

You might enjoy my article Thinking Out Loud In Airing My Thoughts On Religion, Evolution, Organized Religion's God, & The Origin Of Existence -- Without The God Factor: https://www.writerscafe.org/writing/FlynndeGraham/2820691/ ... As well as my hybrid Poem-Article When It Is All Over & All Is Said & Done: https://www.writerscafe.org/writing/FlynndeGraham/2820277/ ...

Again, thanks for reading ...

Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham

[W. Barrett Munn]

Here's something to consider: if the universe is expanding, it must be doing so at speed slower than light else light could not reach us at all.
Two other problems with Einstein:
1) Time is a construct of man. Without man to measure it, there is no time. To the rocks and gasses of the universe, it is always now.
2) Just as religious have a psychological need for a god, so, too does man think everything must have a beginning and an end. Why so? There are other explanations that are not consistent with a Big Bang. And, to me, it appears that speculative physics has reached a point where it must invent ways to make the model work, i.e., dark matter and the like.

Physics has reached the religious claim region: It's magic.

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham]

At this point in time, I continue to support the Big Bang theory, but nothing in the realm of Free Thinking and truthfully seeking knowledge is set in stone of being irrefutable and found as fallible and erroneous ,,, Thus, I also would not disagree with your thoughts, for they are more than quite possibly correct ... I agree: Time is a conceptual creation of Man ... I also agree, and do share and state, that Science has become a Religion all its own and demands worship and obedience to its teachings and tenets just as does Organized Religion's God ... Any researcher of scientist who dares to oppose that status quo of that which Science says is so has his/her reputation ruined as a Science-Heretic and is ostracized and exiled as one who is a false teacher ...

I am not a supporter of Evolution as Science presents it to the world ... I do tend to support the research and theories presented by both Immanuel Velikovsky in his book Worlds In Collision, and Richard Milton's book Shattering The Myths Of Darwinism ... Both of these books present ideas that dare to challenge the accepted norms of the status quo of what is so that Science promotes as Blind Faith teachings which are presented and sold the world as Fact ... Good thinking, Winston ...