The rapture mucked my life up

Scofield - his rapture-ready lying has torpedoed American, Protestant Christianity. And of course our Empire occupies every quarter, so many global millions believe the Scofield lies. I'm glad you're free of Americhristian blasphemy, though I'm sorry you blaspheme Christ by denying him all together. Its never too late.

erealmz said:

I know I will die one day. I know the world will eventually come to an end. I know the universe will one day be destroyed. And I know that the only thing we can do about any of that is to live life as best as we can. Because these things will happen naturally and there is nothing we can do to convince nature to show us mercy.

Click to expand...

And how do you know all these things? By basing your assumptions on your knowledge of what science has discovered so far? Is that really an infallible foundation to base your knowledge on? History shows us that it's not. Science is constantly evolving and correcting itself.

I'm so glad you've found your freedom and peace, friend, even if you now can't believe in God at all — although given what you were taught to believe about God, I don't blame you at all for rejecting religion entirely. I come from an agnostic background myself and absolutely cringe at some of the beliefs and doctrines that are put forward in the name of God and Christ — I know exactly why so many thinking, caring, intelligent people are turned off faith for good.

I guess all I can do is assure you that not all Christians believe in the rapture — and indeed not all Christians believe that only they will be saved and everyone who didn't accept the one correct doctrine will go to hell. Far better to be a thoughtful and open-minded atheist (and if you discover one day you were wrong, maybe that discovery will be with joy, not horror) than swallow the kind of religion that controls and warps people's thinking through fear. Wishing you well in your ongoing journey, brother.

Rapture is simply resurrection of the dead , but there is no way that all people die at same time so they can get all resurrected so the leftovers of believers who are alive are "raptured"
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
There will be billions of dead resurrected compared to people who were alive at that time

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. - Matthew 24:44
Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. - Luke 12:40

Christ Jesus wants a ready church.

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. - Revelation 16:15

erealmz said:

Science is all we've got. I'm not going to sit around waiting for it to evolve when I can learn from it now. You have to trust science and not give up on it otherwise it will never evolve and we will remain ignorant.

So far, based on probability, there is a very high chance that we will die, a high chance that the world will end, and at the very least, a well thought-out, educated guess that the universe will end. I base me knowledge on those odds and try to live my life accordingly.

It's a shame that you only quoted that when there is so much more to my post. But it begs the question, what do you base your knowledge on?

Click to expand...

As far as the world ending, if I had to go with one guy, it would be Issac Newton...

“And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half.” –Daniel 12:7

From a folio cataloged as Yahuda MS 7.3g, f. 13v:

"So then the time times & half a time are 42 months or 1260 days or three years & an half, reckoning twelve months to a year & 30 days to a month as was done in the Calendar of the primitive year. And the days of short lived Beasts being put for the years of lived kingdoms, the period of 1260 days, if dated from the complete conquest of the three kings A.C. 800, will end A.C. 2060.”" - – Isaac Newton

As Charlemagne was crowned king on December 25, 800 by Pope Leo the III so the day of Christ's coming will be on Christmas Day, 2060. If the rapture of the saints (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) occurs seven years before the time of Christ’s coming the date of the rapture 12.25 2053. However… Isaac Newton notes…

“It may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner. This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fancifull men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, & by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail. Christ comes as a thief in the night, & it is not for us to know the times & seasons which God hath put into his own breast." –- Isaac Newton

erealmz said:

When I was a young Christian, I was taught that the world would one day end not long after Jesus came down from heaven to collect his followers. Being young and having an undeveloped mind, I really took this to heart and it wasn't in a good way.

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I am sorry to hear that. The rapture as taught in evangelical churches is not a mainstream Christian belief. It is fringe to Christianity as a whole, and it is as you have found immensely harmful.

I feared the idea of Jesus suddenly interrupting human life to impose his agenda in an overly-dramatic, highly-theatrical manner. I even had nightmares about it and it scared the crap out of me.

