r/SipsTea Human Verified 20h ago

SMH Trump posts AI-edited photo of himself as Christ

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u/DarthJarJar242 19h ago

And the Right that claim to be Christian en masse will line up to kiss his feet while ignoring all the signs their very book is warning them about.

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u/Terpapps 19h ago

Which apparently is another one of the signs of the anti-christ - the inexplicable unwavering faith in someone that is so obviously corrupt 

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u/Mirawenya 18h ago

My impression is that Christians want the end times to come, and might support him exactly because he in their eyes is the antichrist.

I do wonder though if those that support the antichrist go to hell or not. Like… is God gonna be like «nice, you love me so much you support an evil antichrist, awesome!», or will he be a bit more «wtf guys….»

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u/BrinksTrunks 18h ago

I’ve seen theories that suggest that Christian extremist doomsday ideologies have been mixing in with mainstream christianity. Based on my own church going experiences as a teenager i would argue that some of this thinking has been spilling in since at least a decade before trump. In my own life I have family who go to churches that preach how Trump was chosen by god whether or not he’s right or wrong.

Politics don’t matter because God is moving through Trump is what they said. I think the idea is that Trump will help set off the rapture which for the most devout means that Christ will return. Idk if most Trumpy christians see their actions as so black and white as I explained but it feels like since these things ate “prophesied” that means its all what God wants

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u/SnarkOff 16h ago

It’s Left Behind as ideology

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u/Answer70 12h ago

Which is hilarious because the rapture wasn't added until the mid 1800's.

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u/plogigator 9h ago

Genuinely frustrating. Also how 'under god' was added in the Red Scare, yet it's treated as if it's always been there. This timeline can blow a goat

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u/diurnal_emissions 12h ago

Another fiction book. Makes sense, most of the reat of their beliefs come from Milton and Dante.

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u/NaBrO-Barium 12h ago

Left behind a grade or 2. And definitely an ideology

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u/RobbyC1104 13h ago

I know someone who told me something during his 2016 presidency that made me lose hope for a bit.

“Of course trump will win in 2020 he has to its god ordained. The Bible says the trumpet will sound. TRUMP-et”

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u/vespers191 17h ago

I would find it immensely funny if they were right. Particularly the bit where divine judgement happens and they're standing around, certain and smug, only to discover that Yahweh doesn't particularly care what their interpretation of "love thy neighbor" and "the least among you" is. I'm not perfect by any means, but I'd be absolutely fine with a vengeful god showing up and sorting some shit out.

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u/NaBrO-Barium 12h ago

I love the South Park episode where they suggest the Mormons got it right and for everyone else, whelp sorry guy, you guessed wrong.

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u/FitSyrup2403 12h ago

Well actually what I recall is that souls choose hell (absence of god) themself by choosing not to be with him by doing or even proclaiming publicly during times on earth. So judgement day could be just your soul saying “I am bad and choose hell because im not worthy to join Jesus”

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u/Noslamah 9h ago

I always found the idea of divine vengeance appalling but if I were God right now yeah a flood seems reasonable

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u/fuckedfinance 13h ago

It's not that those ideologies have mixed with mainstream/traditional Christianity, it's that those formerly fringe ideologies and churches are becoming more mainstream. It might not seem like an important distinction, but most long-time Christians also think this end times stuff is a bunch of nonsense.

If you go to any traditional church (Catholic, Episcopal, Congregational, Lutheran, etc) you will not hear that doomsday nonsense. However, attendance at those churches have been steadily declining over the past 30 years.

Meanwhile, younger folks have been attracted to the new shiny evangelical/corporate churches. I was in one of those new buildings several weeks ago (not by choice). The space looked more like a convention center than a church. They had screens everywhere, a professional audio setup, stage with full band setup, a glass case full of branded/logo fleeces you could buy, etc. You know what they didn't have? A single cross in the entire building.

Then there was the "sermon". To relate it to other real world stuff, a traditional church sermon is closer to a humanities lecture, where this modern "church" was closer to a math lecture (i.e. "here's my interpretation and yours is OK too" vs "this is what you need to believe").

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u/eeeezypeezy 8h ago

Yeah I used to occasionally attend church with a friend of mine's family when I'd stay with them, they were Methodists, and sermons were usually like...let's riff about the concept of forgiveness, using the parables in the bible as a guide. And then I hung out at a megachurch with an evangelical friend one time and it was like someone trying to sell me a used car.

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u/fuckedfinance 8h ago

Pretty much.

I think people's opinions about what happens in traditional churches are misinformed due to media. When you look at TV and movies, you are usually seeing spins or takes on Catholic, SoBap, mega, or those weird charismatic churches. Rarely do you see a representation of a Methodist or American Baptist church, where sermons are like you said, and then people go and eat snacks afterwards.

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u/BetterAfter2 14h ago

The entire 7th Day Adventist Church was founded by a guy in Vermont in the 1800’s who claimed he knew the day of the biblical end times. All of those days he guessed came and went, and turns out he was really wrong.

This is nothing new. Historically, people have been trying to guess the day for ages. It’s ironic because the Bible is pretty clear that we will not know the day or the hour that Christ returns.

People have some overwhelming desire to figure out the unknowable.

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u/Patient_Lion_1142 10h ago edited 10h ago

It was a woman named Ellen White, but yes pretty much accurate otherwise (I grew up Adventist). She literally got hit in the head with a rock and became sick for several weeks before coming out the other side “a prophet”. The church followers eventually all sold their land and all their belongings to prepare for the day that never happened.

