L.B.: Gross estimate

Left Behind, pp. 302-305

Rayford Steele has just finished watching CNN's report that Moses and Elijah have returned from the dead as evangelical street preachers. He wonders if this might be meaningful:

Bruce had told him and the rest of the core group at New Hope that there would soon spring up 144,000 Jews who would believe in Christ and begin to evangelize around the world. Were these the first two?

OK, here we go with the whole 144,000 bit. This has led to far more and far stranger interpretative schemes than even the impenetrable "two witnesses" passage. That number has led to sectarian fantasies that make the Muggletonians seem mainstream by comparison.

If you want to read everything the Bible has to say about these 144,000, see Revelation 7:1-8 and Revelation 14:1-5.

The first thing that may strike you about these passages is that 144,000 is a Big Round Number. Numbers like this tend to provoke two different responses from two different kinds of readers. Some people will, for example, read the Bible and think, Gee, what a coincidence that so many events take exactly 40 days or 40 years. Others will see a pattern at work and think, Hmm, "40" seems to be idiomatic shorthand for "a really long time." The latter group will be criticized by the former for failing to read the Bible "literally."

(This disagreement -- the collision of idiom and "literalism" -- is also the basis for a great deal of comedy. The fundamentalist hermeneutic corresponds with the classic comic type of the Confused Foreigner. The PMD response to this passage is roughly the equivalent of Borat's asking, "Yes, but where do you keep this magnet?")

The figure here, we're told, is the total of 12,000 taken from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. (Sort of, good luck trying to reconcile John's list of the tribes with any other such list. If I were a Danite, I'd be insulted.) This is an army of sinless, singing virgins. No one will be able to harm them, at least not until they all get martyred.

Again, passages like this tend to provoke two different kinds of responses. Some people, coming across this vision of an army of indestructible, sinless, singing, virgins will attempt to interpret this literally and thus will eagerly await the arrival of precisely 144,000 (not 144,001 and not 143,999) musical martyrs. Others will view this passage as containing many flashing red neon signs indicating that such a literal reading is probably not appropriate here and, noting that this passage is part of John's apocalypse,* written for an audience for whom martyrdom was not an abstraction, these readers might choose to interpret this passage more broadly, as a reinforcement of eschatological hope in an unjust world.

But since the 144,000 haven't yet really arrived in our story, we'll set all that aside for now.

Rayford continues watching CNN, where the anchor's TelePrompter has switched from "exposition" mode to "summary of what you've read so far" mode. After the report from Jerusalem, the next story is about Nicolae's big coming out party at the U.N., followed by a story explaining that "award-winning senior writer" Cameron Williams is A) not dead; and B) no longer wanted by corrupt police. This takes up another three pages, almost none of which tells readers anything they didn't already know. I suppose this is here to bring Rayford up to speed with what the rest of us have already read, or maybe just to put into all capitals the already bolded and underlined notion that Buck's interaction with Carpathia is a Momentous Event.

CNN's reports track the plot of the book so closely it's comical. You almost get the sense that there's some futuristic sci-fi idea at work here, with some Gattaca-like technology that tailors TV-news for individuals based on signals from a chip implanted in viewers' cerebral cortex. "Good evening, Rayford" the life-like, animatronic news anchor would say. "Here's today's news just for you." But, of course, there are no such technological advances in the world of Left Behind. Despite its futuristic setting, and despite the authors' obsession with technological developments as "fulfillments of biblical prophecy" (satellite TV! bar codes! microchips!), the world of the first volume of the series features only technology that was widely available when it was written, in 1995. Later books in the series follow this pattern, except they feature the technology that existed when they were written -- none of which was anticipated by the authors back in '95. This leads to some odd anachronisms as things like cell phones and the Web seem to spring into existence ex nihilo in the later books.

