Discernment Or C(r)apture?

Actual Christians & curious onlookers welcome.

Having grown up Lutheran, spent some time calling myself a Deist because I didn’t care for the behavior of the people I saw involved in organized religion, then studying the progress of western society for two years right at the turn of the century, I emerged pretty much done with the coercive behavior of all three Abrahamic religions.

My introduction to things eastern came as a teen interested in martial arts. My joint genetics ended that pursuit before I turned twenty, but in my thirties I got into yoga as a gentle way to stay fit, and things just evolved from there. Being a square peg, one who read a lot, and who has never owned a TV as an adult, I naturally had a broad range of knowledge. I was primed for change.

Tibetan Buddhism was what was available locally, and it felt like rediscovering an old pair of shoes while cleaning a closet. Everything just … fit. Since then I’ve been adrift in American society, with no fixed sangha, and the one constant over the years has been a Theravada nun here in California who teaches mindfulness in daily life.

What I call “mindfulness” is what I think is meant by the Christians I see who speak of improving their “discernment”.

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I’d like to put a finer point on what I said in Just Another Non-Rapture. I’m not allowed to interfere in the spiritual path of another … but those who believe in some interpretations of this end of days myth are prey to all sorts of trouble. And these troubles can be harmful to the believers, those around them, and society as a whole.

What do you see there? A guy selling his car because he won’t need it … leaving us wondering where he donated the money. Parents saying goodbye to their presumably adult children … the sort of thing that is often the last straw, leading to then “going NC”. That’s shorthand for “no contact”, the practice of just cutting off people who are irrational and toxic.

The people who believe these things are harming themselves, their families, and society as a whole. And that’s more than just the acute ZOMG RAPTURE DAY!@!@! behavior. There are a cluster of things associated with evangelicalism that could be criticized. I’m not going to go into detail on this - I think it’s really up to the members to develop their own discernment.

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While writing this I was poking around on YouTube, and this ReligionForBreakfast video on the concept of Rapture appeared. I learned some things in watching this - the rapture concept is not merely two hundred years old, there are roots in ancient texts, but there’s a LOT of room for interpretation.

One of the things in this video that I found interesting was the notion that Dispensational beliefs, which rose due to Hollywood developing a taste for the revenue that can come from end times pr0n, are now a fading thing.

If you aren’t going to watch it all, start at 18:14 and watch for fifteen seconds on John Nelson Darby.

“he thought that most established churches in this era had fallen into apostasy”

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How would a Christian improve their discernment? Mindfulness practice has benefits recognized across most belief systems, but I can’t very well direct such people to start following a Buddhist nun. I think for some, Eckhard Tolle might be the answer. I recognize his struggle and spontaneous change as enlightenment, but he has no specific religious doctrine. He just describes things as they are without any management overhead.

I tried to show one of his videos, but they block embedding. If you feel a need for some personal growth, you’ll need to go look for yourself.

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“Born Again Christians” were a relatively new thing when I was a kid. One of the things back then, which is missing now, is that they’d howl about false prophet at the drop of a hat. I’ve been mocking this lack for the last couple years, but I think I’m going to let that go. I’ve been listening to Cult College about this and I think she’s right.

Don’t be a jackhole when you see someone edging out the door of a cult of personality. It’s really scary, so just be kind, and if you just can’t for whatever reason, then absent yourself. The post-MAGA people are likely to be aggressively against public corruption - and I think that’s something we can all get behind, even if we still disagree on other stuff.