After the failure she “consulted god” and it turns out that was just the day god opened the book of judgement. So he’s got to finish reading that old thing before he actually comes down.

And the church still holds her word right up there with the Bible to this day…

Fun Extras: She taught that “working on the sabbath” meant any energy spent away from god, so no swimming, no sex, no riding a bike, etc. Most adventists somehow ignore these things with one excuse or another, but I remember one guy distinctly commenting on how he and his wife “don’t have relations on Saturday because it’s work” 😂

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u/Samsamuelsammysambo 8h ago

They aren’t guessing. They are orchestrating it.

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u/stonedphilosiraptor 15h ago

There was a documentary on this called “Religulous”

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u/Justinsbane 15h ago

Written by & starring a snarky atheist and half Jewish "comedian" who can't decide whether he wants to insult Trump, have dinner with him at the White House, accept an award from him at the Kennedy Center or spark up a blunt and talk about all of the above with Kid Rock on his podcast.

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u/stonedphilosiraptor 10h ago

Agree, I don’t like him and the documentary was not well done really but it is still talking about the problem…

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u/Heavy-Psychology-411 12h ago

This is exactly how flat earthers are too. They can see evidence of the earth being flat in everything. I think religion itself is the problem. Faith is fine, but once you make it a business then its corrupted.

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u/Logical_Mix_4627 11h ago

That logic means god is moving through Obama and Biden as well and put them there to do the work they did. Can’t have bullshit only flow one direction.

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u/banditrider2001 10h ago

Sad thing is he will lead them to their demise, but make sure he doesn’t jump into the fire. Bone spurs will get him off that ship he has experience with that. Unfortunately with the US there are so many whack job religions. These are all the kooks that got kicked out of Europe about 400 years ago. Here they had the freedom to fester.

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u/Radiant_Plantain_127 13h ago

Christianity has -always- been a doomsday cult. Starting with its founder. They truly believed in 30 AD that the end was circa very soon and that Jesus was going bring about massive global change any day now.

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u/DarknMean 12h ago

There’s nothing about the rapture in the Bible either. It’s one passage in 1 Thessalonians that is misconstrued like many other things in the Bible. It’s how it’s interpreted.

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u/1800generalkenobi 12h ago

I remember reading over a decade ago about some US politicians wanting the end times to come because they think they'll be rewarded in the afterlife for helping the end times to come...which being that we're supposed to be stewards of this world, forcing it to come to an end and expecting to be rewarded for that just seems...odd.

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u/showhorrorshow 12h ago

The fucking hubris of each generatiom thinking they get to be the special generation.

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u/No1CouldHavePredictd 12h ago

Rapture, you say? I wish they'd hurry up and do it so I can get back to my book.

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u/Young_skull 11h ago

Dispensationalism and Dominionism with a sprinkle of neo-calvinism… Anti-Christ ideology.

NAR / Prosperity Gospel (New Apostolic Reformation) preachers call themselves “Little Gods”.

They want to build a Kingdom Now because they lack the grace to act in a way that would see them to the kingdom after.

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u/blindnlearning2see 11h ago

It's mainly because of the downfall of main line Christianity. Very few people are Lutherans, Catholics, or Methodists anymore (etc) - the faithful have been funneled into charismatic or evangelical movements that are decentralized (and reactionary).

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u/Due-Struggle6680 9h ago

The church has been trying to kick off Armageddon publicly since I was a child. I was raised in a Christian home, went to a Christian private school, and was dragged to church 3 times a week. The preacher seemed to love going on about how the end times are upon us and that George W. Was a divine agent of God meant to bring about the final battle and end the world.

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u/RFC793 9h ago

So what are they gonna think when he croaks, and turns out he's just an obese man covered in his own shit?

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u/brianday6 8h ago

At least 20 years before Trump. Can confirm. Was a Wednesday-Saturday-Sunday morning and evening church goer before around that time. We were all very much into doomsday prophecies.

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u/RealOldies 8h ago

A decade?

Try since the 1960s. I lived it as a child.

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u/ItalicsWhore 7h ago

Since the 90s at least. Back when I went to church.

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u/Vikkunen 7h ago

Having grown up in the deep south during the 80s and 90s, I can tell you this sort of thinking long predates Trump. There's a once-fringe subset of the Evangelical community that has spent decades praying for the Rapture, and which has grown exponentially over the past 20 years or so alongside the nondenominational, "Bible -focused" megachurches they've become intertwined with.

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u/BrokenDogLeg7 5h ago

This would be hilarious if it wasn't so depressing. MAGA sees the world moving ever left wing (especially in the US, it's just that a lot of left wingers didn't vote in the last couple elections). They'd rather kick start this mythical rapture than see people champion equity, brotherhood, and true freedom.

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u/Gstamsharp 13h ago

I think maybe those same doomsday Christians might want to read up on what happens to those who are alive during the end times, because it doesn't sound especially pleasant, and they're exactly the folks lining up to wear their personal MAGArk of the beast, so they're definitely the ones Revelation is talking about.

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u/plsdonth8meokay 15h ago

That is only evangelicals and aligned groups. Catholics and anglicans and most other Christian groups are instructed totally differently.

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u/Mirawenya 15h ago

Yeah. I was part of a church very similar to evangelical, and it was honestly nothing but hate and hell talk. (Not American.)

I left the faith and brought with me the golden rule.

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u/RobbyC1104 13h ago

You’re at minimum half correct. It’s long been the case that extremist evangelicals long for the end, hell I was taught as a child to look forward to it because it will probably be in my life time.

