My theory is that the Rapture already happened.

[xiphias]

So, yeah. Apparently, some folks said that the Rapture was gonna be yesterday.

As far as I know, nobody I know vanished, but that was to be expected. I asked Lis if we could think of anyone who would vanish when the Rapture happened. Lis suggested Jimmy Carter.

I said, "No way. Carter would start to be Raptured, and he'd say, 'Listen, God, there's going to be all these tribulations and stuff coming, and folks are going to need help, so you'd better put me back down there so I can help 'em all out.'"

So, that's what I figure. The Rapture comes, and nobody who's expecting to be Raptured would be taken, of course, and the folks who WOULD be taken all say, "Forget it -- if there's gonna be nasty stuff coming, they're going to need me HERE."

Comments

[bandraoi.livejournal.com]

Excellent point!

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who would probably be Raptured and accept it. Very devout, incredibly good person, but knows her limitations, and doesn't function well in chaotic settings. She'd *want* to help, but figure that if she stuck around through that specific type of tribulations, she'd end up being more of a burden than an asset, despite best efforts.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I doubt she'd be surprised at being Raptured either, but not because she's self-satisfied. She's just utterly convinced of the goodness of God. She'd be very surprised that most of the world didn't come with her, but she'd be not at all surprised that His kindness extended even to such flawed creatures as herself.

[(Anonymous)]

Good point! Very good point!

[(Anonymous)]

My understanding is that the demons will be raptured (cast into the outer darkness) and the meak will be left behind (to inherit the earth)

Matt
eclectic itchings (http://mattstone.blogs.com)

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Just checked out your blog.

General Butt Naked?!

And he and his troops killed how many innocent people?!

Fiction has absolutely no chance against reality.

[ailsaek.livejournal.com]

On the one hand, Jimmy Carter as a bodhisattva is an appealing image. One the other, I like the idea of all the Christian fundamentalists disappearing. Don't imagine it would me a huge difference in the rest of the world, but it'd make the US much more livable.

yesterday?

[erik-j-meyer.livejournal.com]

What was so special about yesterday?

Good point about folks who are worthy staying on to help out.

I would still think that it would result in some major religous re-writings as all those who could see what was happening looked at everyone else and said, 'no, really, this is G-d's message', and since it would have hardly any time to get edited my human politics hopefully it would get thru to everyone.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

*peeks out window*

Nope, no empty cars idling in the middle of my street.

But in this neighborhood, that's probably to be expected. We're a fairly normally sinful bunch around here, I guess.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I never knew there was a Rappie predicted for yesterday. Where's you hear about it?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

The New Adventures of Queen Victoria. It's a webcomic.

[cheshyre]

Here's a little more info http://www.boingboing.net/2006/08/22/world_still_here_wsj.html

[sethg]

I get the distinct impression that the kind of Christians who believe in the Rapture are not the kind of Christians who would be disposed to hang around afterwards and relieve the suffering of others.

I am reminded, though, of Perfectionism, the belief that Jesus actually did come back in 70 CE and therefore humans are no longer tainted by original sin; this was the religious belief underpinning the Oneida commune in the late 19th century. One of the tenets of Perfectionism was that since the Kingdom of Heaven was right here, and since Jesus had said that in heaven there is no marriage, then monogamy was a legalistic institution that was not morally binding. In the Oneida community, therefore, any mutually consenting man and woman could have sex and exclusive attachments were discouraged.

[warren8472.livejournal.com]

Damn, where's that church at?!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Oneida, New York. Honestly, their only real lasting effect on the world is a tableware company. Still, WE have Oneida tableware.

The Oneida commune supported itself by selling handcrafted furniture, china, and silverware. Only the silverware division still exists, and the current corporate overlords are pretty much unaware of its 19th century, free-love, hippie communist origins.

[ckd]

A couple notes by way of Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation:

The Oneida Community was also known as "the O.C." (Apparently there's now a TV show about them.)

Charles Guiteau, who shot[1] President Garfield, was a member. Despite the free love bit, he was was apparently, shall we say, less than popular with the ladies and was given the nickname "Charles Gitout".

[1] But, arguably, didn't single-handedly kill; remarkably bad medical care had a lot to do with it.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Yep, the doctor fished around for the bullet, making additional holes in Garfield, and reached inside him with ungloved and unsterilized hands, resulting in contamination of the wound. They did more harm than good. Guiteau argued at his trial that "The dcotors killed the President, I only shot him," but it didn't do any good.

[psu-jedi.livejournal.com]

I get the distinct impression that the kind of Christians who believe in the Rapture are not the kind of Christians who would be disposed to hang around afterwards and relieve the suffering of others.

My thoughts exactly!

[bluepapercup]

Well, how about this possibility:

Everyone who was Rapture-able was already taken, and everyone else is still here, bitter that they didn't get to go, and waiting for it to happen again, in denial.

[madame-urushiol.livejournal.com]

Oh my...all the conspicuously pious locals will be SO disappointed; particularly my next door neighbor. I'm sure he was counting on being the first in line.

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

The question is, did these get sent out? Because, if they didn't, it must not have been the real rapture.

[felis-sidus.livejournal.com]

So when, exactly, do you posit this happened?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

My guess is sometime around the year 1000 or so.

[kelfstein.livejournal.com]

Most who expect to be taken up in the Rapture are going elsewhere. >:)