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Post by WanderingOne on Feb 14, 2010 23:35:39 GMT -5
Hey all.  It is nice to "meet" you, as it were. I've been following the blog for a couple of months now and I guess it's time for me to jump in and get to know some of the other people who read here. I'm not really sure where to start, in terms of introducing myself. This shy and introverted girl has problems talking about herself even on teh internets. haha. I'm 22, from a fundamentalist, patriarchal, homeschooling (but my immediate family is not qf) Christian family. However, I've got some qf aunts and uncles and, since my extended family all live near one another and practically all homeschooled, I didn't escape the "2nd mother" duties that the oldest qf girls seem to be stuck with. I'm sure it wasn't as bad as it could have been though. I was a skirt-wearing, non-hair-cutting, good Christian girl, who wanted to make her daddy and her Heavenly Father both happy. I kissed dating goodbye (although, we never even said "hello"), tried to be a visionary daughter, and did all I could to be obedient and submissive to the will of my parents. Somehow, I was allowed to apply to, and then go to a (really, really liberal) Catholic (*gaspshockhorror*) college out of state. I'm still unsure as to how this happened. Or why. But my experiences here have led to some major changes in my life and my thinking. I'm still trying to figure most of it out, and it is, at many times terrifying and difficult. Presently, I am an atheist, attending college in the liberal state of Massachusetts where such evil things as gay marriage are legal (although, since the election of Scott Brown, this state is looking a little less blue). I'm studying philosophy; I still have almost zero knowledge of pop culture (despite the fact that I'm now a senior. ha. I spent the first two and a half years trying to preserve my fundamentalism and then the last year loosing it gradually); I think want to be in academia for the rest of my life, but that requires money for school. I feel lost and scared, having "lost my faith," but am excited at the prospect of figuring out who I am. My family...I've pretty much lost, since coming to school (although I did so with their permission and blessing). This is a huge loss, for normal people, but...even greater, I think for fundamentalists, because my world was literally my family. I lived for God, first and foremost--but that came out in my life through devotion to my parents, my grandparents...though my caring for my little cousins. When I lost my family, I lost my world. My friends here are great--but how the heck do you tell someone "hey, I grew up believing this crazy stuff and living this way"? People don't understand it, for the most part. If I tell people, I risk becoming a strange specimen to be examined. If I don't tell people, I feel like I am putting up a facade, trying to be normal when I'm really not and I have absolutely no idea how to be "normal." Some days I just want someone who understands the utter terror of waking up alone in the house, thinking everyone has been raptured, when they've all just gone outside. Some days I just want someone who understands why I don't get that reference and why it's so hard for me to talk to guys. I'm bitter and hurt because of how I was brought up, but despite this there are days when I just really want to put on a skirt, sing a hymn and have things go back to the way they were before. I guess, this is where NLQ and other blogs come in. I feel less alone. So, how's that for an introduction? |
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Post by dangermom on Feb 15, 2010 10:25:56 GMT -5
Hi! I did not grow up in that belief system, but I can certainly sympathize with the "specimen to be examined" deal. |
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Post by xara on Feb 15, 2010 11:41:38 GMT -5
Welcome WanderingOne. It sounds like you will fit right in. I am glad you found NLQ.
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Post by journey on Feb 15, 2010 11:55:42 GMT -5
((((((WanderingOne))))))
So glad you are here. What a strong person you are.
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Post by philosophia on Feb 15, 2010 12:15:37 GMT -5
Hello wanderingone! I have a daughter your age who just graduated from a public college. Her faith is intact but she has her own form of wanderlust. (traveling to foreign lands, hanging out with international students, she loves it!) She is the only one of my children who sees the extremism of our former life. She has decided to remain in her college town. I SO understand how you feel. Mine had her first "date" Saturday. She is torn between the two worlds. (She still makes herself interestingly original dresses and wears them sometimes, not just her jeans) Fortunately she enjoys being notoriously odd.  This is a wonderful place to feel accepted when no one else understands. I look forward to hearing from you more! |
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Post by Sierra on Feb 15, 2010 14:47:18 GMT -5
Welcome! It sounds like you and I have had a lot of similar experiences. I'm 23 and in grad school right now (going out on a limb with student loans and trusting myself to get a job later!). Venturing out alone is terrifying.
