Too late for what?
31 January 2008 by Stardust
This cartoon caught my eye because of all the drive by comments I have deleted in the past couple years of blogging telling me I must accept Jesus and god because the “end is near” and soon it will be “too late”. I have also had this discussion with Christians in person:
“Too late for what?” I ask.
“Too late to repent!” they answer.
“What do I have to repent for?”
“Repent and ask forgiveness of your sins!”
“What sins do I need to be forgiven for?”
(pause while they think of a response)
“Only you and god knows what you need to be forgiven for, but you need to accept Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior.”
“To save me from what?”
“Eternal damnation.”
“Why would a god damn me eternally? I am a good and kind person.”
“Because being good isn’t enough. You have to say the magic words before it’s too late!”
(they don’t really say it that way, but it’s what they mean.)
Many fundamentalists of various religions are so obsessed with an imagined end of times that they forget to live in the here and now and have an unnecessary pessimistic view of life and this world. There are those god-believing people who do try to help make the world a better place, but at the same time they are doing this they are preaching to people that this world is a bad place and that we all need to be “saved” from something. They say their god is good, but their Bible illustrates that this god is anything but good, and his wrath is only curtailed by killing someone…like his own earthly son. And all over a simple thing like humans using free will that they are given. This mythology is as bizarre as any other from the ancient past.
As this cartoon illustrates, fundies don’t see how absolutely ridiculous they are when they go around preaching that the “end is near” using texts from an ancient books as their “evidence.” Also, I think it is amusing when one religious group thinks they hold the “truth” while scoffing at another who believes something else when it is ALL equally absurd.
31 January 2008, on 2:16 pm
“Because being good isn’t enough. You have to say the magic words before it’s too late!”
What, like, abracadabra? Shazam? Bippity Boppity Boo?
31 January 2008, on 2:23 pm
But Stardust, didn’t you know this?
“All, hundreds of, prophecies of the Bible required to be fulfilled before Christ’s return, have been fulfilled. When a collective majority of people vocally express that “Christianity is a huge pack of lies and everyone who pushes it is a fraud and a liar,” they, unknowingly, contribute to a prophecy fulfilled.” - by “Current Occupant” on the Amazon Christianity forum.
Firstly, LOL! Secondly, the “end of times” criers have been claiming the same thing since Jesus. I think it boils down to the human tendency to be egocentric and is especially prevalent in believers because they already believe the egocentric notion of “the universe was solely created for human beings to decide where they go when they die.” It’s only a short step from “God does special things for me” to “God is going to do special things in my generation” ergo “come back.”
31 January 2008, on 3:58 pm
I’ve always wanted to ask these people why they continue to have a job. I mean, if the world’s going to end so soon, why waste your time working and spend it all praying.
If all end timers did that, we wouldn’t need any new jobs. There would be so many they’d never be filled.
I want to ask why they keep having children, especially when there is a CHANCE that they will become evil secularists *cue scary music*
Why do they go to the doctor, why do they pay their bills, etc., etc., etc.
31 January 2008, on 4:05 pm
Why don’t the fundtards kill themselves and just get it over with? The world would be a much better place without those lunatics.
31 January 2008, on 4:11 pm
According to the NT, Jesus thought he lived in end-times.
31 January 2008, on 4:12 pm
Why don’t the fundtards kill themselves and just get it over with?
Evolved, some of the lunatics probably would if they didn’t think they would go to hell for offing themselves.
31 January 2008, on 4:14 pm
According to the NT, Jesus thought he lived in end-times.
And each generation since has changed it to mean the time in which they live. Generation after generation of passing along a delusion.
31 January 2008, on 4:25 pm
I have been hearing that the end is near from all these self-appointed preachers since I was a toddler, so I don’t pay much attention to it anymore.
A couple of weeks ago, I was stopped by a couple of Jehovah Witnesses who asked if I wanted to learn all about the “impending establishment of god’s kingdom here on Earth.”
