The last year of her life my mom was in a religious "care home" (it was the best by far and well worth the money) and I stopped by their inhouse library to find something to read one day and got the first "Left Behind" just out of curiosity. What a badly written book!! As with that POS "The DaVinci Code", the hubbub is in the conspiracy rush way more than the actual story and /or quality of the book. Dumb books for dumb people. (in this case, dumb AND crazy)

I worked in bookstores during the height of popularity for the "Left Behind" series, and believe me - they sold a lot of copies. It seemed to me that the same people that read them were the ones buying the true crime books. Not really literary types.

It was a great segment on Rachel's show. If people listen to these guys, then at least they know the President is not the antichrist. And the author points out that Obama himself is eligible for the Rapture. These may indeed be some of the best defenses available... that and the fact that the current (left behind) interpretation of prophesy is only one interpretation - a very recent interpretation.

The bigger danger is post-Obama. According to the belief system, everything the President is doing may be well-intentioned, but it's wrongheaded, groundlaying for the coming antichrist. And so their goal will be to come in and change everything he does.

QT

"Badly written" doesn't begin to describe those books. The only way it could get any worse would be for them to write screenplays and turn them into movies starring Kirk Cameron. Oh, nevermind.

In my experiences here in the deep south, these books are used to scare people by the thought their loved ones will leave them behind when the rapture comes. Though, the caliber of the personalities of these rapture-nuts makes being left behind sound rather appealing.

I sense a huge logical disconnect with these end-of-timers. Or am I just missing something?

Their belief system tells them that if they take the Lord as their savior, then they will go to heaven. And that Christ returns at the end times, validating their belief system and ushering them all into an infinity of white clouds, beams of sunshine, and groovy white togas.

If President Obama and his policies are a sign that the end-times are upon us, shouldn’t that make them happy? They’re ready, right? Their houses are in order, their thoughts are right with God, and they’ve saved all of those who can be saved, right? So why are they so vehemently protesting anything that’s being done in the country? Shouldn’t they by polishing their crowns and picking up their robes from the dry cleaners?

Snark aside, isn’t it against their belief system to try to actively oppose and delay the rapture? What am I missing here?

Here's what I remember from the comic book version (I'm not going to grace the series with the term "graphic novel") of the series: all airplane pilots are Christians. They must be, because a shitload of planes were littering the ground after Jesus took 'em all home to glory.

My mother bought and read every single one of those crappy books. She believes in the end times, rapture, and all that jazz, but she does realize that these books are complete fiction. Knowing that she's quite religious now, I once worked up the courage to ask her about what she thought of them. She told me, "They're mildly entertaining, but the characters are a little two dimensional." Apparently, her minister recommended them to the congregation.

She also voted for Obama and is scared to death of "religious nuts" running the country.

Speaking of the End Times... I just watched Glenn Beck's pink oily face ranting about socialism on the youtube, and I must admit I'm feeling ever so gently suicidal afterwards.

I know what I'm about to say might make a lot of you angry at me. But...

If this is now the ugly turn that the right is going to take to try and foil everything that our President is trying to do to get this country back on it's feet, then I want out. I swear I'm getting the fuck out of this country.

Hang in there sammy - they're ineffective and laughable. I'd predict violence amongst themselves as to who rules that whackaloons before they take it out on anyone else. Just stay away from the tea-party's and we'll be fine.

What the hell are they worried about? Won't they all just be taken up in the rapture? The only ones left will be us doomed and condemned non-believers.
We will just get what we deserve and isn't that what they have been telling us anyway?

So no one here reads Stackivist' blog? He's spent the past four and half years deconstructing the first book in the series and is now moving onto the second.

here's the link: http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/

Cleft Behind: How we all get it in the End Times.

It deserves a parody, except for the fact that it already is one. Batshit fucking crazy.

"No one the right to judge anyone else's religion."

Sure, I do. Especially when what is espoused is insane.

These people actually are looking forward to the rapture. But part of their belief in "being right with Jesus" is to oppose whomever LaHaye tells them is the antichrist.

People have been saying that the end times are at hand since the first century AD. The one thing every prediction has had in common was that they've all been wrong. Doesn't stop them from insisting that it's still just around the corner. They just keep kicking the date down the road.

They labeled Clinton the antichrist once. Hell, some even insisted that St. Ron was the antichrist. Their irrationality knows no limits. But they are entertaining.

The only disturbing thing is when Kirk Cameron opens his mouth and you realize just how stupid most of these rapture-ready types are.

Are we still pretending these people can be reasoned with?

Rachel Maddow cuts straight to the heart of it, doesn't she?

Grabbing code, stealing video...

I love Rachel Maddow, but she is wrong about one thing. We have not only the right but the responsibity to criticize other peoples religious beliefs when it is warranted. When you inlcude all the religions in the world I could fill dozens of books with religious beliefs that a wrong, outdated, stupid, crazy and downright dangerous. These beliefs must be challenged.

I really like Rachel, but I don't like the part near the end of this clip where she says something like, "None of us have the right to judge other people's religious beliefs."

Why?! I can criticize any other beliefs that a person has, but when it comes to religion, if a person beliefs that Jesus is going to fly down from the clouds one day with his magic powers, I have to respect that?! Why can I not deride these idiots who would see a silver lining in a nuclear bomb attack on a U.S. city?!

We have to stop believing that it is taboo to criticize another person's religious beliefs and start calling out these lunatics for what they are! They should have ZERO CRED in any intellectual discussion!

