Is this the end?

Faith & Science Conversation
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In our present culture in America we don’t discuss death. It is taboo. It is not something that is welcome in polite conversation.

George Costanza had no fear:

Ben: No, I feel great for 85.
George: You know, the average life span for an American male is like, 72. You’re really… kinda pushing the envelope there.
Ben: I’m not afraid of dying. I never think about it.
George: You don’t? Boy, I think about it a lot. I think about it at my age. Imagine how much I’ll be thinking about it at your age. All I’ll do is keep thinking about it until it drives me insane…
Ben: I’m grateful for every moment I have.
George: Grateful? How can you be grateful when you’re so close to the end? When you know that any second… Poof! Bamm-o! It can all be over. I mean you’re not stupid, you can read the handwriting on the wall. It’s a matter of simple arithmetic, for Gods sake.
Ben: I guess I just don’t care.
George: What are you talking about? How can you sit there and look me in the eye and tell that me you’re not worried?! Don’t you have any sense?!! Don’t you have a brain!? Are you so completely senile that you don’t know what you’re talking about anymore?! [Ben gets up] Wait a second, where are you going?
Ben: Life’s too short to waste on you.
George: Wait a minute, please.
Ben: Get out of my way.
George: But Mr. Cantwell, you… You owe me for the soup.

Old Georgie boy knew how to broach the subject with exquisite senisitivity and grace, didn’t he?

We don’t like the topic of death and we despise any mention of hell.

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For those who believe, our death has already taken place in our union with Jesus on His cross. We now have eternal life abiding in us by being one spirit with Christ.
Where oh death is thy sting, where oh grave is thy victory. Christ has conquered both spiritual death and the grave for us. Oh how vast is the mercy and grace of God shown to us in the cross of Christ.

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What you have done wrong is, you have an expectation that the blind leaders wont lead their blind followers into a ditch. But we can pray that God will give sight to them, Jesus did that a lot.

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I thought about it a lot as a kid and on through young adulthood. Now? Not so much. I think more about how I can work around little age related glitches. Mostly I just do what matters to me and think about whatever strikes me as thought provoking. I agree with Ben though I’m not that old.

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The problem is many people are not doing all they can to stop the virus. The problem is that a significant minority, maybe some 25% of the people in the US refuse to be vaccinated. If some people are afraid of the vaccine, if some people are unwilling to accept God’s blessing of protective masks, if some people do not care if they get sick, infect others, and become a burden to the health system, that is sad, but please do not try to shift the blame for this plague to the backs of the responsible, faithful, rational majority who are trying to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Covid-19 did not bring chaos, chaos was already here. It was created and encouraged by the political leadership of the USA. If you want to point the finger of blame start right here. What kind of leader does Not express sympathy for those who are sick and the families of the deceased in the midst of a pandemic.

Today it seems that people are trusting in their politics to save them. They have more faith in conspiracy theories than in God. They had better wake up or they will be shocked when the Last Trumpet blows and it will not be Donald

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Maybe, if I had a clue about where this came from. Ralph you certainly like to drop random quotes on the forum with no context and usually no connection to the OP.

Not in the hellfire and brimstone church I attended. It was frequently mentioned with great relish.

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291

More Than 40 Million Acres of Land Have Burned in Siberia

Russia has seen an increasing severity of wildfires in recent years due to rising summer temperatures and a historic drought

A photo of a small town in Russia. Its skies glowing an eerie amber color as wildfires continue to rage in Yakutia.

In recent years, summer temperatures in Russia have seen numbers in the triple digits despite being one of the coldest places on Earth. (Nikolay Petrov/Associated Press)

By Elizabeth Gamillo

SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
AUGUST 16, 2021 | UPDATED: AUGUST 20, 2021

Editor’s Note, August 20, 2021: This story was updated to reflect updated fire reports from Greenpeace Russia.

As of early spring, wildfires have been surging through the taiga forest in Siberia. The region hardest hit was the Republic of Sakha in northeastern Russia. Also known as Yakutia, the area had 250 fires burning across 2,210 miles of land on July 5. By mid-July, residents of Yakutsk, the capitol of Sakha, were breathing in smoke from over 300 separate wildfires, as reported by the Siberian Times .

As of August 16, more than 40 million acres (17 million hectares) have burned, breaking a previous record—well before the fire season will end—set in 2012, according to Greenpeace Russia. One fire alone scorched an area as wide as 2.5 million acres, reports Ann M. Simmons for the Wall Street Journal . The fires are burning so intensely that vast swaths of smoke blocked sunlight. For the first time in recorded history, smoke from the fires in Siberia have drifted thousands of miles away to reach the North Pole, reports Oliver Carroll for the Independent .

The Siberian wildfires are more substantial than this season’s blazes in Greece, Turkey, the United States, and Canada combined. Local residents from Yakutia have been under a state of emergency for weeks as smoke continued to smother cities, even those that are thousands of miles away, reports the Moscow Times.

I can feel it coming in the air tonight. I can smell the smoke in the air tonight

40 MILLION ACRES LADIES AND GENTLEMAN

(About the size of Florida)

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Now who is trying to be cute?

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Why the obsession with fire?

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I’m guessing that by constantly proclaiming bad news that people who do not believe as he does will be filled with the same dread and hope as him. Just a guess of course but I find this thread as puzzling as the quixotic Ralphie himself.

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Signs of the times, Mark. Would you rather that I not express my concerns, using examples, of earth events that point to his imminent return?

A great deal is offerred about Covid and global warming.

If I am not supposed to discuss these things, let me know. Don

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I guess being told not to use “earth events” as an indication of Christ’s return doesn’t apply to you.

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Do you really read the Bible this way, as the ancients might have read the entrails of an animal? Do you believe that is the intended use of the Bible?

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@Ralphie, thank you for the article.

If you are trying to make the point that climate change could lead to the end of the end of human life, I quite agree. Many ecologists have been saying this, too.

The problem with this interpretation of history is that evangelicals utterly fail to understand it. God does not want to destroy the universe for no reason. God wants to cleanse the universe, but because it is so sick and corrupt the patient dies.

On the other hand it seems that evangelicals seem to relish the thought of the end times, because they are sure that God is punishing others and not them. I would say that the fires in Siberia are a judgment on the Russian Republic for the vast corruption of Putin & friends and their failure to care the resources of that nation. Lest we in the US feel self-satisfied, the presidency of 45 modeled itself after Mr. Putin’s in terms of corruption.

Jesus said, “Judge not others lest you be judged.” Evangelicals who judge the world seem to have failed to notice that they have made an alliance with the world to gain political power and prestige.

God don’t like Ugly. There is too much Ugly in the Evangelical Church to be pointing fingers, only repenting and seeking forgiveness from God and others, so we can work together to bring reconciliation to all if possible.

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He sure doesn’t like differences of opinion! He tried to stop me from responding to his posts.

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What! A woman with the image of a dog as an avatar? Makes you wonder if he even understands the significance of the backwards spelling of doG. We can only hope he doesn’t go on shutting doG out of his heart forever.

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We are told to observe and interpret signs of the times. Why would I say so if I didn’t mean it?

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I hope you meant to type “dog.” If not you might need new glasses.

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He judges the east and the west. I don’t want anyone to go to hell. That’s why I share these things; to make people think. At any moment, whether He returns or not, we can be called to give an account of our lives.

I’ve been to hell. It is beyond, way, way beyond the most horrible place ever.

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No disrespect intended but it certainly strikes me as an odd hermeneutics you have there. But the Christian tent is indeed large and there are many rooms therein. I’d just never been in this one before. May God find a way past your settled opinions and into heart.

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