I, too, used to wake up in terror of the Rapture. Once my mother walked down the street to the neighbor's without telling me, and I ran screaming through the house in a panic. The car was still there, so I knew she hadn't gone to the store. I called one of her friends and received no answer. By the time I saw her walking back from the neighbor's front porch, I was near vomiting with panic.
I was afraid of thunderstorms, too, as I thought the thunderclaps might be atomic bombs going off in the distance, signaling the Tribulation and that I had missed the boat.
I, too, was allowed (grudgingly by church friends and willingly by my family) to go to a liberal arts college (mine wasn't Catholic, though!) where I experienced something wildly new: people who supported me and my ideas. Suddenly having ambition was a good thing - how delightfully confusing!
I, too, lost everyone I knew, and my relationship with my mother is dicey at best. I felt I had to cut ties with the church entirely, after a year of guilt-motivated sporadic attendance, because in their minds I knew I was nothing but an errant sheep to be dragged back to the pen. How's that for a respectful mutual relationship?
I spent a year on the internet educating myself on pop culture and listening to all the music I could find. I also went on a spree and borrowed DVD after DVD to catch up with my new college friends. But there were a lot of horrid, embarrassing, infantilising moments when I could not for the life of me understand the sexual innuendo around me or deal with the advances of boys. The good news is I think I've caught up now. It took about two years to become a normal citizen of the world. ;D
Do you mind my asking what denomination (if any) you attended? I am curious because I also had the 'holiness' dress requirements in William Branham's "Message of the Hour." It surprises me now to think back on how Nancy Campbell was considered "too liberal" by my church because she cut her hair.
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Post by WanderingOne on Feb 15, 2010 23:31:38 GMT -5
Thanks for the welcomes. Philosophia, it's good to know I'm not the only one! It's so hard to want to be a part of the "normal" world...and yet be kind of scared of it still--not to mention unsure of how to navigate it. And, at the same time, to really really love parts of that "other world," while recognizing how crazy and messed up it is and wanting nothing to do with that. Hope your daughter had fun on her date. Sierra, I just finished applying to some grad programs (aaaand depleted my meager savings on application fees); I'm looking for jobs to apply to if that doesn't work out. We'll see what happens! Being left behind after the rapture has to have been my greatest fear. I'm in a religious studies seminar on apocalypticism throughout history right now and, until class about a week ago, it never dawned on me that that was not "normal." To think that a person could go through life and not worry that they'd been left to face the tribulation! I can't imagine that. I've been excommunicated from my family's church. Even though I don't believe anymore, it makes me really sad to know I can't be a part of that community anymore. It sucks that I spent so much of my life giving and giving and giving to these people and now I don't talk to them at all anymore. aaah! yes, sexual inuendo tends to go right over my head, lol. But at the same time, I have all these silly rules in my head--like, if i eat a banana, cut it, using a fork and knife--to protect my brothers, so that they don't stumble. I have been trained to not think about sex, by constantly think about it.  Well, we were always strict Calvinists, but we attended a few different churches: first an independent reformed baptist church, then a Dutch calvinist church, then a house church, and now it's back the the irbc. |
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Post by susan on Feb 16, 2010 16:08:37 GMT -5
Yes, welcome, WanderingOne! Being left behind after the rapture has to have been my greatest fear. I'm in a religious studies seminar on apocalypticism throughout history right now and, until class about a week ago, it never dawned on me that that was not "normal." To think that a person could go through life and not worry that they'd been left to face the tribulation! I can't imagine that. Dh and I started out our parenting journey as fundamentalists. And I still remember when our oldest, at around 5 or 6, got worried because her Sunday School teacher said you could go to hell for lying. She was such an honest child -- but she was worried that she may, at some point, have accidentally told a lie. We spent a lot of time reassuring her, but her anxiety just kind of stuck for a while. Things like this made us realize pretty quickly that we didn't want our children growing up scared. We spent an extended period of time out of church -- and then, as of a couple of months ago, we started attending an Episcopal Church. It feels like a very good fit for us, because of all the room this denomination allows for people to