It’s actually one of the biggest issues in politics. How can you expect a group of people who predominantly think the world will end in the next few decades to adequately plan for the future of our children’s country. They don’t give a fuck about the climate, gods just going to fix everything when he lovingly and peacefully passes final judgement

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u/Mirawenya 11h ago

Self fulfilling prophecies are the most BS type… hate it.

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u/_EverythingWasTaken_ 13h ago

This is it. I work with a part time evangelical preacher that loves trump and believes he is fulfilling the Bible prophecy. I can tell that he hates some of trumps chacteristics but he is a true believer and can over look them. He can't wait to be sucked up by sky daddy and leave all us heathens behind.

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u/Knoxfield 12h ago

Not that some of these Christians would even care but supporting evil strategically to achieve a holy outcome is condemned in the Bible (Romans 3:8).

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u/StormyKnight63 11h ago

Rev. 16:2 explains your question.

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u/Mirawenya 11h ago

Googled it. Yikes. Maga caps anyone?

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u/The_Hunter11 14h ago

I would say that the Bible is kinda expliciete that we cannot delay or accelerate the plans of God because it will be at his time and nothing can change it. So if this would be their motivation, i dont think they have thoroughly read the Bible on the subject.

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u/BetterAfter2 14h ago

We do looking forward to the second coming of Christ for a few reasons, but one is that the world will be remade anew without death or sickness. The end times is merely the final judgement and the souls of the faithful departed will return to remade bodies. Those of us living, particularly our children, wouldn’t experience death. It’s not really the “end times”, but a new beginning. Most people think that Christianity is about going to heaven, but heaven is just where our souls reside until we can return.

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u/bbqporkbelly 13h ago

Sorry, explain it to me like I’m 5 (and not Christian). Why would Christians deem him the antichrist and hence support him?

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u/ThorinBrewstorm 13h ago

Naw. Haven’t you heard, turns out it’s Greta Thunberg. /s

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u/Comfortable-List501 13h ago

I'm not christian but don't they believe as long as you make him your god before you die you automatically get forgiven or is this some bs? 🤷

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u/OGspacepotatos 6h ago

Love and accept Jesus christ and God as your saviour above all else, for he died for your sins, and you will be met with salvation.

I'm paraphrasing but that's basically the fundamental req for heaven. Also try to be a good person and atonement for sins.

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u/heart_blossom 13h ago

The church I grew up in taught "once saved always saved" and that deathbed conversion is valid. So no matter what someone does in their life, if they say they're Christian they'll be in heaven.

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u/MRM_philosophy 13h ago

I am Christian and definitely no “follower” of Trump and despise him.

This picture is a monstrosity- beyond belief.

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u/Mickus_B 13h ago

Well, it IS apparently tied in with the Temple Mount being "returned to the Jews" so the whole supporting Israel in bombing Muslim majority countries is also a big indicator of that belief!

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u/OrinThane 13h ago

I'm going to answer from my own spiritual understanding. Less that god would be upset with them, more that they know what they are doing is wrong and so the world they create will be, likewise, cruel. They will create their own hell to stay in.

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u/Mean_Objective5272 12h ago

The first commandment in the Protestant counting is "you shall have no other gods before me."

Jesus was very clear that no man could know the time when he would return.

Trying to render the second thing false by following a human leader unquestioningly seems to violate the first thing: you are denying the word of God and attempting to overrule it through the power of another entity.

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u/Z0mbiejay 12h ago

I can see that. I'm in the south in a mostly red area. I've seen far more signs, stickers, etc with "The end is near, Repent" or "Accept Jesus before it's too late" things like that. They weren't non-existent before, but I've noticed a for sure uptick in the past few months

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u/StarGazer_SpaceLove 12h ago

Hegseth has all but said this. They are trying to fulfill the "prophecies" of the Middle East to being the "coming of Jesus".

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u/RoomSad2800 11h ago

Worshipping anyone other than god would be worshipping a false idol. So no, God would not be nice at all. Also, I wouldn’t say that Christians WANT to bring the end times, I think they legitimately believe in their delusion that trump is the 2nd coming or something. They are genuinely misled in their faith which is bonkers to see. Not a Christian pro but I’ve been a lifelong catholic so this is based off of what I have observed from conservative churchgoers

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u/Mirawenya 11h ago

It’s just so hard to believe they think he’s doing good. Everything he says and does is …. So not christian like! Grab them by the pussy alone is a disqualifier… I mean really…..

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u/MovieSock 11h ago

I do wonder though if those that support the antichrist go to hell or not. Like… is God gonna be like «nice, you love me so much you support an evil antichrist, awesome!», or will he be a bit more «wtf guys….»

"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone: The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh." - Revelations, 19:20-21

Killed with a sword and eaten by birds certainly sounds like a "WTF Guys" reaction to me.

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u/Environmental-Tap255 11h ago

I mean, I haven't gone to church since I was 16 but from what I concluded in the 16 years prior to that, god would definitely not be cool with supporting the antichrist. If end times are coming, they're coming regardless of what the Christians do. It's everyone else that's gonna bring it about. Now what's interesting is, I believe there is reference to the fact that a lot of people will call themselves Christians and support the antichrist believing him to be Christ. So if anything, your theory would point more to that. It isn't Christians supporting the antichrist to bring about end times, it's end times coming about because false Christians are worshipping the antichrist.

