Post by mongoose on May 5, 2008 0:39:30 GMT -5
This has come up in a number of discussions and I've spent some time - not researching it in-depth, but pondering - what Christians really ought to do in the case of the great tribulation. I'm not talking about the rapture and when it occurs, as I doubt that'll be the first thing on the minds of those being persecuted (although I guess it could be). So, whether the rapture is waiting to happen, and Christians are being persecuted, or it already happened, and people converted to Christianity and are being persecuted, what would they do?
Obviously I can't really say what most people would do, or even what y'all would do, which is why this is a story for more than just me to write. I'll create a thread for it, as the new collaborative fiction topic suggests, and see where it goes.
the setting will be, at least for my first post, where I am: Anchorage, AK, when the events prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24 begin (or shortly thereafter). Of course, the fallout from those events would hit different cities, peoples, etc. at different times and in different ways, and different Christians will react differently. So there's plenty of room for character and plot development within the scenario. Interpretation of end times events is also somewhat ambiguous, so we could go a lot of ways with that, but I would suggest leaving major events like the rapture, the millennial reign, and Armageddon out of this particular story. Although the characters might argue amongst themselves about what's occurring around them, I'd rather we not get into an OOC debate in here.
So, the abomination that makes desolate has just been set up in the temple. Presumably that's either the Jewish temple (assuming they re-build it sometime between now and then) 0r some other significant Jewish or Christian place of worship. Martial law is declared by the leader of the one remaining super-power, who essentially leads the world. Christian leaders and anyone who publicly declares their faith in Christ, be it on the street, radio, television, the web, in churches or in print publications has long since been identified by the FBI. Now, with the declaration of martial law, a special "Tolerance Task Force" of the FBI, in cooperation with the National Guard, starts going around rounding up all "non tolerants," or practitioners of exclusive religions including Christianity and Islam. But Christians are targeted above all.
It's too early to tell what will be done with the Christians. Concentration camps? Prison? Death? Torture? Beatings and releases? Many people in the U.S. don't appreciate the martial law, and riots break out. Militias take up arms and actually begin to fight back, just because of the infringement on their rights and freedoms. Cults form from especially exclusive Christian groups, and barricade themselves in fortified compounds. Stores are ran-sacked in some places, utilities cut off in others, and people are moved to refugee camps for one reason or other, many of them going on their own, hoping to escape the chaos where they were.
Where are our characters in all this? Do they hide in their basements with toilet paper, spam, and shotguns? Do they flee to the hills? Do they gather in church and pray? Do they stand up and preach, and go to jail?
Obviously I can't really say what most people would do, or even what y'all would do, which is why this is a story for more than just me to write. I'll create a thread for it, as the new collaborative fiction topic suggests, and see where it goes.
the setting will be, at least for my first post, where I am: Anchorage, AK, when the events prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24 begin (or shortly thereafter). Of course, the fallout from those events would hit different cities, peoples, etc. at different times and in different ways, and different Christians will react differently. So there's plenty of room for character and plot development within the scenario. Interpretation of end times events is also somewhat ambiguous, so we could go a lot of ways with that, but I would suggest leaving major events like the rapture, the millennial reign, and Armageddon out of this particular story. Although the characters might argue amongst themselves about what's occurring around them, I'd rather we not get into an OOC debate in here.
So, the abomination that makes desolate has just been set up in the temple. Presumably that's either the Jewish temple (assuming they re-build it sometime between now and then) 0r some other significant Jewish or Christian place of worship. Martial law is declared by the leader of the one remaining super-power, who essentially leads the world. Christian leaders and anyone who publicly declares their faith in Christ, be it on the street, radio, television, the web, in churches or in print publications has long since been identified by the FBI. Now, with the declaration of martial law, a special "Tolerance Task Force" of the FBI, in cooperation with the National Guard, starts going around rounding up all "non tolerants," or practitioners of exclusive religions including Christianity and Islam. But Christians are targeted above all.
It's too early to tell what will be done with the Christians. Concentration camps? Prison? Death? Torture? Beatings and releases? Many people in the U.S. don't appreciate the martial law, and riots break out. Militias take up arms and actually begin to fight back, just because of the infringement on their rights and freedoms. Cults form from especially exclusive Christian groups, and barricade themselves in fortified compounds. Stores are ran-sacked in some places, utilities cut off in others, and people are moved to refugee camps for one reason or other, many of them going on their own, hoping to escape the chaos where they were.
Where are our characters in all this? Do they hide in their basements with toilet paper, spam, and shotguns? Do they flee to the hills? Do they gather in church and pray? Do they stand up and preach, and go to jail?