I told that that I don’t allow religion in our home because it’s all delusional baloney. I am very proud of the effect I had on them. As far as I know, no one has ever been able to render these numbskulls SPEECHLESS before.
31 January 2008, on 4:34 pm
Lucky our suburb now has an ordinance against door-to-door solicitation. But we run into religious fruitballs on the streets of Chicago whenever we go downtown for anything. There is always some nutcase with a microphone or megaphone shouting to beware that the impending end of times is near and how we need to repent, and yadda yadda yadda.
31 January 2008, on 5:04 pm
Why do they always say it is “too late”? I think it is too early. Every century the end-timers say the end is nigh. Well, that makes 20 centuries of mistakes.
I guess that I can go along for a while enjoying myself. Do they think that gawd won’t know I am lying when I am lying on my deathbed and say, “I lub you Jeebus”?
31 January 2008, on 5:45 pm
The end of the world BS is simply designed to force an immediacy to their punishment phase. Were the world not in peril then people would be more likely to convert much closer to death. This would ,in turn, significantly decrease the amount of $ they take in. Therefore, the end of days crap is merely a money making tool.
31 January 2008, on 5:53 pm
The scariest fundies are the ones who actually want to “bring on” the end times — the apocalyptic end of the world. I’m pretty sure that qualifies as clinically insane, or at least certifiably bat-shit crazy.
Me? I’m having too much fun living. I’ll worry about being dead when I get there.
31 January 2008, on 8:04 pm
Speaking of end-times, don’t ya’ll know that you evil Gifsters will be “left behind”???
Our local school district rented out(they were paid handsomely) their brand spankin’ new “Special Events Center” (a large convention center owned by the school district)to a PROPHECY GROUP for a PROPHECY CONVENTION. This occurred two summers ago. Nutjobs from all over Texas congregated to discuss the second coming of Jeebus. Everyone was a frickin’ “Reverend” or “Prophet” or “Prophetess”. The conferences were free. I was stuck all summer long with classes so whenever I had a spare hour or two I attended the “prophecy lectures”. I met “Prophetess Vernelle”…LOL!!! Dude, you could not pay enough $$$ for that kind of entertainment!!! LOL!!!The “Experts in Prophecy” were so motivating that I forced my husband to watch the “Left Behind” flicks starring that creepy 80s D-list evangelist “bust-you-up-for-Christ” Kirk Cameron. Catholic priests, atheists, and Muslims are some of the characters in the movie that are (GASP) “Left Behind”.
31 January 2008, on 9:11 pm
Barbie
Well, some of us have to volunteer to be “Left behind” so we can help give a push to the likes of Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron as they exit. Wouldn’t want them to get stuck halfway out, don’t ya know.
31 January 2008, on 10:54 pm
These weirdos need to believe they are living in the End Times because it gives their worthless lives a sense of meaning and excitement.
31 January 2008, on 11:26 pm
Karen,
We all have to do our part…Now, shoving the very rotund Reverend TD Jakes to The Other Side must be quite a chore…The Right Reverend just may make it but only on a purple spaceship that runs on nuclear lava and pudding…LOL!!
1 February 2008, on 1:29 am
ManUnderMask : “I want to ask why they keep having children, especially when there is a CHANCE that they will become evil secularists *cue scary music*
Yeah, MUM…It’s high time for dragging out my Theremin; and to start practicing improvising on it!
Perhaps, ala “The Day the Earth Stood Still”?
[Yes...I actually OWN a Theremin!]
Humans are so fucking stupid…erm…ahem…I mean…
Except for us GifSter atheists, of course!
1 February 2008, on 1:52 am
Image of DNA: “All, hundreds of, prophecies of the Bible required to be fulfilled before Christ’s return, have been fulfilled.”
“Firstly, LOL! Secondly, the “end of times” criers have been claiming the same thing since Jesus.”
Yeah, this has always amazed me. Right there in the scripture, Jebus basically said to his apostles, “hey, I’m just gonna make a quick run to the Quiky-mart for some eggs, a chutney squishy and a six pack of righteous justice. Ya need anything? I’ll be back in all your alls life times.”