Here I was, just a little kid with a very anxious and curious mind. I had high hopes for my life. I couldn't wait to get out there and explore it. I could relate it to being at the entrance of a theme park, excited to experience the adventure that awaited you. Or starting a new video game were you couldn't wait to get past the linear, story-driven first half hour or so and explore the beautiful world at your own leisure.

There was so much I wanted to learn and do. So many places I wanted to see. I wanted to experience growing up and doing all the things I saw grown ups do. Yet the idea lingered over me that I would one day be robbed of my future and that it could happen at any instant.

I feared the rapture and would always get nervous whenever anyone would talk about it. I remember many times when I would just go to my room and sit there quietly while my mind tried to process the information and cope with the idea.

Click to expand...

Some children fear monsters under the bed; others fear their own parents or siblings. Some fear the world.

The lucky ones grow up and leave their fears behind them.

But eventually I started to learn about the world and how things really worked. The more I learned, the more that fear turned to anger. My hopes for my own life evolved into hopes for mankind. I was thrilled with the idea that we were exploring space and would one day reach the stars. Who the hell was god to take that away from us? That was my thought process.

Click to expand...

God is not about to take anything away from us.

The older I got, the more I opposed the idea of a rapture. I hated it. Though I still believed in God and a good chunk of the Bible, I was having trouble accepting the end-times that awaited us all. But in my mind, it WAS going to happen and there was nothing we could do to stop it. So I gave up.

I figured if God was going to judge this world and destroy everything, and if I was already saved because I accepted Jesus, then why should I care about my future? So I stopped caring.

Click to expand...

Good; so you chuck away the rapture nonsense and the god that goes with it. Nothing wrong with that.

I was about 13 when I realized this and it reflected in everything I did. From my attitude, to my schooling, to my social life. I didn't give a rat's hairless tail about any of it. I hated everyone and everything. I saw it as completely worthless and deserving of God's punishment.

Click to expand...

Fair enough. But perhaps you are old enough now to realise that 13 year old you did not know everything, even if you thought you did.

Years later, after dropping out of school, picking up a criminal record, annihilating my social life and becoming a total hermit, I had a brush with attempted suicide. Details omitted for personal reasons.

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I am sorry to hear that; truly sorry.

After that, my life took a harsh downward spiral to the stone-cold bottom. This lasted a few years before I finally started to develope a secular mind. And once I did that, I found a freedom that I never knew existed. I was free to dream. Free to live. Free to rebuild my life. And that is what I've been doing ever since.

Click to expand...

Freedom is good. That means you are free to create a far more realistic image of who God has to be, and leave behind all of those inadequate versions.

I'm not angry at myself for what I had to go through. I'm not angry at God. I'm not even angry at religion. But I will never again subject my mind to those doctrines. I have high hopes for the human race. I believe that we will one day explore the stars. If I was rich, I would fund that advancement as much as possible. I have high hopes for my life. I'm quietly working on climbing out of the hole I fell into and I feel better now than I've ever felt in my entire life.

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Good. And you are perfectly right; none of us can go back, and we ought never to try.

I've heard from some people that the devil is confusing me. If that is true then i have one question for him: where the hell have you been all my life?

Click to expand...

Ignore anyone who starts talking about the devil. Their focus is in the wrong place.

I feel free. I feel secure. I know I will die one day. I know the world will eventually come to an end. I know the universe will one day be destroyed. And I know that the only thing we can do about any of that is to live life as best as we can. Because these things will happen naturally and there is nothing we can do to convince nature to show us mercy. Just roll with it. Be the best you can be. Do what's right to everyone you meet and strive to be a good person.

Click to expand...

Why a good person? Where does that thought come from?

If, as you say, everything is going to end anyway, why choose good rather than evil? What is it in you that tells you that good is the way to go?

Follow that little stream to its source; where does this wish to be good come from? Darwinian evolution cannot explain it; can you?

