Purely as a matter of probability, when the Rapture comes, at least one of the 144,000 will be pregnant. Unless pregnancy at the time of the Rapture automatically bars you from heaven. Which would have to be God’s Own Catch-22, given the number of religions that frown on birth control.
So, appealing to reason and the Law of Large Numbers, we clearly need to plan for this contingency.
Further, my understanding of Rap culture is that the Chosen (or Sealed) will be bodily assumed into Heaven, following the approach pioneered by the Virgin Mary.
So, what happens to any fertilized eggs/embryos/fetuses when Mom takes her final journey? Free ride to glory, or dump ’em on the sidewalk? That’s the question.
Once upon a time, the Catholics had the merciful concept of Limbo. The souls of those incapable of knowing right from wrong were relegated to God’s eternal waiting room. Not in Hell, but not in the Presence of God either.
Logically, then, a mash-up of obsolete Catholic theology and Rapture theology neatly solves this conundrum by placing the Chosen into heaven, any “unborn” into Limbo. And the rest of us can to go Hell. Which as I understand it, will be Earth.
Glad that’s settled.
I figure, if you’re going to construct a theology, you should at least take the time to ensure that it’s logically consistent. All I’m asking for, in this case, is a clear crosswalk from whatever your religion considers to be the complete set of Human Souls to whatever it deems to be the set of religiously valid Final Resting Places.
Just a simple statement of who’s going where. No ambiguity allowed. Surely that’s not too much to ask. And that’s why it’s important to resolve these difficult cases in a consistent manner.
Demand no less of your own adopted End Times philosophy.
And speaking of Hell on Earth …
Source: Screencrush.com. And yeah, I know that apes are not monkeys.
After the Rapture, the rest of us will live in Hell on Earth. Which I guess is the theme of today’s post.
And so we take the leap from eschatology to virology.
I’ve been hearing about this Monkeypox thing. Not tracking it closely. Pretty sure I’m not a high-risk individual. But I decided to pull the numbers down from CDC and do a seven-day moving average. (Why? Because that’s what I do in the morning, and COVID is pretty boring at present.)
Source: CDC, U.S. Monkeypox cases trend report, accessed 8/12/2022.
OK, not so good. A bigger problem than just a few scattered cases. Classic exponential rise. Cases are doubling roughly every seven days.
Source: CDC, U.S. Monkeypox cases trend report, accessed 8/12/2022.
So, first thing, let’s kill all the monkeys. (/S, at my wife’s insistence.) And second thing, let’s do a lot of hand-wringing over renaming the virus. That second action isn’t to stop stupid people from killing monkeys. It’s because serious scientists consider the name to be discriminatory and stigmatizing, which will then deter people from seeking treatment. And of course, as the night follows the day, somebody somewhere will use this an excuse to beat up on gay people.
Why not? Makes as much sense as attacking U.S. Chinese restaurants in response to coronavirus.
In any case, as with most serious problems, there are some serious people trying to address them in a serious fashion. Hampered by the usual cast of people who will use any new disease as their latest excuse for venting their hatred and propensity to violence.
It’s probably just the way news coverage works, but the population certainly seems enriched in irrational, loud-mouthed, violent people. Surely this hasn’t always been the norm. Sometimes I wonder if the Rapture already happened, and nobody noticed.