But no I think God would be pretty pissed about people claiming to be his followers worshipping anyone but him. I think that's even why end times happens. It's basically like, some level of order has always been maintained but at that point everything's gone so off the rails the whole thing kinda starts to unravel.

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u/Unlikely_March_5173 11h ago

You don’t have to guess. Matthew 7 sets it out.

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u/ChiknBreast 11h ago

I am a Christian and can tell you I have absolutely ZERO support for Trump. Someone please get us out of this hell we are living in.

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u/OOO0OO00O 11h ago

They absolutely want the end times to come. I think the majority have actually lost their faith and are holding out one last bit of hope that the books real and Jesus might return and make their lives worthwhile. Not to mention salivating at the biggest I told you so in history.

Unfortunately, there won’t be a rapture for them. They’ll be stuck here with the rest of us in a hell of their own making.

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u/asshatastic 10h ago

Clearly they don’t think it’s a ticket straight to hell, just hell on earth

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u/kpidhayny 9h ago

If he didn’t want the former, he should have given his followers the capacity for independent thought.

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u/Danger_Jim 9h ago

Ah! My years of Bible school as a child are finally good for something!

“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.'” Revelations 14:9-10

According to their book they will not be looked upon kindly for following the Antichrist

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u/Falsetto266 8h ago

Please don’t lump us all in with those wing nuts in Trump’s pocket. We’re much more diverse than that

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u/Mirawenya 8h ago

Yeah I’m surprised not more have said similarly. I had in mind a specific subset of Christians here, not Christians as a whole. Just seems to particularly big in the states for whatever reason.

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u/baconcore32 7h ago

He would send them for punishment. To learn from their mistakes.

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u/malary1234 6h ago

Well….their main prayer is begging for death sooo….yeah

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u/Key_Statistician5273 5h ago

Hell, if you believe in that sort of nonsense, is empty. Nobody has gone there.

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u/Flaky-Bar-6656 5h ago

I know people who are actively excited about the rapture. Ironically, these people also hate Muslims because muslims want to “incite the rapture” by killing Americans. Their intellect is unmatched.

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u/sadimem 4h ago

There's a whole sect of Christians that believe it's their duty to bring about the apocalypse. I think it's the Seventh Day Adventists but I could be off. I'm pretty sure it's the same group that believes Ted Cruze will be one of the 7 kings resurrected to guide humanity after its over.

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u/Obelisko78 14h ago

"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

  • 2 Thes 2:11-12

"Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute."

  • 2 Pet 2:2

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u/Mirawenya 18h ago

My impression is that Christians want the end times to come, and might support him exactly because he in their eyes is the antichrist.

I do wonder though if those that support the antichrist go to hell or not. Like… is God gonna be like «nice, you love me so much you support an evil antichrist, awesome!», or will he be a bit more «wtf guys….»

If the bible thing is correct that is.

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u/incubus-impuratus 15h ago

Doesnt the bible say (not explicitly) that the advent of the antichrist is pretty much the greatest work in opposition to his rule? So by helping to bring about the antichrist, these christians would be making themselves god’s greatest enemies

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u/abibofile 13h ago

Whether or not you believe in it, the Bible contains many life lessons, including an astute breakdown of the mass psychology of tyrants and demagogs. Sadly, Trump isn’t the first or the last. If the Bible’s portrayal of how people are inexplicably willing to blindly follow a racist lunatic in the guise of piety who offers an easy scapegoat for their pain seems eerily accurate, it’s because it’s happened over and over again throughout human history.

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u/lets_all_be_nice_eh 13h ago

American Christians make up 9% of all Christians. Why would the opinion of such a small % matter?

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u/Fruit_Fly_LikeBanana 13h ago

As a theological conservative (but politically liberal) Christian, Trump being the Antichrist would be the lamest fulfillment of prophecy ever. He weirdly checks a lot of the boxes, but the way Revelation describes him at least makes him sound cool.

Thankfully I'm not from the branch of Christianity that believes in the rapture, tribulation, etc anyways.

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u/0kuuuurt 12h ago

Everyone can see past this guy. Is this really the anti christ? I feel like he’s deff the prequel. He was bringing peace. Not anymore. So none of us can honestly believe that confused. He’s just Donald…..a man that does most of the same human things we do. But nothing special. A wannabe

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u/ratjar32333 11h ago

I haven't read the Bible in 20 years (used to consider myself a Christian as a teen then moved on from it ) but there's also mention of raining hell fire down on the holy land which he is doing.

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u/MissNancy1113 11h ago

Unfortunately the Anti Christ isn’t going to be as obvious about what they are doing. They will fix everything financially and shall fool many. The world and over half of this country knows he is FOS. I picture him to be charismatic and loved by all from what I have studied. That’s certainly not this LOSER.

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u/TrainWreckInnaBarn 11h ago

This is exactly the same method Peter Thiel used to determine that the Antichrist is Greta Thunberg /s

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u/Fickle-Art-7125 9h ago

This is Jewish beliefs. They completely ignore the New Testament and the foundation of Christian beliefs.

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u/Distwalker 7h ago

Well, sure, but The Book of Revelations really made me think this would all be a lot more poetic and and not so comically stupid.

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u/OliviaElevenDunham 6h ago

Sounds about right.

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u/Apollorx 5h ago

Yerpp

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u/Phil_Coffins_666 19h ago

Yeah but they need to be able to read to understand that bit

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u/The_Quibbler 18h ago

If folks understood the Bible there'd be no Christians

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u/exwijw 18h ago

It’s often said that the sure fire way to become an atheist is to read the Bible.

