This Must Be Heaven

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In the last week or so my Facebook feed has been bombarded with posts and memes of a religious nature. Every other one is of this sort. Most are Evangelical though some are evidently Roman Catholic, what with Jesus and his mom with their hearts pinned to their blouses. All of them inform me in the schmaltziest of terms how wonderful Jesus/God/Heaven is. Just about every one is followed by comments consisting single word: Amen! Some have a ‘Praise Jesus’ and occasionally there’s profound philosophical insight (kidding).

Last time my FB was invaded, about six months ago, I had to go into each post separately to blocked them. For a while FB complied. Now that my period of grace (pun intended) is over, they’re back with a righteous vengeance. Before I block them all over again, I’d like to share one with you. Its picture is at the top of this post. Some bright-spark has given it the title First Moments in Heaven, which is patently not what it’s called; not even the nuttiest fantasist would include gravestones in heaven. None of the undiscerning commenters seemed to have spotted their inclusion. Having had this pile of old cobblers dumped on my FB page, I felt obliged to point out the problem. As if a single drooling commenter cared. Here’s a sample of what they went on to say:

I despair that this saccharine banality is the best many Christians have to offer. It really can’t be argued with; people who enthuse over such slush are immune to reflection, reason and critical thinking. A staggering 13,000 of them reposted the damn thing.

The picture evidently depicts the general resurrection here on Earth and, as I thought when I first saw it, is a Jehovah’s Witness creation, originating in a Watchtower magazine. Not a single one of the thousands of born-again geniuses who orgasmed over the picture noticed it was the product of a sect they detest. Again, I felt compelled to alert them to the fact.

Now to block the lot of them. Amen! Praise Jesus!

 

30 thoughts on “This Must Be Heaven”

  1. I’ve no idea what’s after death. According to Jesus, heaven (God’s kingdom) is on earth, here and now. So I live the spirit of God-with-us. I walk with him through life’s circumstances. When people at church express hope for the coming world, I gently stress that we’re already living in the kingdom of heaven. Of course, I may be wrong.

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    • Of course you’re wrong. Have you seen the state of the world? How can you think it’s God’s wonderful kingdom?

      In any case, where does Jesus say God’s kingdom is ‘on earth here and now’? One cultist – ‘Luke’ – claims it’s ‘among you’, meaning God knows what, while others, and Paul, say it won’t happen till Jesus descends from heaven.

      Like them, you’re inventing your own little delusion, entirely wthin your own head, one piece at a time.

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      • Exactly! The kingdom of heaven/God on earth rivals the state of our world. It’s a spiritual kingdom led by the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth of God. I believe anyone with spirit can join.

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      • There are surely discrepancies and exaggerations, especially the OT. However, since I believe God is behind it I try to sift through it to make sense of Jesus’s teachings and doings.

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      • As a laymen how do sift the wheat from the chaff? In fact, (I presume) with no formal training why do not consider there may be nothing but chaff?

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      • Well Ark, I’m certainly running into a lot more chaff talking to this crew! You’re right, I’m not trained in anything bible. I simply try to make sense of everyday stuff without all the supernatural hoopla. Jesus seemed like a regular guy, yet connected with God. I think that was his biggest attraction point. Plus, he purportedly battled religion.

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      • I think you’ll find God is very much a part of the ‘supernatural hoopla’. You choosing to keep that bit while abandoning the rest?

        Ironic too that Jesus purportedly battled religion only to become one himself. He didn’t see that coming.

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      • The “Christian” view of Jesus is so outlandish it’s sometimes difficult to understand the number of people who actually accept it.

        I doubt any believer considers the man himself. Instead, they’re too busy defending Paul’s “vision.”

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      • In my view, God doesn’t work supernaturally. For example, Jesus taught his disciples that here-and-now, ‘God’s kingdom and will is to be on earth.’ God-with-us in flesh and blood.

        I think he did see it coming in that the Jews wanted a physical Messiah ben David in lieu of returning to and sharing life with God. Moses and the prophets wrestled with the same problem.