And yet, this obvious claim is totally ignored by Christy folks such as the one quoted by ImageofDNA. Still waiting patiently for their savior; looking compulsively at their watches.
Get a clue folks; you’ve been stood up. Christ keeps none of his promises. Hell, that fucker doesn’t even return any of my calls anymore.
Star: “As this cartoon illustrates, fundies don’t see how absolutely ridiculous they are when they go around preaching that the “end is near” using texts from an ancient books as their “evidence.” ”
Yeah, I’m always amused by this too, because they aren’t even using the scripture correctly–Revelation was written in relation to the times–the Beast was the Roman Empire. It wasn’t intended for anyone beyond the writer’s contemporaries, and at most, maybe a few generations beyond that. And clearly, the author was on shrooms.
Star: “Also, I think it is amusing when one religious group thinks they hold the “truth” while scoffing at another who believes something else when it is ALL equally absurd.”
Agreed. I love it when I hear Xtains mocking Scientology. The only thing that makes it seem more crazy is that we actually know who the author is. Amazing when you think about it, that people would put MORE credence in the collected writings of forgotten/anonymous authors from a pre-scientific age.
Post enlightenment era folks arguing over the superior nature of their mythology of choice, all based entirely on…the writings of the followers of that particular mythology. Mind boggling.
When my family was going through it’s fundie phase, my parents would always make comments about other religions being “cults” or “false religions” (a phrase bursting with redundancy). Even then, in the back of my mind, there was this tiny, stifled voice whispering, “but what makes your religion unique…?”
1 February 2008, on 1:55 am
ChuckA;
You own a Theremin? Too cool, you lucky bastard!
1 February 2008, on 9:48 am
Theremins are so 1950s.
I want this: http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/audio/a02a/
Sorry for the threadjack…
1 February 2008, on 11:04 am
The end has been near for what, almost 2000 years now? One thing you can say about fear-mongering:
It fuckin’ works.
I’m gonna hijack this thread (sorry, Star) to pimp some of my recent comments on the “Tamed Horses” post. Eve and Star inspired me to un-lurk myself and it resulted in an unfortunate explosion of skilled wordsmithing and schmackdown.
It also addresses some of the concepts Star brings up in this post, but I didn’t want to double-dip my replies.
Thought you folks would enjoy it.
Keep up the great work, y’all.
1 February 2008, on 11:33 am
MoeHammered,
Good smackdown on MM! Everyone should head over to KA’s “Tamed Horses” post and join in!
1 February 2008, on 1:17 pm
First… RE Rich’s #20 comment: “Theremins are so 1950s.”
No real argument there.
The “Kaossilator Touchpad Synthesizer” is another interesting looking gadget. No comparison, technologically, of course to such an old instrument like a Theremin. Not to get into any stupid argument; like the Theremin, in today’s world, it’s more of a ‘fun gadget’…not especially useful for most ’serious’ (Pro?) musicians’ uses; ala composition, midi, demos, etc.
And…Welcome back, MoeHammered!
[OK...The following "didn't go" (went into the cueue 'Black Hole'?) at about 1:30AM this morning.]
Yeah, Fritzy…It’s not the really old, original model; something more like a Moog transistorized model. I bought it used, somewhere around 1980; on a complete, quite accidental, ‘lark’. I’ll HAVE to dig it out ’soon’, and hopefully, I’ll find the operating instructions.
Anyway…here’s the theremin infused music from that Sci-Fi classic film! [One of my favorites!]
“Unusual Scoring of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951)”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxIgxD09vTA
Yeah…the special effects weren’t anything like today’s…but the message of the film still resonates with today’s Earthly, tribal and religiously motivated insanity.
ALSO…
“The Day The Earth Stood Still - 1951 Clip”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjHziasA7s8
AND IN ADDITION (What!…a Bonus?)…excuse some more blabbing…
Rather OT…but whilst looking for the above clip, I stumbled (I do a lot of stumbling?) on this rather ‘off beat’ documentary video about UFOs.