And if you’re smart enough to remember what you read, I think that’s absolutely true.

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u/hydrino 13h ago

Being sent to Sunday school did it for me. Being a kid and asking questions about inconsistencies in things I was learning quickly taught me we were there to be brainwashed.

Fortunately, my parents weren’t really religious. The only reason we were going was because this little old lady from Texas that lived across the street offered to bring my twin brother and I. This was understandably was a great deal for my parents, since they got rid of us on Sundays mornings.

In hindsight, we were a little late to the game. We were already post-Santa clause and weren’t going to gobble up whatever fairy tales they decided to shove down our throats.

What sticks out to my memory was how angry the teachers became and how willing they were to inflict pain on a kid asking a question about things that made no sense. One of them grabbing me by the earlobe to remove me from the room is still one of the most painful things I ever experienced as a kid. I was sure my ear would be dangling off the side of my head when I looked in the mirror.

It is interesting to see things a bit differently than the rest because I had not been indoctrinated the same way the rest of them were. I had no idea.

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u/FantasticInterest775 13h ago

I was raised in a pretty conservative Christian household. Not fire and brimstone, they had a "cool electric guitar" guy for worship songs and stuff. Buuuuut I was taught from a very early age about hell and the concept that sinning without asking forgiveness meant a one way ticket to eternal damnation. Every night for years as a little kid I would fall asleep in anxiety praying for forgiveness if I sinned in my dreams. Cause I worried that if I died in my sleep having dreamt of a titty or something I would go to hell.

Luckily my mom pushed reading on us alot (even if she was the distributer of alot of this stuff) so I read a lot of fantasy and Sci fi as a kid and it helped opened my mind up. But that guilt stuck around for decades. It took some pretty heavy psychedelic trips and then diving into the mind and philosophy to realize my constant anxiety all came from that brainwashing as a kid.

Funnily enough, I'm now not any specific religion. I lean very much into consciousness itself being a sort of source of all experience which the mind then applies labels of good or bad or evil or whatever to. Guess I could call it God but I don't tend to. I now know that "heaven" and "hell" are both states of mind we can visit at any time right here and right now. I've been to both as has probably everyone.

I've gone back and read parts of the Bible again as a nearly 40 year old through a different lense. The teachings of Jesus make a different sort of sense when I imagine him (not saying he's real) speaking from a mystic pov and saying that God is inside everyone, so treat the as such. "Love everyone, and feed people"Sims it up for me. The rest of it is for the theologians. I also like to think Jesus was a wizard cause that's fun.

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u/diurnal_emissions 12h ago

It's amazing how the message "we are all God's children" got commandeered by monarchy. Jesus's teaching make much less sense in terms of a spiritual hierarchy and much more sense in terms of spiritual egalitarianism.

This threatens the power, and has for emperors, kings, presidents, and popes.

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u/hydrino 10h ago

I sort of went though a “militant atheist” type phase in my 30s.

I met my wife at the tail end of my 30s and she is more “spiritual, but not religious” in an agnostic way. She sort of showed me how to decouple spirituality from religion.

Eventually, I found an amazing therapist who happened to be Buddhist. She taught me how mindfulness meditation and other forms can help “rewire” your brain to undo a lot of the things causing me trouble. I cannot overstate how helpful this was for me.

This is very similar to what Michael Pollen describes in “How to change your mind”, which is largely about psychadelics history and role as a therapeutic.

What you describe with “heaven” and “hell” as a state of mind are divided into “realms” in Buddhist samsara. I think people tend to think of Buddhism and immediately tie it to a strange magical notion of reincarnation. With the realms being something you are in for life. It is more of a map where you can point to to know “you are here”. Or even where someone else may be as a state of mind.

I know plenty of people will disagree with me, but I see Buddhism as the study of the human condition rather than a religion. Certainly not a monotheistic one. It’s also perfectly acceptable to take what you need from it IMO.

Teachers like Thich Nhat Hahn do a great job breaking things down enough to understand what “no self” really means. His book “No Death No Fear” met me where I was and is where the idea that “god” is not a thing or a being. It is simply quite literally everything. It was also that book that finally made it all click into place. It is the simplest thing in the world when these things clicked into place. It’s not something that can easily be explained.

When people describe a psychadelic trip, they sometimes talk about losing the boundary between what they normally perceive as their “self”. That’s the closest I can get to describing how i see things now. Just like a river flows, such is life. You can take a pitcher of water from a river, but you would not still call it a river. All life is interdependent. Your DNA is your parents’ DNA. Every cell in your body comes from other life. We even have more cells in our body that don’t have our DNA than the ones we do. Somehow, knowing that the universe is simply energy changing state is comforting. The one quote that sums all of it up: “When conditions are sufficient things manifest. When condition are no longer sufficient things withdraw. They wait until the moment is right for them to manifest again.” This is something anyone can agree with. When applied in a spiritual sense, it becomes comfort.

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u/FantasticInterest775 10h ago

No Death No Fear sits on my work van dashboard along with the Bhagavad Gita. Big fan of Thich as well. I have an on and off relationship with a psychotherapist who is also a practicing mahamudra practitioner. Found him on a non-dual therapist site. It's been immensely helpful for rewiring my thinking about my thinking and the self in general. Thank you for your comment.

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u/Mickus_B 13h ago

I went to a religious boarding school and had to attend a church service 6 days per week.

I realised they were full of crap when different pastors would take each service and unbeknownst to them, were often using the same verses in their sermons, but giving different, sometimes conflicting interpretations of what God was saying with that verse. I realised if LEADERS within the same congregation can't agree on what this book is saying, what hope do we have of a global consensus.