If we do happen to get past the great filters that all intelligent life has to overcome, we can stand proud as a species who've conquered our existence. And if there is a God, I'm pretty sure he would be proud of us too.

Click to expand...

God is certainly proud of you because you won't settle for anything less than the truth. Keep going and you will certainly find it.

Lucian Hodoboc said:

Science is constantly evolving and correcting itself.

Click to expand...

#sciencefail

erealmz said:

Thank you for the great reply. It's been a tough road but I'm finally seeing the other end. I cringe at the doctrines as well but what really concerns me is that people are still teaching this stuff to their kids. It isn't fair to them. Some of them may never recover from the dark roads it could lead them down. I don't really care what people believe when their grown, but they should not teach it to kids until those kids are old enough to understand it and make their own decisions. Indoctrination is a mother hopper.

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You don't say, mate (I'm an Aussie, sorry ). I see so many people on these same forums who are living in absolute terror of committing the unforgivable sin or being damned because they lost their faith for a time or seeing their family and friends burning forever in hell because they aren't "saved". The effect that kind of teaching can have on sensitive young minds is devastating.

Catherineanne said:

I am sorry to hear that. The rapture as taught in evangelical churches is not a mainstream Christian belief. It is fringe to Christianity as a whole, and it is as you have found immensely harmful.



Some children fear monsters under the bed; others fear their own parents or siblings. Some fear the world.

The lucky ones grow up and leave their fears behind them.



God is not about to take anything away from us.



Good; so you chuck away the rapture nonsense and the god that goes with it. Nothing wrong with that.



Fair enough. But perhaps you are old enough now to realise that 13 year old you did not know everything, even if you thought you did.



I am sorry to hear that; truly sorry.



Freedom is good. That means you are free to create a far more realistic image of who God has to be, and leave behind all of those inadequate versions.



Good. And you are perfectly right; none of us can go back, and we ought never to try.



Ignore anyone who starts talking about the devil. Their focus is in the wrong place.



Why a good person? Where does that thought come from?

If, as you say, everything is going to end anyway, why choose good rather than evil? What is it in you that tells you that good is the way to go?

Follow that little stream to its source; where does this wish to be good come from? Darwinian evolution cannot explain it; can you?



God is certainly proud of you because you won't settle for anything less than the truth. Keep going and you will certainly find it.

Click to expand...

I couldn't put it better than this — thank you, Catherineanne. Again, erealmz, wishing you all the best.

Forgive 70 times 7 said:

Rapture is simply resurrection of the dead , but there is no way that all people die at same time so they can get all resurrected so the leftovers of believers who are alive are "raptured"
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
There will be billions of dead resurrected compared to people who were alive at that time

Click to expand...

No, this is not the case. The Nicene Creed attests to the truth of the resurrection of the dead, but this is absolutely NOT the same thing as the rapture nonsense, as taught in some of the more evangelical churches.

erealmz said:

When I was a young Christian, I was taught that the world would one day end not long after Jesus came down from heaven to collect his followers. Being young and having an undeveloped mind, I really took this to heart and it wasn't in a good way.

I feared the idea of Jesus suddenly interrupting human life to impose his agenda in an overly-dramatic, highly-theatrical manner. I even had nightmares about it and it scared the crap out of me.

Here I was, just a little kid with a very anxious and curious mind. I had high hopes for my life. I couldn't wait to get out there and explore it. I could relate it to being at the entrance of a theme park, excited to experience the adventure that awaited you. Or starting a new video game were you couldn't wait to get past the linear, story-driven first half hour or so and explore the beautiful world at your own leisure.

There was so much I wanted to learn and do. So many places I wanted to see. I wanted to experience growing up and doing all the things I saw grown ups do. Yet the idea lingered over me that I would one day be robbed of my future and that it could happen at any instant.

I feared the rapture and would always get nervous whenever anyone would talk about it. I remember many times when I would just go to my room and sit there quietly while my mind tried to process the information and cope with the idea.