In my opinion RE the whole subject…Who REALLY knows? I remain an open minded skeptic. After all, We really know almost nothing about our own Galaxy, let alone the greater Universe. We’ve just seriously been scratching the surface about the Universe for the last 50 years or so. Especially since the space program and Hubble telescope.
Yeah, I know…it’s borderline WOO for all us ultra skeptical atheists…but…check it out?…or not.
[Of course...ala Dawkins' warning..."Don't let your brain fall out"...?]
Hey…there’s a song title in that!
Anyway, I think it looks interesting…touted as:
“Best Ufo documentary, a must watch (complete video)” [length 97:24]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qns2W6CVpPw
“Oy Vey”?
1 February 2008, on 1:26 pm
Stardust?…my second attempt (with recent addendum) at a comment; disappeared again. I had first tried at 1:30AM this morning. Too many video links, perhaps?
Or maybe…Parallel queue dimension?
See if you can find & retrieve the 2nd edition?
Thanks? (No big deal, of course!)
1 February 2008, on 2:30 pm
ChuckA, Your comment has been rescued once again. I don’t know why that keeps happening to you. Maybe it’s because of the number of links or something.
2 February 2008, on 2:14 am
RE my link to the UFO “Documentary” video…My apologies?…
Foist…ummm…Stardust?…
Just a theory as to why that particular comment stuck in the ‘craw’ of the queue…erm…
Perhaps it REALLY doesn’t like Woo-Woo links?
[I offer the following critique of that UFO video in order to ward off (anticipate?) any angry comments both literal and un-posted.]
I forced myself to watch that whole conspiracy/Woo-Woo production link, with a VERY occasional…POSSIBLY rational bit of hypothesizing, only to have some “vomit in the mouth” causing, religiously fanatical, “Faith-based” moments; in particular, with a Roman Catlick priest (translated from Italian, no less) chime in through a very Fundie-like Woo gal interviewer…with things like: “they’re praying for us” (the Aliens)…”glorifying the Gawd of the Universe”…type shtick.
SHEESH! Always with the delusional, Fundie bullshit!
I ask you, dear GifSters…is there any escape?
Whatever possible…and I do stress POSSIBLE…truth to extraterrestrial Aliens visiting Earth; the fanatic, conspiritorial, totally self-convinced, dogmatic believers, get in the way of a more genuinely Scientific, much more rational handling of the subject matter.
For what it’s worth (not much?), after flogging my way through it (with feigned bleeding!)…I’m still a totally unconvinced atheist…skeptic.
In other words…”My brain didn’t fall out (yet)…and SEEMS to still have the semblance of remaining intact!”
What’s that, GifSters? Did I hear someone say…
“It’s only a semblance, ChuckA…and…that’s just your subjective, naive and gullible opinion…there’s absolutely NO evidence. And…check the floor under your desk. See any brain chunks?”
OK…OK…I agree!
“Look before you Leap?”
Yeah…enough of my lengthy blabbing; it’s getting very late…maybe WAY too late?
2 February 2008, on 2:37 am
I thought atheists were supposed to be an open minded, reasoning, thoughtful people??? All these comments seem to come from a group who have stopped thinking blah blah blah….continues tirade ending by breaking comment policy with a Babble passage….
Using one source (your mythology book) for your supporting “evidence” and reciting the same old shit over and over again is really “open-minded”…you fundies are a sad bunch of androids. ~mod
By all means let’s be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out. Richard Dawkins, in “Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder,”
2 February 2008, on 8:47 am
Thanks for the shout-out, Star.
2 February 2008, on 2:50 pm
LOL. Poor Jeebus. He can’t come or go!
2 February 2008, on 4:49 pm
you are welcome, Moe…and again, glad to have you back!
3 February 2008, on 8:19 am
I was never really gone. Just sitting quietly on the sidelines watching the game from the lurker section.
It amazes me that trolls like PMANCARE will post some cut-and-paste crap that criticizes atheists and free thinkers of being “closed minded”… that bears no relation to anything in the thread they post on. Just random bitching.
