>>Where do you get this crazy notion?
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>>You don't have to answer. It's just a rhetorical question.
>>And before you ask... no I'm not a Bible thumping evengelical. :-)
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>>>>We can't let our doubts interfere with the chance for peace. It neds to stop soon. It's not just Muslims that are angry at Israel - there are "second coming" evengelical christians praying for the fall of Israel to hasten the return of the "lord". There's a bunch of people baiting the fall of Israel.
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>Jim, which evangelicals are angry at Israel and praying for Israel's fall? I'm a southern Baptist who belongs to a church with 30k members and a pastor who has been the president of the southern Baptist convention several times. You won't find a stronger proponent of Israel than Adrian Rodgers. There have always been a bunch of people wanting to drive the jews into extinction, but it has never happened, and I don't believe is possible. Anyone who claims to be a Christian, I believe, should be a proponent of Israel. Having said that, it would be nice if the Arab and the Jew could coexist peacefully. Don't look for it.

John,

I honestly don't know... here's my situation:

Over the last 20 or so years I had heard, maybe a couple of times, this idea about the Rapture and the connection with the Jews. I dismissed it as the rantings of some crazy religious sect.
But in the last 6 months or so, usually in connection with President Bush's religiosity, I've heard the same thing possibly 10 times, from apparently serious commentators. A couple of these TV "articles" even showed Prime Minister Sharon at a huge rally (in Colorado I think) where he was clearly adored and showed him addressing the crowd saying "We will win! We will win!", the commentary implying 'if only he knew why he was actually there'.

I found the whole idea very hard to believe, personally, but repeated references with the exact same detail got me thinking that there was more to the whole thing. Possibly I'm a victim of oft-repeated "information" coming to be believable. I just don't know.

So I summed it up in my mind as follows: *IF* it's in any way true it is in my mind most unChristian.

Actually, I'm anxious to have the whole notion corrected, for my own peace of mind.

Jim

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>>>SNIP
>>>Terry,
>>>
>>>I'm not at all well versed on the subject (the Rapture) but that is not my reading of the situation.
>>>I see it rather as follows:
>>>The Evangelicals have decided that they cannot trust their God to take care of things so that the Rapture can occur at it's 'scheduled' time so they have taken it upon themselves to protect Isreal at any cost. They profess a love for Israel while their motive is really only to assure their existence so that the Rapture can proceed as "prescribed".
>>>
>>>These are the self-same Evangelicals who decry abortion because it is "killing" yet NEED to be sure to have Jews around to be annihilated as the price of entry to the Rapture.
>>>
>>>This Rapture thingy is obviously far far more powerful than any drug known to man.
>>>
>>>I **think** I have the kernal of the issue correct, in which case I can only conclude that this is a brand of "Christianity" that is about as confused as the radical Muslims