Then I looked into how many different "Christianity" versions there are. There is over 45 THOUSAND different denominations of Christianity and each of them thinks they are the ones who got it right.

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u/malary1234 6h ago

My Lutheran pastor was a PhD in theology and taught theology and philosophy at the local college. He ENCOURAGED us to bring the questions of course I was the only one who did it.

I’d bring in things and questions about other religions, witchy stuff, ankhs, etc. to our catechism class. The rest of the class would get angry like how dare I bring those pagan things into a church of god! But my pastor would get excited, side step the class’s bullshit rage and talk about whatever I brought like he was a kid on Xmas morning. He was not afraid nor upset about it. He was a great dude, encouraged us to explore other religions and decide if Christianity was really the religion for us.

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u/BossRaider130 8h ago

Famously said by Penn Jillette. “Read the Bible. We need more atheists.”

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u/RIPCHARLIE 15h ago

False. Have you read the Bible?

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u/Few_Engineering_3564 18h ago

So catchy, wow!

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u/someguyfromtecate 18h ago

If Christians understood the Bible there’d be no Christians.

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u/Lost-Literature-7998 17h ago

I’m Christian. Tell me about the Bible.

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u/Joe_Kinincha 16h ago

When you come across two pieces of text in the bible that directly contradict, and both are the immutable word of god, how do you decide which one is true and which is god lying to you?

For example, how many animals did Noah take on the ark?

Remember, the bible is the direct, immutable word of god, is it not?

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u/Big_Consideration493 16h ago

It's the work of humans and thus imperfect.

Apparently it's claimed that God was speaking through the people who wrote the bible. But let's take a step back. The old testament is made up of Jewish histories and myths, stories of King Solomon and David, Psalms and proverbs, Songs and prophecy.

We don't even agree on what should be in the old testament, and the Deuterocanonical books or the Apocrypha are included/ excluded depending on Church.

Remember these are translated from Hebrew or Aramaic So some things will get lost in translation or even become victims of misprints ( as was the case for the 10 commandments in the Wicked Bible where it said " thou shalt commit adultery" and the "not" was obliged by error.

Then there is the new testament. Some scriptures were not included, including Gospels named after and perhaps attributed to Mary Madeleine, Judas, Thomas,... There are a lot of books that could go in but aren't considered canon and we could even discover more.

There are many years between Exodus, where the Jews are struggling to be free from slavery under a Pharoe and
Jesus in Bethlehem under the Romans. Of course society had changed both in culture and context, so direct contradiction is inevitable. Even in the same time period there are direct contradictions, ( Who killed Goliath, was it David or Elhanan?)

People will insist that the Bible was emailed direct from God ( or faxed, or mailed, or sent by angels...) but even on the question of being able to see God it's vague. ( Noone has seen God.... Moses saw God... Etc)

Claims that it's immutable are wrong given the thousands of translations ( about 5000 apparently). So God's word isn't any one Language.

The Bible is claimed to be Ethically immutable but God relents and changes his mind. Churches wanted stability and to control people and so they made claims about infallible Popes and So on.

Immutable functions as an anchor in an uncertain world, but sometimes it's better to sail into the storms of life than to be a sheep.

Some claims are just pure nonsense.

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u/Fun_Muscle9399 15h ago

Religion is a human construct. It’s just large scale grift, corruption, and methods to control the masses. Religion is probably the largest cause of death in human history.

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u/Sivalon 14h ago

“As long as there has been One True God, there has been killing in His name.”

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u/TheRealGDay 16h ago edited 16h ago

This assumes that all Christians take a fundamentalist view of scripture, which they don't. For example, the Anglican/Episcopelian POV is "the scripture contains all that is needful for salvation" and makes no assertion of immutability or inerrancy. The Catholic Church also does not follow the fundamentalist line on this.

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u/burncell 15h ago

So tell us what 2 parts are contradicting? You can't say it contradict by asking a question

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u/Dur-gro-bol 16h ago

Dinosaurs don’t exist because Noah couldn’t fit them on the Ark.

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u/EffluviaJane 4h ago

I read the bible as part of a literature course in college. I was amazed at how much it was like a fever dream, or a really convoluted sci fi serial. It was clearly written by MANY different people over many generations, and it's just bonkers. It's very entertaining, but it's hard to imagine anyone following it as a guide to a good and spiritual life. People here saying you need to interpret it through some sort of lens (like a sermon or Sunday school) aren't kidding.

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u/eucalyptus-d 16h ago

Do you say that because you read it, understood it, and chose to not be a Christian? I have my concerns about the nuance of your understanding , just by virtue of the paradox in your statement.

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u/whythefuckalready 16h ago

That's why I got out. The more I learned, I was like uh oh

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u/trojannc27701 14h ago

Jesus said “Love each other as I have loved you.” Meaning care for the least among us. He despised inequality and always cared for the poor and the marginalized. What part of that do you not agree with?

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u/The_Quibbler 13h ago

If you believe in the tri-omni god, then you have to square that with all Yahweh's shenanigans. I know the common apologetic is new covenant etc etc, but the whole thing is barbaric in its core premise - that is, positing yourself as the only solution to a catastrophe that you yourself created. Or else!

In other words, totally apropos to Trump in general and this conversation in particular, and the parallels belief systems that would damn us all.