Like the new pope seems to enjoy!
Which, ironically enough - is exactly the thing that this post is making fun of! WTF??
Perhaps PMAN is actually playing an elaborate meta-joke on all of us at GifS?
And to Star, ChuckA, karen, Eve, and the Apostate - thanks for the shout-outs!
It means a lot that you guys enjoy my efforts.
3 February 2008, on 9:49 am
BTW - Mellow’s back at Tamed Horses.
And so, naturally, comes some Moe SCHMACK.
Can you diggit?
5 February 2008, on 4:33 am
ChuckA, what do you know, if anything, about the soundtrack for the movie, “Forbidden Planet”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIuc1_Qg4A8
5 February 2008, on 4:43 pm
Interesting question, Bernarda! (for a spontaneous blab excuse?),
I saw that flick in a theater, when it first came out. Another true classic of the Sci-Fi genre.
I hadn’t thought about the electronic musical aspects of the film. At that time (1956), to my recollection, most “electronic’ music was more on the level of taped, edited, sound effects; mixed with traditional instrument based scoring. The Theremin might have been used in that score; but not as blatantly obvious as it was used in “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, f’rnstance.
I was totally ignorant of Louis and Bebe Barron as the composers of that soundtrack.
I think this Wikipedia page (as per usual) should shed some light on that lesser known subject:
“Louis and Bebe Barron”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_and_Bebe_Barron
Anyway…
Thanks for the reminder. That also reminds me that Leslie Nielsen(?) was in an early “serious” role in the film; as opposed to his more widely recognized, fame-making silliness in the 1980s.
RE that…I’m always reminded of the following “Naked Gun” scene:
[Actor George Kennedy(?) to Nielsen]: “Surely, you jest!”
[Nielsen]: “Don’t call me Shirley!”
On another ‘note’…
The Freudian-like “Creature from the ID” was sort of unique as a monster concept. A kind of “Thought-form” concept, very similar to the “Astral Realm” shtick of the OOBE (Out of Body) hypothesis. Or…”If enough people believe in something, it can take on an actual ‘other dimensional’ reality, with a certain amount of “power”, with the ability to influence our parallel, physical reality.”
The concept of man-made gods, Satan, etc. would fall into that category, within that hypothetical context.
Whateva?
5 February 2008, on 6:29 pm
^ If I recall, the soundtrack for Forbidden Planet is also credited as one of the first examples of ambient music / soundscaping - which I sometimes dig when I’m in the right mood (especially when I’m writing or reading horror, and I can tap into some dark ambient!).
6 February 2008, on 1:34 am
Hmmm…Eve?…
Might I (we?) suggest some appropriate ‘ambient’ music for those who constantly carry (clutching fearfully?), and regularly (and desperately) read their Babble or Koran?
Something like…[to a Fundie, of course]:
“You just HAVEN’T experienced the full impact of your favorite delusional Scriptural passages until you’ve read them whilst listening to something like…oh, I dunno…the score from “Forbidden Planet”; or maybe…
for non-electronic music…and a different ‘ambiance’…
Bartok’s “Miraculous Mandarin Suite”?
[If possible; Reiner's CSO recording?]
And, by all means, try reading Genesis while listening to Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”.
Whilst György Ligeti’s “Atmosphères” or “Lux Aeterna” (as used in Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”) would do nicely for…ummm…John’s “Revelation”? You know…his ‘Magic Mushroom’ Trip?
Wait just an ambient minute, Eve!
What am I doing recommending some of my all-time favorite ‘Serious’ music selections for accompanying reading such incredibly delusional nonsense?
“NEVERMIND!!!”
]
[
6 February 2008, on 6:21 pm
^ Lol, ChuckA!
You know, since you’re a musician, and others who comment here are too (I can’t play an instrument to save my life, but I can carry a tune if I may say so myself), I’d like to mention that I’m kicking around an idea for a post about the arts and xianity. They’ve had a conflicted relationship over the years to say the least, and I’m not yet sure how to approach the subject.