come to their own conclusions about what they believe. I, personally, am Universalist now and believe that everyone will ultimately be reconciled to God, regardless of beliefs. My older daugher, now 9, seems to be adopting my view. Once when she was worrying about God sending her to hell if she didn't believe, I asked her if she could ever imagine ME sending her to hell because she didn't believe the right things. And she knew I would never do that -- so I just said, "And since God is more loving then I am, you don't have to worry about Him sending you to hell, either." She seemed very relieved and it's now been a while since she's expressed anxiety over this. I now feel totally comfortable about my daughters following their own spiritual paths, wherever those paths may lead. (((hug))) I'm so sorry!  Oh, gosh! Did you come up with the banana-thing on your own, or was it something drilled into you? I find myself half-laughing, and half feeling so sad for you, over the banana-thing. How did you eat hot dogs -- only chopped up into baked beans as beanie weanies? :  |
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Post by susan on Feb 16, 2010 16:17:57 GMT -5
Oh, and about the sexual-thing: I just remembered that my oldest, at around 6, also came home from Sunday School worried because her teacher said, "Nobody but your husband should ever see your breasts." She asked the teacher if it was wrong that sometimes she and I had taken baths/showers together (also, as a breastfeeding mom, I often had it hanging out there with her sister ... and, both girls nursed beyond the age of 4, so, you know, it had never occurred to dd that there was anything wrong with others besides the husband seeing a mother's breasts). Well, dd said the teacher told her that it was probably okay about the shower-thing, since dd was probably just remembering from when she was "really little." Dd didn't add that, well, actually it was just the other day! The following week I attended class with dd, to see what all this was about. Turns out they were doing a segment about dressing like young ladies. I guess because there were lots of older girls wearing revealing clothes to church, they thought they could get hold of the minds of the younger girls, and train 'em to think right. I am so glad we left that church soon after. |
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Post by dangermom on Feb 16, 2010 16:30:35 GMT -5
Being left behind after the rapture has to have been my greatest fear. I'm in a religious studies seminar on apocalypticism throughout history right now and, until class about a week ago, it never dawned on me that that was not 'normal' To think that a person could go through life and not worry that they'd been left to face the tribulation! I can't imagine that. That is so sad to me. I remember when I first heard of the Rapture--I was in grad school, driving to a study group, when I saw a bumper sticker that said "In case of Rapture, this vehicle will be unmanned." I was completely confused and had to ask my study friends what it meant; one of them was a Methodist minister's daughter so she could explain it. In my final semester, I wrote a huge paper on Christian fiction for YAs and read the second Left Behind book, which was the newest one then.  I remember what confused me most about the series was that after all the little children and babies got Raptured, new babies started getting born again.  So while you can't imagine growing up without that fear, I can't imagine growing up with it, or believing in it. (I am a believing Christian, but we don't do Rapture theology.) |
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Post by Vyckie D. Garrison on Feb 16, 2010 16:58:47 GMT -5
That is so sad to me. I remember when I first heard of the Rapture--I was in grad school, driving to a study group, when I saw a bumper sticker that said "In case of Rapture, this vehicle will be unmanned." I was completely confused and had to ask my study friends what it meant; one of them was a Methodist minister's daughter so she could explain it. Dangermom ~ not too long ago I saw this bumper sticker: In case of Rapture, can I have your car?Bwaaaaahaha ~ I love it!  |
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Post by WanderingOne on Feb 16, 2010 23:35:19 GMT -5
Oh, gosh! Did you come up with the banana-thing on your own, or was it something drilled into you? I find myself half-laughing, and half feeling so sad for you, over the banana-thing. How did you eat hot dogs -- only chopped up into baked beans as beanie weanies? : It was something drilled into me--I am not sure where it came from. And yeah, hot dogs were always chopped up too. At dinner tonight, my roommates and I warmed up some taquitos...everyone else thought they were finger food, while I automatically grabbed a knife and fork. It was just 4 of us girls (all straight)--so it's not like there's anyone for me to "cause to stumble." Man, my head is messed up.  Vyckie--I like that bumper sticker. |
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Post by Sierra on Feb 17, 2010 5:02:19 GMT -5
