“The end is nigh!”

One may hear this on street corners in large cities or on popular television series. If you browse shortwave radio late at night, a man talking about the end of the world taking place in May of 2011 can be heard selling books and taking calls from concerned men and women wondering what to do with their remaining days until 2011. More often than not, those who speak of end times with intent to place fear in your heart are speaking of the Rapture.

References to the Rapture can be found in the Christian Bible, First Thessalonians 4:13-18, although the word “Rapture” is never actually used. Though different followers of Christianity view the Rapture differently, it is generally used to refer to the second coming of Christ, where all believers will ascend into Heaven while everyone else is left behind to face many years of death, warfare and destruction.

Diane Dardon, campus pastor for the ELCA Lutheran Campus Ministry would like to make it clear that the views Christians have about the Rapture are not clear cut.

“The unique nature of each and every member of the human race is the very reason why everyone who claims to be Christian must also claim a unique relationship with God and a unique way of interpreting scripture,” Dardon said. “Some are literalists and others are not. Most mainline views are non-literal, and that means that their view on the Rapture will be very different from literalists who believe every single word in Scripture must be taken literally, without considering the specific social, economic and political contexts in which each piece of Scripture was written.”

As a whole, the Rapture is often used in differing ways in pop culture. In the ‘70s and again in the ‘90s, the Rapture as a topic was used in books and films. Recently, another group has decided to try and make a profit off the Rapture, but this time it is a group of atheists and self-proclaimed sinners instead of Christians.

Eternal Earth-Bound Pets is the name of one such company, and their service is to extend a sort of Rapture insurance toward pet owners. For a fee, they offer to take care of any believer’s pets after the Rapture. They state that the coverage lasts 10 years, so if the Rapture takes place sometime after the 10-year period, the pets would not be saved lest the believer pay for coverage again.

Of course, such a service might be viewed by most as a joke, but many might take this offer seriously. If even a single person believes this service to be a genuine service, then the creators have successfully profited off of someone’s fears.

“Fear itself is commoditized whether it be under the guise of religion or politics. I ... see [the Rapture] as one more thing that people use to tap into people’s fear,” said Kelli Beard, pastor of the Wesley Foundation.

Brett Jacobson, president of the NIU Atheists, Agnostics and Free Thinkers group, certainly does not side with the atheist owners of Eternal Earth-Bound Pets.
In fact, he finds such a practice to be immoral.

“This just seems completely wrong,” Jacobson said. “If these atheists do want the money upfront before the Rapture happens, then I don’t think they intend to uphold their end of the contract ... How could they [if] they don’t think it’s going to happen?”

Christopher Nissen, the faculty adviser for NIU Atheists, Agnostics and Freethinkers and an associate professor of foreign language and literature, fears businesses taking advantage of people, but also with the belief in the Rapture as a whole, and the idea that some people are more worthy than others of gaining entrance into heaven.

“It’s really dangerous to start thinking like that, that your fellow human beings, most of them are not going to be raptured. If they’re not raptured, they’re not supposed to go to heaven,” Nissen said.

Pastor Beard cannot speak for all Christians.

“Methodists would say you will not know when the son of man will reappear, therefore you shouldn’t predict the end times nor should you listen to one who predicts, for those who prey on people’s fear and emotions and deepest worries are not a Christian,” Beard said.

She adds that, with regards to the idea of a Rapture, Christians wait in hope, not in fear.

“The Book of Revelation was written by Christians oppressed and persecuted by the Romans, which was historically the case at the time of the writing of Revelation. In order for early Christians in this setting to communicate with each other and continue to encourage each other in the face of persecution, the early Christian church wrote metaphorically,” Dardon said, referencing the theory posed in the book, “The Rapture Exposed” by Barbara Rossing.

“When the rapture writings – or the book of Revelation – is taken in this context, there is no place for gloom and doom,” Dardon said.

Although religion is often viewed as a polarizing topic, clearly the commoditization of the Rapture in order to prey off of a person’s fears is seen as negative by both sides.

Whether it be Christians spreading the idea of the Rapture as a means to gain more followers, or be it non-believers attempting to profit off of a belief quite a few Christians share, if the end-result is a profit made from fear, no one truly wins, and both atheists and Christians can agree on that.

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