But eventually I started to learn about the world and how things really worked. The more I learned, the more that fear turned to anger. My hopes for my own life evolved into hopes for mankind. I was thrilled with the idea that we were exploring space and would one day reach the stars. Who the hell was god to take that away from us? That was my thought process.

The older I got, the more I opposed the idea of a rapture. I hated it. Though I still believed in God and a good chunk of the Bible, I was having trouble accepting the end-times that awaited us all. But in my mind, it WAS going to happen and there was nothing we could do to stop it. So I gave up.

I figured if God was going to judge this world and destroy everything, and if I was already saved because I accepted Jesus, then why should I care about my future? So I stopped caring.

I was about 13 when I realized this and it reflected in everything I did. From my attitude, to my schooling, to my social life. I didn't give a rat's hairless tail about any of it. I hated everyone and everything. I saw it as completely worthless and deserving of God's punishment.

Years later, after dropping out of school, picking up a criminal record, annihilating my social life and becoming a total hermit, I had a brush with attempted suicide. Details omitted for personal reasons.

After that, my life took a harsh downward spiral to the stone-cold bottom. This lasted a few years before I finally started to develope a secular mind. And once I did that, I found a freedom that I never knew existed. I was free to dream. Free to live. Free to rebuild my life. And that is what I've been doing ever since.

I'm not angry at myself for what I had to go through. I'm not angry at God. I'm not even angry at religion. But I will never again subject my mind to those doctrines. I have high hopes for the human race. I believe that we will one day explore the stars. If I was rich, I would fund that advancement as much as possible. I have high hopes for my life. I'm quietly working on climbing out of the hole I fell into and I feel better now than I've ever felt in my entire life.

I've heard from some people that the devil is confusing me. If that is true then i have one question for him: where the hell have you been all my life?

I feel free. I feel secure. I know I will die one day. I know the world will eventually come to an end. I know the universe will one day be destroyed. And I know that the only thing we can do about any of that is to live life as best as we can. Because these things will happen naturally and there is nothing we can do to convince nature to show us mercy. Just roll with it. Be the best you can be. Do what's right to everyone you meet and strive to be a good person.

If we do happen to get past the great filters that all intelligent life has to overcome, we can stand proud as a species who've conquered our existence. And if there is a God, I'm pretty sure he would be proud of us too.

Click to expand...

I appreciate you sharing what you did. I am always enlightened to one degree or another when reading how and why a person landed where they did. Couple of thoughts...

I ran into the same buzz kill early in my Christian walk, the only difference was, I was already 29 when I began to follow Christ. The whole rapture theory was not an easy one for me to accept and being 29 and having a mind that seeks proof, I set out to learn as much as I could and very quickly rejected the idea altogether as being something that is not in harmony with the bulk of Scripture. But I was 29 and had some abilities in terms of being able to dig to find information and then discern it... whereas a young boy or young man would not and I can see how that would create chaos in the mind. The sad part of it is... your beef was with the interpretations of Western Christianity and never with God Himself. He was poorly represented by those who love Him... it isn't that He actually did anything wrong. Even where your view has "God was going to judge this world and destroy everything" reveals that those around you had an inconsistent view of God. On one hand He loves the world so much He sends His son or comes in the flesh (depending on your view) to save man... and then on the other He is some angry ogre looking to kill and destroy. God is actually taught like this and the reason is that Christians tend to spend their time only in the NT and do not keep balance throughout all 66 books. When they do go to the OT it is out of context and God is seen in a manner not consistent with the fruits of the Spirit Paul listed off. That is too bad and it hurts people.

I would suggest removing the "atheist" tag and using something else. Where you say toward the end, "if there is a God," you earlier said, "I am not mad at God." An atheist simply wouldn't go there which means you are simple, "other." You might not even know what that means yet, but rather than take a position against God... why not just come down in the middle and wait and enjoy your life in the process and when and if He reveals something that causes you to take a step in another direction, so be it. Until then... just be "the other."