Oh, yes, I forgot about the overwhelming need for those folks to drag the rest of us, kicking and screaming, into heaven with them. They are sure we'll thank them for it later. I don't want to be anywhere all those people are gathered together, especially for eternity.

Sensesfail, That statement raised my hackles too- you're right on the money. Unfortunately, in her position, Rachel could never mock the Jesus' magical powers lest she be hounded out of the job by fundamentalist nutcases. But I'm sure, somewhere under the acute political consciousness, Rachel shares our opinion.

I've reading Richard Dawkins recent book, in German. It's neat to read all of the Einstein quotes, among those of other great German minds, in the untranslated form.. Anyway this book is giving me a ton of ammo for discussion with intelligent yet religious people, and sympathizers alike. I'm sure you well know, it doesn't get you anywhere to insult peoples beliefs, and I cant imagine a better philosophical argument to bring up than the one from the cover of my copy of the god delusion. "I'm against religion because it teaches us to be content with our lack of understanding of the world". *approximate translation

I don't find this particularly disturbing, but maybe that's because I'm an (agnostic) religion blogger.

Humans need religious myths. I believe many of us are "wired" that way. The old religious myths aren't working very well, so we're trying to either re-invent them or piece together new ones that fill our need.

On my blog I hear many ideas, theories and prophesies that are just as outrageous as those presented here. However, these are from intelligent and liberal "New Age" mystics.

The difference, of course, is that New Age mystics are smaller in number, less organized, and, by and large, lack the desire to force their philosophies into our government or start wars.

LOL, my husband was watching this segment and he's read the books because well, he reads everything, and he got really confused....he kept saying "But they're Science Fiction"
...he really had no clue these yahoos had written their version of biblical prophecy, he thought it was just mildly entertaining science fiction :O

Endtime beliefs have long been the purview of movers of goalposts.

Being a recovering Southern Baptist, I can remember in the '60's and '70's talk of the end being nigh, in that the Second Coming would be heralded withing a generation(20 to 25 years) of the establishment of Israel as a nation. Didn't work out. So it became a matter of building the Temple back on the Temple Mount. I never heard of that during the time it was within a generation of the new Israel. Can't find anyone who does.

1946 - 1979 USSR is Magog. Didn't work out.
1979 - 1989 Iran is Magog. Well, hehe, something like that!
1989 - 2003 Iraq is Magog. I guess not.
2003 - present - not quite established as I see it.

Freakin' shell game.

I have been wondering for a long time now why do people have religious faith. Archaeologists even explain many of their finds in terms of religion, which I find objectionable. However, it occurs to me that people need faith just to live: Faith that they will wake up tomorrow, faith that drivers will stay on their side of the road, faith that their crops will grow, etc. You need faith just to live. Many people organize their lives around their religion and they need their religion to organize their lives. Their crazy beliefs are essential cause it organizes their lives.

The problem is when it comes to end of days, and these apocalypse stories, the ones who really, REALLY believe them actually carry them out. Look at David Koresh, look at Jim Jones. They believe the end was near because they had a plan to kill off every member of their respective congregations. They were going to carry out the end of days, making believe they were God.

I don't want the wackaloon wingnuts ever being in a position to plan for my end of days, then subsequently carry it out, elevating themselves up to the level of God. No sir. That's why we've got to fight against them, keep up the steady pressure to marginalize their influence at all costs. Expose them for the crazy people they really are. I thumb my nose at all of them and say, you are not God. You don't get to decide the end of days, you don't get to plan it and carry out dumbass!

There are other ways that conservatives inflate sells of right wing books....

I've had conservative professors that put right wing books on the required reading list and then never use them in the course.

They trick students into buying these books. I was tricked into buying one of Jerome Corsi's books.

When I had the professor again, I knew not to get Malkin's book when it was on the required books list.

As supsected and as with Corsi's book, Malkin's book was not used or mentioned in the class at all.

I was curious about these insanely popular books so I picked one up in the Barnes & Noble and read a bit of it. My goodness, what a load of drivel these millions are shoveling into their brains!

The one I looked at was written at about a fifth-grade reading level, like a "chapter book" your kid would bring home from elementary school. Wooden dialog, leaden exposition, writing that lacked any color, verve, imagination, or style, and of course stories that move beyond absurd into the abjecyly silly. (I laughed several times while reading.)

Yuck! But I guess this is what appeals to this undereducated, easily fooled group. Amazing!

Another vote for slacktivist's marathon deconstruction of The Worst Books In The World (TM). It'll take you all day to read what he's spent the last four years writing, but it's worth it to understand really clearly where these guys are coming from.

I wish these wingnuts would read their fucking Bible: Christ is so not coming back. Get over it.

What will happen instead is each of us - but not the wingnuts - will become conscious of our true power, that we are actually divine beings with amazing power.

So instead of Rapture of the true believers in Christ, our true power will actually rid the Earth of these wingnuts and their deathly, poisonous beliefs and behaviors.

I know "where's the love in that?". But where is the love in these wingnuts to begin with? One of the crux issues -pun intended - with Christ is at what point do we no longer tolerate the intolerable?

What would Jesus do? Pretty simple: he would beat the living fuck out of them. He did it once. Physically asaulted the merchants. How are those merchants any different than the one we have today?

So, wingnuts: read it again. God is not mocked. We each reap what we sow and boy, the fruit you're going to choke on is exactly what you planted. Go read again about Ruth. Same is going to happen to you.

"These people actually are looking forward to the rapture."

Which is scary because as Bill Maher points out, people actually do have the power to end all life on earth. In some people's minds it could be a blurry line between God ending the world and people ending the world because God wanted them too.