What's being written.......

Praying priorities
January 13, 2005

Governors and presidents seem to feel a need to declare a day or a year of prayer. It is apparent that they mean ''Christian Prayer.'' They do not intend to encourage any other religion to get rewards from prayer. They also issue proclamations concerning reading the Christian Bible, but never recommend that people read any other ''sacred book'' of any other religion. In other words, they are establishing fundamentalist religion by executive orders and legislative acts strongly commending Christian slogans, icons, symbols and external items to be placed in all possible public areas.

All religions believe theirs is the true religion, as their God is the only true God. Christianity is no different in that belief. However, Christianity differs in that it belittles all other religions. Christians are atheists toward all religions but their own. They want to start by having everybody pray to their God. Their God will be pleased at their efforts that he will bring on the Apocalypse for them, and True Believers will go to a non-specific place for harpsichordists, while Non-believers will go to a very nasty place where they will eternally regret not listening to Billy Graham or Jerry Falwell.

Sadly, people tell me that they will pray for me. Please don't pray for me. Pray for the end of the war in Iraq. Pray for a cure for aids. Pray for the children being sexually abused and beaten. Pray for no more hunger in the world.

Bob Foley
Abilene

No rapture
January 13, 2005

I would like to take a moment and address the letter sent by Lyndon Gathright titled, ''Not the last disaster.'' Mr. Gathright has his ''facts'' wrong in several instances. First of all, this tsunami is not the ''deadliest disaster in history, thus far.'' There have been several disasters that have been worse in the past. An earthquake struck China, and an estimated 830,000 people are believed to have perished. What about the global flood in the days of Noah? Some have estimated the Earth's population at that time to have been several million, and others have even estimated that the population could have been between 1 and 5 billion. Yet, all of these perished except for eight souls (1 Peter 3:20).

Not only does Mr. Gathright have his facts wrongs about disasters, his own assertions about the ''Rapture'' are disastrous in themselves. You can search the Bible from cover to cover, and you will not find the word ''rapture'' anywhere. Also, we need only to read the opening words of Revelation to understand that John was writing about events that would transpire in their lifetime, and not ours. ''The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass ...'' (Revelation 1:1).

The truth is that the doctrine of the ''rapture'' is not taught in the Bible. It is the figment of man's overactive imagination.

Kerry Clark
Abilene

source:
http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_letters_editor/0,1874,ABIL_7984,00.html