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      • In your view… you think… What about the evidence?
        You imagining God in your head doesn’t mean he somehow exists in reality. God has always been conceived as existing in, and as part of, the supernatural (in Heaven usually).
        Can you provide any evidence, outside your nice fuzzy feelings, that he has an existence in reality?

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      • So why not believe in Allah or Vishnu or Zeus? I’ll tell you why: because there’s no evidence they exist. So why persist with belief in YHWH when there is no evidence for him either?

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      • Of course! I think that’s the whole idea- see what makes sense and what doesn’t. That God ordered genocide etc doesn’t.

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      • Arnold: I think that’s the whole idea- see what makes sense and what doesn’t. That God ordered genocide etc doesn’t.

        Then you don’t understand the god of the Bible. At all.

        One of the roles of gods in the ancient near east was to send their people to war. Kings would call in their prophets, priests and advisors and tell them he’s thinking of invading the neighbors and taking their shit. The prophets, priests and advisors would consult the gods and the gods would give a thumbs up or down.

        Impressive statements would be made about how the neighbors were godless, vial, sinners and the gods had ordered their destruction. Often child sacrifice was one of the things the neighbors were accused of justifying their destruction. (See also: the god of the Bible, modern Republicans in the U.S.)

        The proto-Hebrews chose El as their main god. The father of all the other gods, El was powerful but fatherly and wise. But the Hebrews were geographically vulnerable. To the Northeast was Assyria/Babylon. To the Southwest was Egypt. And the Hebrews were constantly being conquered and occupied by one or the other.

        Over time the Hebrews decided they needed a storm/war god as their main god. They imported one from neighbors to their Southeast – Yahweh. Yahweh was a fierce storm/war god much like Ba’al. (Fun fact: some of the psalms written about Yahweh have been found in earlier writings, but written to Ba’al. The Hebrews just swapped out the names.)

        El, Yahweh, and Ba’al were combined into one super god with the violent qualities the Hebrews wanted in a supreme god.

        The promised Messiah would be the ultimate expression of this god — a warrior king who would gather all the Hebrew tribes and conquer the world!

        When Jesus failed to be this Messiah, the Christians created a kinder, gentler Jesus. BUT with the promise that he’d be the violent warrior king Messiah on his next visit. Revelation promises us rivers of blood at his second coming as he fucks up the unbelievers.

        The fact, Arnold, that you have created some New Age version of your imaginary friend doesn’t change the fact that genocidal is exactly the type of god that YahwehJesusGhost is.

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      • You’re precisely right, I don’t at all understand the god of the bible. And I’m not creating anyone- I’m expanding my lifelong opinion.

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      • Arnold: I’m not creating anyone- I’m expanding my lifelong opinion.

        Of course you’re creating someone.

        Arnold: I think that’s the whole idea- see what makes sense and what doesn’t. That —–> God <—– ordered genocide etc doesn’t.

        Here you are using “God” to refer to two different characters.

        1 – The God character in the Bible — created by proto-Canaanites and proto-Hebrews — who absolutely would order genocide.

        2 – Your imagined version of God — who would not.

        You should consider changing the name of your imaginary friend. Then you wouldn’t tend to conflate the two. Maybe “Bob”? Bob is a great name for an imaginary friend.

        We know GodBob is an imaginary friend because he doesn’t exist anywhere except in your mind. Real friends show up for bowling night. GodBob does not.

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      • Tell that to the children who died in the flood. Tell that to Lot’s wife. Tell that to the slaughtered of Revelation. Tell that to those who don’t use the Bible. Tell that to the many who stood in line when the loaves and fishes ran out.

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    • According to the JW’s Arnold, you are likely going to be annihilated. Unless of course you are a virgin male and chosen to be one of the 144,000. The JW will gently press back. Unless the lion and the sheep lie down in peace with one another, you aren’t in the new kingdom. Of course, they could be wrong.

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