Sat Feb 14 2026 06:08:48 AM UTC from ParanoidDelusions

I'm not a "non-believer". 

I often call myself "agnostic". But that isn't even true. Agnostics and atheists always accuse me of being a theist. I pretty much believe in Jesus - in the bible, in biblical theology. I have complete faith in the Christian doctrine. Charlie Kirk - that made me recommit in a way I haven't felt connected to my faith in at least 3 decades.

I love taunting militant atheists by stating the fact that atheism is a religion.  At least the agnostics believe that they can't be sure.  Militant atheists insist that their very strong and convicted belief in the nonexistence of God is equivalent with an absence of religion, but of course it isn't.  They have a belief and they're quite sure of it.  They even persecute non-non-believers, just like the jihadists and the global warming people do.  That's a religion.

But - I think even the Bible admits that most people, even if they hear the word, even if they believe the word - will find reasons to deny it - and I may be there. If the rapture is true, if the bible-thumping Pentecostal fire-and-brimstone evangelists are right - I'm going to be here after the rapture - as an English Protestant - going - "Well, that doesn't seem right."

Eschatology != Salvation.

You've got your pre-millennials, your post-millennials, your amillennials, and whatever else is out there ... for that matter, you've got your calvinists and your armenialists and whever else ... but here's the thing about that: none of those schools of thought deny the fundamentals of the Gospel.  All who accept Christ as their lord and savior shall be saved.  There's no such thing as "Ok, the rapture is here, but you believe in a post-tribulation eschatology so you've gotta wait another thousand years."  You are either in communion with Him or you're not.

But as a Protestant - I'll go, "Well, it is probably my lot in life to continue to suffer - and all those Southern Baptist Snake Handlers having convulsions on the floor while speaking in tongues are still cultists." 

Because that is what we do, over here as English Christians. We suffer quietly, with a very hands-off relationship with God. 

The suffering in the mainline "protestant" denominations takes a different form these days, particularly in Western nations.  I'd be more worried about bona fide apostasy than about getting freaked out by gifts of the Spirit (legitimate manifestations or otherwise).  When you see a pride flag over that Episcopal church, it might as well say "Jesus isn't welcome here."  

By the way, I don't consider myself a protestant, because that implies that the roman catholic church was legitimate in the first place.  I get into arguments with militant catholics all the time about that ... they insist that their church is one and the same with the Great Commission.  It isn't.  The roman catholic "church" is merely the latter-day Roman empire masquerading as Christianity.  (I'm happy to have a discussion breaking that down a bit if anyone is interested ... particularly with Vince Q, who stopped logging in here after he died, which really sucks.)  I tell them that "apostolic succession" is a lie, and because of that, all their other arguments become self-referential, but they get stuck in cognitive dissonance and can't finish the conversation.

Ok, there you go.  Sorry it had to wait two weeks before I had the time to answer your post with the detail and consideration it deserved.

Tue Mar 10 2026 08:16:54 AM UTC from ParanoidDelusions

I'll look for the reply I deserve in >Religion. We'll see if I agree or just think you're a superchurch Christian only it it for the rock show and coffee store in the lobby. 

Heh  :)

Well, I don't know if my church could be considered a "superchurch" but we are definitely those "evangelical" types who follow neither the Catholic nor the mainline protestant traditions.  But at 200 members we can hardly be considered a "megachurch" or even a "biggachurch".  We do have coffee but it's self-serve from a Bunn machine.  As for the band ... guilty as charged, I'm the keyboard player :)

Skipping this room and coming back later. I came here because I realized it had been a while - but now I'm feeling guilty because I started writing this thing... I'll share it somewhere else - and I'm trying to commit to spend at least an hour a day writing it. That comes easy to me, if I just do it - but if I'm on here or Facebook or out smoking a cigar and letting the dogs run around while I surf FB on my phone - I'm not writing it. I should have taken a notebook out there and worked on it in the back yard earlier. Tomorrow, I guess.