I agree with gaiagirl. Whoever wrote the apocalyptic book of Revelation - whose author is commonly referred to as "John" - was most definitely writing in response to the events and expectations of his first-century era. It's ludicrously infantile to apply these "prophecies" to our twenty-first century. After all, these prophecies failed in the first century A.D. There's absolutely no reason at all to believe that they will be valid for our era.
armaggedon
by vat152 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Honesty
Billy Bob Thornton knows...
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WTWizard
There is another sense of Armageddon. Armageddon is supposed to be the final war between good and evil. As such, it is not absolutely necessary that people need to die.
This could play out like this: Suppose we get a president that has zero tolerance for corruption. He decides that the regulatory agencies are in people's way, and that the free market is regulation enough. All those agencies are done away with, and so is the Fed. That saves trillions in tax dollars, and our taxes plummet on the spot. This puts much-needed stimulus into the economy.
Meanwhile, the big companies are forced to reform. The big drug companies are suddenly up against honest companies that provide real cures, often with vitamins and herbs expertly applied. Oil companies now have to compete with new free-energy technology. Radio stations now have competition in that anyone can start a little radio station that could become a big one. TV networks also have competition. The space program is privatized, and the space shuttle is junked because someone comes up with a much better one and we colonize Mars and head to all the other planets. Food production is opened up--the big food companies have to take the monosodium glutamate and the Neotame out of the food or go belly-up when an honest start-up produces better products. And so on.
The effects are going to be profound, if this happens. The free market will now create jobs that stimulate people. No longer will people need to take drugs or commit "kick crimes". Crimes committed out of destitution will also disappear, as it will take all of five minutes to start a business and more time to research and develop it to where you can become super-rich. Schools will start teaching children in ways that stimulate them to do more than fly paper airplanes and eat candy.
All of this will reduce the needs for medication. It will also make streets safer. If you are thrilled in learning, you are not going to be ADD or ADHD--nor are you likely to start smoking weed or robbing banks and stores (or people). Crime will plummet, and for the first time, people will actually be free. Eventually (sooner than later), the medical industry less the FDA will cure all disease and make people live forever in perfect health. At which time, evil will have been vanquished--all without a single human having to die. True, some will have to make drastic changes--but only those that are determined to drag mankind down (of which none need remain) will have to be cut off. And Jehovah will not get a damn bit of credit for it--it will be man's efforts.
On the other hand, evil could win. If we blow up the world, render the planet unusable, or allow our leaders to get absolute control of us, we either die or suffer totally unbearable stagnation. We will then enter the Second Dark Ages, which this time will last forever. Life will end (or be so stagnant that it might as well end). Again, Jehovah will not get involved--He will just sit there and let it happen, probably getting praise from one small group of witlesses while everyone else suffers. But no good will come out of it, since even that small group will ultimately die.
Hopefully, a few good people will get in power. I hope those who misuse the power (note: Tim Couch, who is trying to make it illegal to post without a real name for trolls to physically track down, needs to be impeached or have his bid for re-election torpedoed for that action) end up having their careers as politicians cut short. And, I would like to see a zero tolerance of cults that exploit people for their own nefarious purposes, often in the name of God. (And especially those that make leaving next to impossible.) Maybe that way we can have Armageddon without mass loss of life, and without Jehovah getting any credit.
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SPAZnik
hey vat,
I've been through several "armageddons" in my life and every time it was followed by "paradise".
SPAZ
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Dagney
Scripturally, there is no war called "armaggedon." It's a place.
That's what somebody told me on another board when I asked a similar question. IMHO, it is a manmade fantasy just like a "paradise earth" where mankind will "grow to perfection." All not scripturally stated as such.
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kurtbethel
Armageddon as described in Revelation is Har Megiddo, the Valley of Megiddo. In the narrative armies gather together to fight against a returned Christ and they are wiped out. The worldwide destruction fantasy in the Revelation Climax book is a feverish delusion that would be impossible to glean from reading the original account.
You could think of Armageddon as a metaphor for when you get to the end of your life, what you experience at death. The experience you have will be based on what you have been indoctrinated with, what you have learned, your character and actions during life. You may look back and realize you had a wasted life full of regrets or it could be you had a fruitful one, but in any case there is no turning back. -
potentialJWconvertswife
WT, you have quite an imagination. I don't think it could happen as you've laid out, though. Ineresting takes from Spaz and Kurt...