Sierra, I just finished applying to some grad programs (aaaand depleted my meager savings on application fees); I'm looking for jobs to apply to if that doesn't work out. We'll see what happens! Being left behind after the rapture has to have been my greatest fear. I'm in a religious studies seminar on apocalypticism throughout history right now and, until class about a week ago, it never dawned on me that that was not "normal." To think that a person could go through life and not worry that they'd been left to face the tribulation! I can't imagine that. I've been excommunicated from my family's church. Even though I don't believe anymore, it makes me really sad to know I can't be a part of that community anymore. It sucks that I spent so much of my life giving and giving and giving to these people and now I don't talk to them at all anymore. aaah! yes, sexual inuendo tends to go right over my head, lol. But at the same time, I have all these silly rules in my head--like, if i eat a banana, cut it, using a fork and knife--to protect my brothers, so that they don't stumble. I have been trained to not think about sex, by constantly think about it. Well, we were always strict Calvinists, but we attended a few different churches: first an independent reformed baptist church, then a Dutch calvinist church, then a house church, and now it's back the the irbc. I feel your pain. Grad school apps are wicked expensive.  Good luck with all of them! It's very hard for me to imagine, too, growing up Christian without all the Rapture stuff. My church's entire premise was that we were the generation that would never taste death and thus were the fulfillment of God's plan to reverse the Fall. No pressure, eh? ;D I used to lie in bed as a kid staring at shadows on the wall, wondering if they were demons watching me. I used to repeat, "I'm never gonna die," as a sort of mantra until I fell asleep because I thought a demon could randomly infest my body and stop my heart in the middle of the night. The banana thing is too funny! You know, you already need to have some sexual savvy to understand that there's anything significant about a woman biting a banana. It's amazing how self-defeating these hangups can be, as they indirectly teach children sexual symbolism, whereas they would otherwise have no idea what it means (especially as homeschooled children, exempt from all the "I have a juicy secret the adults don't want us to know about" games at school). I remember being treated with heavy suspicion by a couple of parents when I told them I'd be just fine sleeping on the floor rather than taking over their son's room. (My mother and I were stranded overnight at their house due to a snowstorm.) Now I think the problem was that I was looking at their son, who was playing the piano, when I said it. Clearly I wasn't interested in the song he was playing, but in having some kind of illicit midnight tryst on the floor of the living room.  Nevermind that I was the only girl in my church who openly insisted that she would remain single and celibate throughout her life.... I guess they were on to me. I thought by doing that I could avoid the submission and childbearing. |
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Post by xara on Feb 17, 2010 14:20:08 GMT -5
The banana thing is too funny! You know, you already need to have some sexual savvy to understand that there's anything significant about a woman biting a banana. I remember watching the movie "Grease" when it first came out. I was 7 years old and I LOVED that movie and had the soundtrack on vinyl. I would play it over and over and sing along with it. I just knew the music was fun to dance to and upbeat. It wasn't until I was in college and watched it again that I caught all the sexual innuendo in the movie and soundtrack. The same is true with old Bugs Bunny cartoons. There is a lot of innuendo there, but as a kid I didn't see it because my brain wasn't ready to see it. I really do think that getting all uptight about this stuff is a waste of energy because most of it goes over little kids' heads. |
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Post by kiery on Feb 24, 2010 12:10:56 GMT -5
Some days I just want someone who understands the utter terror of waking up alone in the house, thinking everyone has been raptured, when they've all just gone outside.Oh! I'm sooo glad I'm not the only who's done that! *relief* Yeah, I know what you mean, I somehow have a very simple view of Christianity (He came, He died, He rose because He loved, so all we really need to do is love Him and others) which I'm not sure would really be accepted in fundie circles, but it's the only reason I'm still a Christ-follower. I think they don't like anything that's simple....it must be complicated! Also, my mom's _world_ revolves around the Rapture. Like if there's something she doesn't want to happen (me getting married) she's all like, well maybe the rapture will happen before then and we won't have to worry about it! Anyway, hi! welcome, I'm glad you're here and (totally) not alone.
