Rrrrapturous!

At the end of one year and the beginning of another is a good time to ask whether we will get raptured in 2005. According to at least one rapture-website, this is quite likely! I'm looking forward to the day of Rapture, because it will let me refurbish my wardrobe and my vehicle fleet without committing any crimes whatsoever.
For surely I will be left behind on earth, even if everybody else will be vacuumed up by the heavenly housecleaning.

But more seriously, the whole Rapture-phenomenom is scary. Why did something that was first discussed in the nineteenth century become a part of the established belief system of so many fundamentalist Christians? And when exactly did fundamentalist Christianity shrink into a subgroup of wingnuttery as a part of the Republican base? Republicans are not highly known as the ones who care for the poor and the oppressed, rather the reverse, and neither are they known for peace-loving policies. Jesus, on the other hand, spoke incessantly about the poor and the oppressed and about the need to build peace. He didn't say a single word about gays or abortions; yet that's what the fundamentalist Christians appear to think being a Christian entails: one must hate gays and babykillers. I don't understand it, but of course I've always had trouble with understanding some parts of humankind.

But suppose that Rapture in fact was going to happen in 2005. Would those who have been preparing for it for years be the ones who'd be snapped up? I doubt it. Humans are not supposed to manipulate God's commands in such a way. Those who have their bags already packed will be left behind, for sure, as will those who make up indices for measuring the likelihood of Rapture. Only the totally unprepared will be among the chosen, especially if they are right then working hard to help people suffering more than they are.

Even in this version of the Rapture I'll be left behind. I'm quite happy with that as I prefer this planet to the other alternatives, and goddesses don't go to Heaven anyway. At least not in the patriarchal religions.