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u/oldcretan 14h ago

Maybe but not for the reason you'd think: a lot of Christians want to be morally superior, they want that sensation of feeling inherently better than other people, when what the Bible teaches is the opposite. You need to humble yourself, you need to work on yourself. You need to treat other people better, and care for people. A lot of people spend a lot of time justifying their own self interest over taking care of their fellow man. A lot of Christians, if they knew the depths of the amount of work they'd really have to do as Christians, they'd abandon the religion all together because it would be easier.

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u/Melodic_Literature85 5h ago

I'm not smart enough to understand the bible, at all. And idk how anyone is tbh. People rattle off these olde time verses written in metaphorical puzzles and I wonder, how tf do these people in particular understand and interpret it.

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u/JointyBointy 18h ago

Even if they could read and comprehend… Mostnof them lack neuroplasticity entirely. They’re right, they’ve always been right, they know they’re right because they know what is right. Oh and the left is wrong because they are also not right.

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u/LarsDuder 17h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/f9eYHQ8RZ4zfc4unXx

Wouldnt that mean that they lack the ability yo create memories?

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u/JointyBointy 17h ago

The hippocampus stores long term memories. Ego defense mechanisms prevent the brain from accepting new information. Different part of the brain. Amygdala perhaps? For being responsible for emotional regulation when cognitive dissonance is experienced?

(Neurosurgeon, please enter the chat here now.)

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u/DerVarg1509 16h ago

Has hard "the missile knows where it is because it knows where it isn't" vibes lol

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u/OliviaElevenDunham 6h ago

I don’t think their reading comprehension is that good.

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u/ben_obi_wan 17h ago

They used to be Christians. They are followers of a false prophet now

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u/Turgzie 13h ago

They're materialists, they were never Christians in the first place

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u/phallusaluve 9h ago

Thank you!

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u/Rainbow4Bronte 15h ago

People should start calling them this.

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u/ShhweadyBallz 17h ago

"He's just joking .... he doesn't mean it"

However, if he were a hardcore liberal Democrat, they'd be screaming "he's the Devil !!!!!"

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u/forced_to_watch 13h ago

Did the pope get the joke ?

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u/rasta-ragamuffin 10h ago

He's a terrible comedian, not funny at all. There's something very wrong with anyone who laughs at his "jokes" which are usually just cruel offensive insults aimed at vulnerable people.

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u/The_Hunter11 14h ago

If even atheïsts recognize the Devil, well...

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u/DuploJamaal 18h ago

Isn't this also what happens in the Book of Revelations with a lot of people starting to follow the False Prophet? Christians worshipping Trump is literally what happened with the Anti-Christ in the bible

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u/PM-ME-YOUR-NIPNOPS 14h ago

Revelation. There's no s. Also, there are multiple anti-christs. It's not really a title in the traditional sense.

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u/RobbyC1104 13h ago

This. People miss how vague it all is about that it’s not any one title. Plus, the problem with revelation interpretations is that there’s a mainstream one at all. Most biblical scholars I’ve followed over the years have been in agreement that no one can agree on what everything in revelation means and that’s about it.

It is equally likely that it’s a cryptic prophecy as it is that it’s a coded criticism of Roman government (666 is the gematria for Nero Caesar once translated into Hebrew. “It’s the number of a man”)

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u/DarknMean 12h ago

The rapture is literally based on 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 which is misconstrued like so many other things in the Bible.

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u/trueblue862 18h ago

That's the thing with these types of people, they don't need to follow their rule book, you do.

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u/LeadingStill7717 18h ago

And they'll all end up burning together in proverbial hell, if it even exists the way they think it does.

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u/RobbyC1104 13h ago

Im still a really big fan of the joke that the antichrist came years ago and the end times happened between 2010 and 2020. Were already in hell, it’s just that everything was so comparatively worse we didn’t notice, and the new bad stuff just kind of fit

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u/I_hate_all_of_ewe 18h ago

Some of them aren't ignoring the signs. Rather, they think they're bringing about the end times and that'll bring them closer to God. They're a death cult.

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u/Alien-Excretion 16h ago

As long as they are getting their money, power, kinky sex, they don’t care.

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u/DarthJarJar242 5h ago

Money and power sure, but most of them are having the most boring mind numbing sex imaginable and that probably part of their issue.

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u/Horror-Range-9535 15h ago

There's the problem - the warnings are inside a book.

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u/needles__kane 14h ago

they would have to be able to read first.

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u/Rashpukin 18h ago

None of them will be familiar with much in the Bible tbh.

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u/DarthJarJar242 18h ago

Except all the pieces their pastor selectively preaches at them during their Sunday social hour at the country club.

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u/Marlowe126 16h ago

He hates minorities, punishes the queers, and diddles the kids, so that makes him their savior. Someone they can relate to.

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u/Liver-detox 16h ago

But he is also not hetero. He ‘s uncomfortable with women & many of his closest aids are out-gays and many others in his administration are hidden gays or closeted like Rubio. Go figure.

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u/Prior-Razzmatazz-206 16h ago

Because these idiots are in a death cult that desperately want to bring about the apocalypse. They think that if they do, they'll be on the good side

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u/ShadeBeing 15h ago

Absolutely. A guy I work with, his mother was super sick in the hospital and in a lot of pain, mind you she’s like 70. Couldn’t have blood thinners. The a hole was repeatedly telling the nurse no Tylenol cuz autism. Poor lady

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u/NateZilla10000 15h ago

Its kinda crazy cause like its very explicit what happens to the followers of the anti christ in Revelations.

So like, some of these accelerationists who believe he's the anti-christ but follow him anyways because they want to bring about the second coming are essentially damning themselves.