Peace.
Ken

When i first heared about rapture myself , i would wake up in middle of night 7-10 times each day for like week untill i calmed down because i was scared of it or something i don't know . I don't like not knowing when something will happend

Forgive 70 times 7 said:

When i first heared about rapture myself , i would wake up in middle of night 7-10 times each day for like week untill i calmed down because i was scared of it or something i don't know . I don't like not knowing when something will happend

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I am sorry to hear that.

I can tell you when the 'rapture' will happen. Never. Not ever. Not even ever. It is a man made gospel, counter to the one we have received. It is not Christian, it is not Biblical and it ain't gonna happen.

Half the world 'raptured' away and the rest left to fend for themselves for a thousand years, or whatever nonsense it is? Nope. Not happening.

I blame too much Star Trek. Or something.

You're correct Catherineanne, I was a bit harsh and erealmz has my apologies.
Nevertheless, I'm tired of people beating up on God, blaming Him for the wreckage in their lives.
Our lives are many a time the product of our own wrong choices and in erealmz case our own thoughts and mental projections.

Catherineanne said:

I am sorry to hear that.

I can tell you when the 'rapture' will happen. Never. Not ever. Not even ever. It is a man made gospel, counter to the one we have received. It is not Christian, it is not Biblical and it ain't gonna happen.

Half the world 'raptured' away and the rest left to fend for themselves for a thousand years, or whatever nonsense it is? Nope. Not happening.

I blame too much Star Trek. Or something.

Click to expand...

No it's clearly in bible in multiple passages , sad that you are blind to it , like in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

erealmz said:

When I was a young Christian, I was taught that the world would one day end not long after Jesus came down from heaven to collect his followers. Being young and having an undeveloped mind, I really took this to heart and it wasn't in a good way.

I feared the idea of Jesus suddenly interrupting human life to impose his agenda in an overly-dramatic, highly-theatrical manner. I even had nightmares about it and it scared the crap out of me.

Here I was, just a little kid with a very anxious and curious mind. I had high hopes for my life. I couldn't wait to get out there and explore it. I could relate it to being at the entrance of a theme park, excited to experience the adventure that awaited you. Or starting a new video game were you couldn't wait to get past the linear, story-driven first half hour or so and explore the beautiful world at your own leisure.

There was so much I wanted to learn and do. So many places I wanted to see. I wanted to experience growing up and doing all the things I saw grown ups do. Yet the idea lingered over me that I would one day be robbed of my future and that it could happen at any instant.

I feared the rapture and would always get nervous whenever anyone would talk about it. I remember many times when I would just go to my room and sit there quietly while my mind tried to process the information and cope with the idea.

But eventually I started to learn about the world and how things really worked. The more I learned, the more that fear turned to anger. My hopes for my own life evolved into hopes for mankind. I was thrilled with the idea that we were exploring space and would one day reach the stars. Who the hell was god to take that away from us? That was my thought process.

The older I got, the more I opposed the idea of a rapture. I hated it. Though I still believed in God and a good chunk of the Bible, I was having trouble accepting the end-times that awaited us all. But in my mind, it WAS going to happen and there was nothing we could do to stop it. So I gave up.

I figured if God was going to judge this world and destroy everything, and if I was already saved because I accepted Jesus, then why should I care about my future? So I stopped caring.

I was about 13 when I realized this and it reflected in everything I did. From my attitude, to my schooling, to my social life. I didn't give a rat's hairless tail about any of it. I hated everyone and everything. I saw it as completely worthless and deserving of God's punishment.

Years later, after dropping out of school, picking up a criminal record, annihilating my social life and becoming a total hermit, I had a brush with attempted suicide. Details omitted for personal reasons.

After that, my life took a harsh downward spiral to the stone-cold bottom. This lasted a few years before I finally started to develope a secular mind. And once I did that, I found a freedom that I never knew existed. I was free to dream. Free to live. Free to rebuild my life. And that is what I've been doing ever since.

