So, I am a bit down today. Not because I am still sick, because I got over that about 2 weeks ago. No, it's because tommorrow is the forecasted rapture event.
No, I am not worried that me and my family will not be taken, instead I am sorrowful for what this idiotic prediction will do to the credibility of my Faith.
First off let me say that believing in the authority and wisdom of Howard Camping and his followers is about like believing that Betty Crocker will come up with a cake mix that cures cancer. This evangelical organization approaches scripture like it was a "magical" puzzle that needs to simply be figured out in order to become one of God's chosen people. It greatly bothers me that this false prophet is being given so much attention, even after is two previously failed predictions.
However, in true Socratic fashion, I will admit that I am biased against his brand of Christianity. As a child I was raised as a Pentacostal. I recall going to Sunday service and listening to the tales of the rapture, hearing their "fire and brimstone" message, and watching in horror as people spoke in tongues and danced around as if possessed. I remember as a kid thinking that something other than what is holy was at work there.
Now I am an adult and I am an Orthodox Christian. We tirelessly carry out the sacraments as they were given to us, and we seek to be Christ-like to those we encounter. We don't pour over the Scriptures like it was a wizards tome, instead we come to an understanding of the context, and we apply it to our lives. We know that there is more to being a Christian than just reading. Still, everyone has their faults, us included.
All that aside, I am railing at the news coverage of this rapture event. When it is all over, and everyone is still stuck on earth, there will be jokes about it for years to come. In the end, this will just be another reason for atheists to say we are an unrational, and foolish group of zealots.
The sad truth is that the "rapture" is derived from an obscure, and often misunderstood reference to judgement day in the writings of Paul. As always, I remain faithful to the words of Christ when he said "no one will know the hour..."
Of final note... I recall myself as a lonely child, trembling in the pews as I watched babbling men and women around me shake as if in the grips of a seizure, and the pasty-faced pastor smiling broadly from the pulpit like a wolf at the hunt. I can't help to think that if they are the true believers, then I don't want to be right.