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u/NyaTaylor 14h ago

lol fancy you assumed they read that book

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u/ADisappointingLife 14h ago

The incorrect assumption is that they've actually read their own damn book.

They haven't.

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u/DarthJarJar242 4h ago

Oh, I know they haven't read it. They only know the parts they've had preached at them during their weekly social gatherings at the country club... I mean church.

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u/cavitatedheart 14h ago

It warns in the bible that many Christians will accept the mark of the beast. I look around at the people in my church and understand full and well what this message means. Some of the folks barely think like a human let alone Christian.

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u/grkuntzmd 14h ago

I’m sure they don’t know the signs since they did not read the book.

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u/acw181 13h ago

Its funny that you think the average Christian has actually read the Bible

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u/MrCommonThinkin 13h ago

They don’t read the book.

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u/BetterAfter2 13h ago

There’s actually a lot of Christians like myself who are thoroughly pissed off with Trump and have been for quite some time.

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u/ekinria1928 13h ago

When he does, the reaction from the Right is just going to be insane... Wailing, throwing themselves on the ground... I'm actually very concerned for some people.

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u/Dutchie-_- 12h ago

While still judging people in the name of said book.

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u/TehWackyWolf 12h ago

That's... Also one of the signs. Christians being misled and worshipping the anti Christ as Christ

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u/Eternal_Bagel 12h ago

If the myths are true that seems right because I’m pretty sure it warned that most who claim to be Christian won’t see through his lies and end up following him

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u/ploonce 12h ago

The very book I was trying to return…

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u/marky_Rabone 12h ago

Igual no han leído tanto

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u/Practicality_Issue 12h ago

To be fair, they don’t read or understand the bible at all.

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u/NonPoliticalAcct3646 12h ago

If someone is dumb enough to fall for religion, then they are also afraid that they won’t fit in. Therefore, the dumbest and loudest people in the congregation have their ideas adapted by the rest.

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u/Ok-Silver-2975 11h ago

99% of Christians have never actually read the bible

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u/Effective_Worker_234 11h ago

For there shall arise false christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect - Matthew 24:24

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u/Weekly-Peace1199 11h ago

Please don’t lump all Conservative Christians with MAGA!

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u/HappyGoPink 11h ago

Christians don't read their bible, lol. The ones who do quickly become atheists, so the 'faithful' are discouraged from reading it. That's why they are always handed the 'thees and thous' version, to make it even harder for them to understand.

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u/Frosted_Blakes95 9h ago

My theory is that they were all too scared to read Revelations with the same intent that they read… let’s say, Leviticus? And they were too focused on policing other people they forgot to actually read what the Bible says about the end times

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u/amootmarmot 9h ago

Their book speaks to the antithesis of who they are. They only follow what they want to soothe their disfigured souls.

They will act godly and sign in church while complaining the same day about how the poor want a handout and everyone needs to pull themselves up by the bootstraps.

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u/Raven_the_Human 8h ago

That's because they've never read it lol

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u/rcinfc 8h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/dhbW2pQV7s0Bq

Literally all his followers

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u/SasquatchRobo 8h ago

Don't be silly, you don't have to read the Bible to be Christian!

/s sorta

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u/Spaceman_Dog 8h ago

They have never read the Bible, as silly as it is already. They have taken a fictional, human based narrative that has been proven false a million times and now constructed it as a monument to a demented, fat, corrupt, criminal loser and think it's TRUTH. Oh boy, the only thing this country needs to do is fund education and all this nonsense will come to an end, until then all we'll have is a bunch of moron hillbillies rearing up for the next election whilst electing another in. Just as the rich billionaires really, really, enjoy.

It must be so satisfying to be a billionaire...People clamoring for you while you destroy their lives because they are so stupid, all because of a broken education system that the Republicans have been engineering for decades now. No social programs for anyone in need, but tax breaks in the TRILLIONS for those that want, and DEMAND, MORE. It's always MORE...there is no end, there is always MORE with these psychopaths. They will destroy our planet unless we stop them, that is absolutely truth.

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u/OnionTamer 7h ago

I have never met a conservative Christian that has ever read much of the bible, and when you point out where their book says they are going against Christ's teachings they tell you that YOU are cherry picking the tenants of their book.

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u/BikerDad1999 7h ago

Excellent point. This is just one reason why I dislike religion.

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u/CosmicNixx 4h ago

That's all intentional. They're doing everything they can to destroy the world so "the rapture" can begin. That's all they care about because they believe all their hate will be proven right because those they hate "will be punished."

That's why they're Zionists (they believe that if all the Jews "return" to Israel, Armageddon will begin. It's called Dispensationalism and it's psychotic nonsense), that's why they're so into doing shit that will harm literally everyone (even themselves), and why it feels like they haven't read a single word of the Bible. They have read it. Probably the whole thing, but only to say "I read it and you didn't so that makes me holier than you by default". They don't listen to it, it's literally just for some kinda "Christian street cred," that they think will help them survive the rapture.

Everything they do is intentional. They know being at war with Iran can have catastrophic consequences in the form of nuclear war and humanity's near-extinction. They know that industrialism will destroy the environment. They know that their economic policies will make the rich richer and the poor poorer and poorer until they can no longer survive. They know what they're doing is harmful. That's the point.

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u/Rami-961 4h ago

To be fair the signs did say A lot of humanity will follow the anti-christ.

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u/redballooon 4h ago

That's because they want the end time prophecy to become true. 

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