I'm not angry at myself for what I had to go through. I'm not angry at God. I'm not even angry at religion. But I will never again subject my mind to those doctrines. I have high hopes for the human race. I believe that we will one day explore the stars. If I was rich, I would fund that advancement as much as possible. I have high hopes for my life. I'm quietly working on climbing out of the hole I fell into and I feel better now than I've ever felt in my entire life.

I've heard from some people that the devil is confusing me. If that is true then i have one question for him: where the hell have you been all my life?

I feel free. I feel secure. I know I will die one day. I know the world will eventually come to an end. I know the universe will one day be destroyed. And I know that the only thing we can do about any of that is to live life as best as we can. Because these things will happen naturally and there is nothing we can do to convince nature to show us mercy. Just roll with it. Be the best you can be. Do what's right to everyone you meet and strive to be a good person.

If we do happen to get past the great filters that all intelligent life has to overcome, we can stand proud as a species who've conquered our existence. And if there is a God, I'm pretty sure he would be proud of us too.

Click to expand...

I wish I could give you a hug, dude.

I have to admit, I've felt similarly and feel similarly.

I had a good Catholic upbringing and still do, at least in terms of the fact that no one scared the rapture or whatever into my mind. Even when it came to hell I never even thought about it that much.

The problem came when I listened to what people said about heaven, saying it would be "better than here" and that "Earth doesn't compare to heaven". I feel like I would have tried harder in school if I didn't pick up on that mindset, because I figured "Why should we focus on school if we're going to spend eternity in heaven where there probably is no school? Luckily I started getting out of that mindset when I was older.

But that wasn't the biggest damper to my faith. Along with reading the Bible and thinking things over, there's another major part of it: about a decade ago, one of my relatives made a decision to adopt, due to thinking they had to "make it up to God" for losing a child to being born early. So the child was adopted, and I started warming up to them but still felt uneasy. I didn't feel like the kid was part of the family circle, so when asked if I was happy about the adoption, I sucked it up and said I guess I was okay with it. Why? Only because I thought God would think I was a bad person if I thought otherwise and didn't give the kid a chance. And the I'm pretty sure the relative thought that God would feel the same if we didn't persevere with it.

Well, that ended up being a HUGE mistake. The child was brought to Christian school through their entire upbringing, but any possible positive effect they might have had didn't work out. She kept running away, tried to push me down the stairs, threaten to kill our family, etc. And she stayed in the room right next to mine and at points I slept downstairs when it got real bad because she scared me. We basically put up with that, for 10 years, and all because we thought God might think we were bad otherwise and it was what God wanted us to do, and God gave us no indication that it was or wasn't what he wanted.

I didn't find out that was the reason for the adoption until after it though, and that right there shattered a hole in my faith.

So after all the crap we went through with that, I thought "Why didn't God actually say that it would turn out terribly?" "Why did he not change the adopted kid's heart?" "Why did she turn out a sociopath who cares for absolutely no one?"

I got no answers. It's said that God wants a relationship with us, but you can't have a relationship with someone who never responds to you. Someone who says you can call any time and they'll be there, but when you call there's only an answering machine where they saw they'll get back to you. So you leave a message, hoping they'll call back, but they never do and whenever you do call you can't help but feel as if you're talking to yourself or nothing at all.

And that right there was when I started doubting. So I read the Bible and its history hoping that would help, and only started doubting more. Not only did I develop a resentment for adopted kids (that I now still hold, I think that if you adopt them after they're 3 they are untrustworthy and likely sociopaths), but what faith I had (and it was really strong in my younger years) hangs pretty much by a thread now and that was the catalyst for the start of it.

Not to mention the people on these forums who are absolutely terrified of hell and such—that's the opposite of love. Someone who loves you would not torture you. To assume God would do that is fear-mongering, poisonious, harmful and damaging to people. And then there's the opposite, where some users instill that fear in other users here, or try to shame you for asking questions. Heck, I got called a demon here once for pointing out flaws and asking questions. All those are why I've started to resent religion.