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hrd
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Post by hrd on Mar 11, 2010 17:34:42 GMT -5
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Post by Sierra on Mar 11, 2010 18:15:50 GMT -5
Wow, that looks... well, now it looks hilarious. (Is it bad that I kind of want to get a bottle of wine and watch it with some fellow infidels? ;D) As a child I would have been absolutely traumatized. I love the presence of the Doomsday Clock, the UNITE van and the 1960s/70s fashionable woman - that poster is William Branham's apocalyptic wet dream. Branham taught that, instead of a government agency, the church itself (oh, what a twist!) would persecute the true believers in the end. Basically, all the Christian denominations would get together and form an 'ecumenical council of churches' or some tommyrot that would require pastors to get licensed in order to preach. Then the persecution (which somehow went from fining illicit pastors lacking licenses) to mauling by lions and bears, a la Ancient Rome. But the Bride of Christ would be safe - she'd get whisked away just before the atomic bomb fell and blew America to little smouldering bits. (Yes, the entire continent.) Some easy, immediate problems with Branham's hypothesis: 1. What the hell is going on in the rest of the world while America gets blown to bits? Is the Rapture only happening in America? Does the world consist only of America? 2. Why does the world council of Christianity feel the need to murder its own extremists when there are Muslims to hate? (Note: I'm not condoning the hatred of Muslims, just being tongue-in-cheek here.) 3. You would need a lot of bombs to make an entire continent smoulder from coast-to-coast the way he imagined. |
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Post by jemand on Mar 11, 2010 19:42:59 GMT -5
WOW sierra! We in Adventism learned that the church would be persecuting as well-- them bad antichrist Catholics. There wasn't a rapture though, and there was just one atomic bomb (and that we already dropped in WWII). Plus, the Muslims were going to join the Catholics in the persecution of "real christians" as well, because Satan would reappear as a "grand delusion" acting like the messiah and the Jews and Catholics and Muslims would all start following plus most of the atheists and other religions as well because Satan could perform miracles as the false Christ.
And the licensing was getting a chip to buy or sell (credit card only? this was always unclear) and the antichrist/Satan/messiah mandating all transactions use that, but the "real church" people wouldn't be allowed to have it, so couldn't procure anything for food or water or anything. Then there would be persecutions and pulling out of fingernails and starvation and various lighting-people-on-fire-from-the-inside and lots of other things you were supposed to just imagine yourself.
This was all supposed to be touched off by the passing of a National Sunday Law in the US, followed by the worldwide stuff. One of my friends from the adventist university told of a retreat she and several friends had gone too-- prayer and intense bible study for a whole long weekend. At the end of that, the young newly minted pastor came in and with a somber face told them the Sunday Law had just passed that morning. He let them all cry and pray and basically just marinate in fear for an entire afternoon before one ventured to the gas station to see if maybe they could still pick up some supplies before it all went to shit-- and he'd just been lying as a "growing exercise" to strengthen their faith.
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Post by WanderingOne on Mar 12, 2010 14:45:08 GMT -5
Nope, no a thief in the night for me...but it would have terrified me I'm sure. :S But before we cut out everything that isn't hymns and classical, we heard Larry Norman's songs... "I wish we'd all been Ready" and "Six Sixty Six" terrified me. They're on youtube, if you want to look them up. I heard about an ecumenical council of churches led by the Pope...but, there was secular persecution as well in our version. The anti-christ would be the pope, but there would be several bad evil secular leaders doing things as well.... This though: is absolutely disgusting. I can't believe that anyone would actually do that. Ugh.  |
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davel
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Post by davel on Mar 12, 2010 17:04:09 GMT -5
In my final semester, I wrote a huge paper on Christian fiction for YAs and read the second Left Behind book, which was the newest one then. I remember what confused me most about the series was that after all the little children and babies got Raptured, new babies started getting born again. You would probably love Slacktivist's exhaustive review of the Left Behind series. He's an evangelical Christian who picks the books apart both from a liberal theological perspective but also from that of a professional writer. |
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Post by sisof9 on Mar 16, 2010 11:20:43 GMT -5
Kiery - I think your view of the Gospel is a pretty good one. I could nit pick about "well is THIS in there?", but I believe God intends for the Gospel to BE really simple - when my pastor asked me for my baptism my definition I said - Jesus was born to the virgin married, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for the sins of those who would believe, rose on the 3rd day, and is in heaven interceding for us" he loved it. *grin* (Or i think i even said, Jesus was born to a virgin, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, rose again, and is interceding in heaven for us") This might be mean, but I laughed outloud at the "maybe the rapture will happen and you dont get married" - that is SO something my mom would say if she were into that. I was scared as a kid that Jesus would come back before I ever had sex. :-p :-) BTW, the banana thing, not Kiery, but I don't rememver who said it - that is sooo over the top - i had NO clue there could be sexual connotations to it until i was in a relationship with a guy. |
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anna
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Post by anna on May 19, 2010 2:13:26 GMT -5
(((( wandering one))))
Right before graduation can be a really scary time in life! I still have some time until then (in Germany, we do the B.A. and M.A. in one block and worry then), but I'm getting seriously frightened about where we (fiance and I) will live next, what I'll do and also about the debt I accumulated. Good luck with your grad school application!!!
