[orthodoxymoron]

I grew up attending a church which pointed to the immanent second coming of Christ...and the end of the world...with only a select few being 'saved'. I don't believe this...and I don't go to church. However, I do think eschatological events are occurring and will continue to occur. I think we may go through hell in the next few years. Things may get a lot worse before they get better. I see the world undergoing a global exorcism. I see the transition from a haunted planet...to a free planet. We are not going anywhere. The devils and demons(malevolent non-humans) will be leaving...and they are not going to go without a huge fight. We will all make it...I believe...but some of us may have some very deep and ugly scars.

The biblical end time scenarios may be more of a script than absolute foreknowledge. I am suspicious of everything in the Bible except the words of Jesus. Lucifer may have a monopoly on monotheism. It is good to be ready for anything...not just the end of the world. And it is good to purge evil from one's life...and try to be a better and better person...every day and in every way. But this shouldn't be done because of being afraid of falling into the hands of a God with an anger management problem.

Pastors and priests have to jump through a lot of hoops and say a lot of things which they know are not true...to keep the numbers up...keep their members from jumping ship or committing suicide...and to remain employed in their positions of power and honor. When one part of a theological system crumbles...the rest often follows like a house of cards. The results can be devastating. Some people lose their faith in a horrible and hopeless graveyard spiral. This is a very volatile subject. This forum is probably a good place to talk about this stuff candidly...but use extreme caution when talking to people in other settings. There is something I really like about church and religion...and there is something I utterly despise about it. There is no easy way to do business on Earth. Pain is the cost of doing business in the universe.

It's good to learn to see through the bs...but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater...and be nice to everyone...especially the ones you don't agree with.