The Rapture is supposed to be today. I think this might be the 8th or 9th one predicted in my lifetime.
Last night, my wife pointed out that this may be the first rapture prediction fueled by TikTok. The last one I can really remember was in 2021, but we were in the throes of Covid and had a pandemic to worry about. But this time—this time, we're getting rapture tips on TikTok.
I grew up in a household of religious psychosis. Almost a year ago, the last time I saw my father and probably the last time I'll ever see him, used what precious time we had left together to tell me Jesus was coming back soon. For him, nothing else was worth saying.
The fallout from this kind of mindset ripples through our society. Some examples I can think of:
- We don't have medical care because Christians believe they can be healed of anything.
- Our complicity in the Gaza War is largely due to the belief Christians hold that Israel must exist for Jesus to return.
- The anti-vax movement is pushed forward by Evangelicals, and this may just be a coincidence, but I haven't seen many wellness influencers who don't profess some kind of faith in Christ.
- Not to mention my favorite kind of Christian—the prosperity gospel kind—who tell you to give at least 10% of your take-home dollars to the church and are sure to let you know that your financial situation is a direct result of how much God likes you (or not, you loser). A mindset that has a large portion of America telling everyone else government benefits are bad and you need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and that yes, $7.25/hr is a fine minimum wage.
- We have Trump because of religious psychosis, as well as the stripping away of women's rights and queer rights and any right that doesn't fit into the heteronormative Christian worldview.
Ugh. It just occurred to me that Evangelical Christians are why we can't have nice things.
Anyhoo. Maybe we'll get lucky and The Rapture™ will happen. It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.