I hear you on feeling lost without family! I feel like many other students have a huge advantage over me, because they have internalized their parents' supportive attitude and have their emotional and financial support still. I feel actually handicapped by this lack of family.
What really helped me was having said fiance and also turning to my friends for the family support. I'm in a close-knit group of geeks and freaks and they have become brothers and sisters for me. I hope your friends will help you heal !!!
I get the "specimen for examination" thing, but then, I think you would be surprised how much other people are hiding and are ready to talk about once somebody starts (in my group this includes one friend coming out as bdsm and another as m to f transsexual).
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Post by humbletigger on May 23, 2010 19:08:15 GMT -5
Well, first of all I now have a strange craving to go and eat a banana. ;D I intend to chew thoroughly.
I saw the movie A Thief in the Night. And we used to sing "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" at our church too.
For some reason, they never scared me. I just knew that I knew that God loved me, and he wasn't going to screw me over by ditching me when everyone else was invited. Does that make sense? I don't know why I was so certain, but I was.
My twin sister, on the other hand, was TERRIFIED! She also went through the nauseating panic of thinking she was left behind, like Sierra and others wrote about.
In fact, the one thing that makes me madder than anything else about the fundamentalist crap I though was authentic Christianity is the rapture/apocalypse mumbo jumbo. I was so angry when I found out that it was a nineteenth century American fairy tale, made right here in the USA.
No Christians taught or believed anything like that before then. A second coming of Christ, yes. But this scary tribulation/persecution/leaving people behind to fry stuff? Nope. Nope.
I absolutely hate that my precious twin sister was so needlessly traumatized by the church. It's not as if we didn't have enough trauma at our house already! Grrr.
I am a follower of Jesus. My statement of faith would be the Apostles Creed. Anything beyond that, eh, not so sure. I go to a Lutheran church, and in my book all are welcome. I want to be a person of good will and I want to hang out with other people of good will, regardless of their religion or lack thereof.
I totally understand why some people become atheist, and honestly if it weren't for my own personal mystical experiences with God, I wouldn't be a Christian myself. I know many fundamentalist preachers who say personal experience should never be our guide, but how crazy is that? It's the only experience I experience! Duh.
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Post by jillrhudybarrett on May 28, 2010 15:23:48 GMT -5
THE BANANA. I was reading along and really feeling your pain, but when I got to the banana I laughed until I cried. You poor sweetheart. So glad you're on the road to normal. If the men around you are such lecherous swine that they are apt to "stumble" when you eat a banana, what does this signify? Very early on, these extreme religious movements teach girls that men and their sex drives are scary and threatening. Psychologists call this kind of thing "projection." I'm not thinking dirty because I have a filthy mind, it's because of that GIRL over there EATING A BANANA! There is nothing wrong with me, it's her that's sinning. For millennia men have projected their supposed sin onto women, and parents have projected their supposed sin onto children. |
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chloe
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Post by chloe on Jun 2, 2010 15:26:07 GMT -5
I'm a college professor, Wandering, so if you want advice about academia, pm me.
Just a quick note about money though: if you want to be an academic in certain sciences, accounting, or computer science, go for it. If you're interested in the humanities or social sciences, it's really important to know that the economy has made an already bad job market into a terrible one. That is, there are hundreds of Ph.D.s (especially in English and history) who are unemployed right now, and things show no sign of getting better. A job at my small college in an unpopular area of the country will attract 400+ applications. Therefore, anyone looking for a career in academia should follow this advice: don't pay for it.
I'm serious.
If you're good enough, you can get into a master's or Ph.D. program with a tuition waiver, teaching assistantship and/or fellowship so that you don't have to take out loans or pay tuition. If you don't get such an offer, either reapply until you do or find another career. Do not believe admissions counselors who try to draw you in to a program for which you have to pay tuition and don't fall into a program at a for-profit institution (like Phoenix or Walden).
Of course, if you love accounting, well, academia is desperate for you.
Oh, and welcome.
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I remember what confused me most about the series was that after all the little children and babies got Raptured, new babies started getting born again. 
Good luck with all of them!
