Religion is a mental illness. Not adjacent, similar to, nearby, but full-on delusion.

And also by far the greatest threat humanity is facing.

We voted for Trump to DESTROY the WORLD!

-Republicans LITERALLY!

We can just throw them in fire if they want.

Can we rapture them all up so I can get some peace and quiet?

People who believe in prophesied apocalyptic events should not be in positions of power, because they have a tendency to try to make those prophesies self-fulfilling.

We need separation of church and state, but we also need ways to establish an expectation that religious institutions will at least not promote beliefs that directly go against established science and reason.

This is part of JD Vance and Peter Thiel's theological beliefs. They're "Rad Trads" - as is Steve Bannon. A radical group of extremist Catholics who are trying to destroy the world as they believe only if there's an apocalypse will Jesus return.

They should be treated as Religious Extremists, and terrorists, and everyone including the Pope should vocally condemn them.

I love running into these people. Hell isn’t scriptural and it’s easy to bring the receipts. They are cultists, so you won’t change their mind, but they will never forget you or how you knew their fake religion better than they did. I always hope that a seed planted in their diseased minds eventually sprouts, but it’s still fun to give them a solid intellectual wallop.

My dad is (was?) one of these. The dissonance was one of the reasons I rejected religion - their Bible tells them to be good stewards, but when asked why he supports stuff that harms the environment my dad's excuse was that the world was ending soon and only those who didn't get raptured would even be impacted by it.

I checked, the Bible doesn't contain some "shit on the environment if the world is ending soon" clause or exception.

The "end times" have been coming for 2,000 years now. You'd think after the first 500 or so they would have started reevaluating their prophecies... But religion is a helluva drug.

Really have to wonder why these people can't just you know go find a compound somewhere and make some special Kool-Aid or something. Why do they got to drag the rest of us into it?

Because they're a death cult.

they should get a jump start and blow their brains out.

Do these clowns not understand that by wishing trump start their armageddon that it makes him the antichrist?

They are following and encouraging the antichrist?

So yeah, y’all talibangelicals going to your hell.

This guy literally can't do anything wrong

Makes everything great -> obviously amazing leader

Fucks everything up -> this guy will save us from the fucked up world

Fuck religion

Well, I would not object to those assholes getting raptured any minute now. Less mess and more housing available.

They have been saying that long before I was born, and will say that long after I'm dead.

Of course they are delighted, they're deluded

Goddamn. Can't this cult just Jonestown themselves already? Seems like the best case scenario for all parties involved.

As someone who grew up with parents who believed the rapture was constantly about to happen, this is really not newsworthy at all. The predicted date shifts a couple of years each time another one passes by without anything happening. The most original I thought was some date in 1998, because that's 3 times 666. But really, it's just a random number from some swindler, usually.

They’ve been saying the end times are coming since before I was born.

I wouldn't mind them having their Apocalypse, provided it is only shared amongst themselves. The rest of us have our own things to do.

Is that a trans flag back in there??

Last time the rapture was no fun...it is only fun if they fuck shit up and take everyone with them...

Funny thing is I grew up evangelical and Trump fits their description of the anti christ down to the letter. Maybe that’s why they love him? A masochistic religious love for the one they know is evil

Marshall Applewhite bullshit.

You know the funny thing is there's actually a biblical calculation that puts the end of the world around 204X that several well known Christian Theoloegians calculated including Isaac Newton.

It seems odd to me that fanatics ignore this prediction and insist on accelerating the end times or claim that the rapture is tomorrow.

The other funny thing is all the insane level of violence and corruption that both Christian and Islamic eschatologies warn about in great detail.

If you're familiar with either source, the irony is astounding. People read a big fat warning about the end times and then decided "We can accelerate this and make it into heaven by playing the explicitly evil guys in this big fat warning".

Number of "prophecy" end of the world claims that have been: countless
Number of "prophecy" end of the world claims that have been correct: zero

Quack idiots gonna do quack idiot things, and there's usually a few quack idiots who stand to gain a LOT by convincing the other quack idiots to do things

Doesn't the persecution of the innocent bring about the rapture?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events

My personal favourite is the woman whose chicken laid eggs with "Christ is coming" etched on them. Turned out she was writing on the eggs herself and pushing them back up the chicken's bottom.

I love this. I especially love that you can bet on this now, too. It's the only good thing PolyMarket has ever done is allow betting on "Jesus will return in 2026"

However, practically, Trump is placating a large voting base and source of money ahead of the midterms. Churches can do what a bunch of MAGA influencers can't do - convince people it's God's plan for them to pay $5 a gallon for gas. He needs them, this is what they wanted. It's purely transactional.

I mean... Trump kind of fits the bill as the false prophet

May 21, 2011 was supposed to be the rapture or end of the world or whatever. I remember this because it was also my wedding day. Lived outside DC at the time and there were all these people holding signs and wearing shirts about it. We joked about getting a few for my bachelor party ("ha ha the world is ending on that day ... FOR HIM!"). Never did it. But I had a great wedding.