I want to still call myself a Catholic because my family is, most of my friends are Christians, I like the church I go to, etc. and most of all, I don't want them to find out about my faith loss (though I think the relative who adopted has some idea) But the Bible has too much atrocities, flaws in its history, etc. for me to really be convinced by it anymore, the terror and shame that people instill in others is what's truly shameful and disgusting not asking questions, and given the adoption experience it would have been nice to have a clear-cut answer from God rather than having no answer at all.

erealmz said:

When I was a young Christian, I was taught that the world would one day end not long after Jesus came down from heaven to collect his followers. Being young and having an undeveloped mind, I really took this to heart and it wasn't in a good way.

I feared the idea of Jesus suddenly interrupting human life to impose his agenda in an overly-dramatic, highly-theatrical manner. I even had nightmares about it and it scared the crap out of me.

Here I was, just a little kid with a very anxious and curious mind. I had high hopes for my life. I couldn't wait to get out there and explore it. I could relate it to being at the entrance of a theme park, excited to experience the adventure that awaited you. Or starting a new video game were you couldn't wait to get past the linear, story-driven first half hour or so and explore the beautiful world at your own leisure.

There was so much I wanted to learn and do. So many places I wanted to see. I wanted to experience growing up and doing all the things I saw grown ups do. Yet the idea lingered over me that I would one day be robbed of my future and that it could happen at any instant.

I feared the rapture and would always get nervous whenever anyone would talk about it. I remember many times when I would just go to my room and sit there quietly while my mind tried to process the information and cope with the idea.

But eventually I started to learn about the world and how things really worked. The more I learned, the more that fear turned to anger. My hopes for my own life evolved into hopes for mankind. I was thrilled with the idea that we were exploring space and would one day reach the stars. Who the hell was god to take that away from us? That was my thought process.

The older I got, the more I opposed the idea of a rapture. I hated it. Though I still believed in God and a good chunk of the Bible, I was having trouble accepting the end-times that awaited us all. But in my mind, it WAS going to happen and there was nothing we could do to stop it. So I gave up.

I figured if God was going to judge this world and destroy everything, and if I was already saved because I accepted Jesus, then why should I care about my future? So I stopped caring.

I was about 13 when I realized this and it reflected in everything I did. From my attitude, to my schooling, to my social life. I didn't give a rat's hairless tail about any of it. I hated everyone and everything. I saw it as completely worthless and deserving of God's punishment.

Years later, after dropping out of school, picking up a criminal record, annihilating my social life and becoming a total hermit, I had a brush with attempted suicide. Details omitted for personal reasons.

After that, my life took a harsh downward spiral to the stone-cold bottom. This lasted a few years before I finally started to develope a secular mind. And once I did that, I found a freedom that I never knew existed. I was free to dream. Free to live. Free to rebuild my life. And that is what I've been doing ever since.

I'm not angry at myself for what I had to go through. I'm not angry at God. I'm not even angry at religion. But I will never again subject my mind to those doctrines. I have high hopes for the human race. I believe that we will one day explore the stars. If I was rich, I would fund that advancement as much as possible. I have high hopes for my life. I'm quietly working on climbing out of the hole I fell into and I feel better now than I've ever felt in my entire life.

I've heard from some people that the devil is confusing me. If that is true then i have one question for him: where the hell have you been all my life?

I feel free. I feel secure. I know I will die one day. I know the world will eventually come to an end. I know the universe will one day be destroyed. And I know that the only thing we can do about any of that is to live life as best as we can. Because these things will happen naturally and there is nothing we can do to convince nature to show us mercy. Just roll with it. Be the best you can be. Do what's right to everyone you meet and strive to be a good person.

If we do happen to get past the great filters that all intelligent life has to overcome, we can stand proud as a species who've conquered our existence. And if there is a God, I'm pretty sure he would be proud of us too.

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The/A serpent in the garden of god.