Rev. Erudite Redneck, B.S., B.S., M.A., M.Div.

60% of all American's might believe in the rapture...but what percentage of them actually believe that they are chosen to hurry it along, and have the power to bring it about?
 

A minority, thank God.

My main gripe is that this election is too damned important for them or anyone else to be so careless with it.

I promise that lots of people who believe in the Rapture plan now to vote for Obama. Let's not insult them, piss them off and piss way their votes!
 

BTW, 60 percent of American Christians, not 60 percent of Americans.
 

Why do you believe this? "I promise that lots of people who believe in the Rapture plan now to vote for Obama."
 

Apologies in advance, ER, for the rant:
First, I couldn't agree more.
It is this elitist arrogance of the comments on the left that keeps me in the center. (Along with some socially liberal politics, and equal annoyance with much of the right). I truly think that there are many in the liberal side of the media that expected Americans to just naturally see what kind of white-trash-redneck--is that all hyphenated? :)-- Gov. Palin is, and immediately go register Democrat. Ditto with the religion. Double ditto with the guns. Sure, it shores up the already solid San Fran base, but even Hillary saw that is was a bad political move for Obama to mock what are strong personal values for many Americans.

There are many reasons to not vote for a candidate, but we should chose one on the basis of the policy, and because I believe it's our responsibility to vote. Obama can work around his own gaffes, as can McCain. The media though, is big, and pervasive. Fortunately, it is not my responsibility to watch a jerk like Olbermann, so I vote to change the channel.

As with the "sexist" attacks on Palin, the liberal side of the media is not helping the Democrat's cause. I fail to understand why it continues to look like an Obama v. Palin race if you listen to MSNBC for ten minutes. Even worse, it sounds like they're running for Junior Class Treasurer.

Just because those on the left agree with the attack, does not make it sound politics. The media needs to stop preaching to the choir, 'cause the congregation is leaving.
 

Re, "Why do you believe this? "I promise that lots of people who believe in the Rapture plan now to vote for Obama."

Because not everyone who believes in the Rapture is engaged in the "culture war" -- some actually do vote their conscience, or with their pocketbooks, or, maybe they're older and they still venerate FDR.

BUT, since they live outside the Beltway, and not in NY, having a couple of smart-aleck talkin' heads running down a tenet, any tenet, of their belief system. might be enough to get them to sit out the election, and we can't afford to lose any votes.

Besides, there are, what, 260 million Murkans? Just about sentence that says "lots" of them do anything is accurate as far as it goes.
 

Re, "It is this elitist arrogance of the comments on the left that keeps me in the center."

And this is exactly what I'm referring to when I say I stand just left of center, and hold my nose -- because I can't stand to stand just right of center and put up with the equivalent kind of BS on the right.
 

BTW the picture of the rapture makes an excellent wallpaper for my desktop!
 

Man. Just watched those first two segments of Thief in the Night. Even goofier than I remembered it. (Even though I was in that camp in the 70s, I thought it was already a cheesy, dated-looking movie back then.

And what a crime to drag Larry Norman's good name into that mix.
 

Doc! Heres' hopin' none of yer patients see it. :-)

Dan. Larry Norman was cool, but what else was he writing about besides the Rapture?? "Two men walking up a hill, one is gone and one's left standing still ... I wish we'd all been ready." That song and "A Thief in the Night" are all of a piece, aren't they?
 

I just can't let that Southern Redneck reaction to a little cynical sneering go unchallenged.

Well as a teenager, I got to hear Brother R.G. Lee hold forth in front of ten thousand believers about the 1000 year reign of Christ. When we got back to my little town and my itty bitty Sunday School, I boldly declared that I though Jesus had already been here for 2000 years so why would he come back the way R.G. Lee said he would. Whoops!

Pay Day Someday!
http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/sbvoices/rgleepayday.asp

""Pay-day—Someday" is written in the constitution of God's universe. The retributive providence of God is a reality as certainly as the laws of gravitation are a reality."
" According to God's constitution of the world, the wrongdoer will be abundantly punished." The fathers sow the wind and the children reap the whirlwind. One generation labors to scatter tares, and the next generation reaps tares and retribution immeasurable. To the individual who goes not the direction God points, a terrible pay-day comes. To the nation which forgets God, pay-day will come in the awful realization of the truth that the "nations which forget God shall be turned into hell." When nations trample on the principles of the Almighty, the result is that the world is beaten with many stripes. We have seen nations slide into Gehenna—and the smoke of their torment has gone up before our eyes day and night."
---RGL

Now that encounter with my betters in Sunday School set me straight , for about 6 years or so until I got far enough away from the confines of the intellectual and religious straight jacket I was in. Then I went back to being my original Amillennialist heretic self.

There are two kinds of Premillennialist. There are the "Rapture Is Tomorrow" people, and there are the "Christ's Reign In The Future I Don't Know When" people.

My brother is of the second group and he would not vote for Obama nohow anyway. The first group of course wouldn't vote that way either.

I can't really see that any commentator ridiculing the Rapture will cost Obama votes. I can understand however how such commentators may be sick and tired of the vocal yokels and their insistence on their cultural positions which are held in their minds to be "Principles of the Almighty". I might say myself I'm pretty fed up with the blind stupidity that put George Bush in the White House TWICE.

"When nations trample on the principles of the Almighty, the result is that the world is beaten with many stripes."
That might work exactly opposite of what ole R.G. Lee meant it to mean.
 

First, I saw A Thief In The Night when I was in HS (early 1980's) and thought it was the funniest thing in the world. Seriously. Seeing that opening just reminded me how silly it is.

Am I elitist? I don't think so. In fact, I think I'm a pretty down to earth person (no pun intended). I just think silly ideas are, well, silly.

I do have to agree that media types belittling the religious beliefs of any person or group is sickening. I also think a candidate's religious beliefs are really moot, even if they are the roots of policy positions with which I either agree or disagree. McCain has no religious beliefs of which I am aware, but I don't oppose him for that reason, any more than I support Barack Obama because he is a pretty faithful church-goer.
 

Re, "I do have to agree that media types belittling the religious beliefs of any person or group is sickening."

That's really my point.
 

It's the same, to me, as if they'd called Muslims fricking towel heads, or called Catholics cannibals, or called Baptists the first waterboarders.

Jokes, good or bad, are one thing. Outright derision, by those two or others like them, in that venue or one like it -- toward any worldview -- is stupid and outrageous.
 

strike "worldview" insert nonviolent "religious worldview"
 

I guess I am just inured or oblivious but I watched both of those dude/ess last night nothing stood out for me. Enlightn me as to what you are referring.
 

It wasn't last night. I said: "Also: The other night I found myself screaming at the TV when Olbermann and Madow were making total fun ..."
 

Hey, DrLoboJo, I couldn't find a video clip, but this guys says what I think almost exactly:

http://brillig.streetprophets.com
/story/2008/9/9/41226/40038