This three pages of News For Rayford does supply a couple of items that are also news for us. There's this, from the report on Buck's criminal status:

Earlier this evening, Williams was considered an international fugitive, wanted by both Scotland Yard and Interpol ... Both agencies have since announced he has been cleared of all charges and is considered lucky to have escaped unharmed.

So we know that Buck did, in fact, sell out, cutting a deal with the cop-killing extortionists who murdered his friend Dirk, just to save his own cowardly hide. But we also learn from this that Nicolae works fast. Keep in mind that while Rayford is watching this back in Chicago, Buck is still sitting in a Plaza suite, still talking to Carpathia. Nicolae was able to arrange for Buck's safety, contacting two European agencies and coordinating their statements to the press, all without ever leaving the room.

The CNN anchor also reported this:

Associates of Carpathia have announced that he has already extended his schedule to include addresses to several international meetings in New York over the next two weeks ...

(I'm imagining his speech to the Parliament of World Religions: Warm up the crowd with some PWR trivia, followed by a litany of all the group's executives, complete with their dates of service, and finishing off with a rousing, nine-language alphabetical listing of every associated faith group, reaching a crescendo as the Zoroastrian delegation leaps to their feet and all the world's religions stand as one.)

... and that he has been invited by President Fitzhugh to speak to a joint session of Congress and spend a night at the White House.

Again, Carpathia hasn't left the hotel suite since he got the invitation from "Fitz." While he sits there talking to Buck, his people in the other room, apparently, were calling CNN to tell them about the invitation he had just received from the president. It might have been better protocol to allow the president to make this announcement, particularly since he can't yet have had time to discuss this surprise joint session with congressional leaders, but you still have to admire the incredible efficiency of Nicolae's PR machine. All of this without having yet hired his own press secretary. Impressive.

The anchor switches to other news --

Major League Baseball teams in spring training face the daunting task of replacing the dozens of players lost in the cosmic disappearances ...

-- and Rayford, bored by anything not involving Major Characters, switches off the TV.

That's frustrating. I would have liked to have heard more about baseball's efforts to carry on after The Event. The majority of players apparently have decided, like Rayford, not to let the disappearance of their young children deter them from getting back to work. And since the Antichrist is already in New York, I would bet that the Damn Yankees -- their roster unaffected by the disappearances -- would be inviting him to throw out the first pitch. Apart from the "daunting task of replacing the dozens of players lost" there might be a few other challenges too. The Father/Son games, one assumes, would be cancelled, as would all of those promotions for "fans 14 and under." The evaporation of every member of the Boys and Girls Clubs would, presumably, force MLB to find a new official charity. Perhaps the players could volunteer their time helping out in the new homes for Parents Traumatized into Catatonia?

I realize I'm repeating myself here, but the authors' consistent inability to comprehend the parameters of the context they themselves have created is just staggering. Yet again here they toss in a little aside intended to remind us of the reality of life after The Event, and yet again that reminder fails to grasp even slightly what that reality would really be like. The aside about baseball serves as yet another jarring reminder of how little care the authors have given to creating a coherent or consistent setting.

This is, mostly, a matter of Very Bad Writing, but it is not only that. Little of the plot that follows the Event would make any sense at all if the authors' appreciated the chaos and trauma that would actually exist in the childless aftermath of this horror. They carry on with that plot anyway because it is, they believe, what will really happen according to what they believe is biblical prophecy. Recognizing the inhuman, unreal world they are describing would force them to recognize not just that the plot of their novel makes no sense, but that their whole "prophetic" scheme makes no sense. They would not be able to do a better job telling this story even if they were better writers. If they were better writers, they would have to tell a different story.

The Longest Day is still not over yet, so Rayford figures he can squeeze in one more phone call:

He made himself coffee, then phoned the 24-hour line that kept track of flight and crew assignments ...

He's hoping to get another crack at his proselytee by having her assigned to his flight the next day, but it is not to be. Hattie is already taking the earlier flight to New York, the 8 a.m. nonstop into the arms of the Antichrist.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

* David Dark provided one of my favorite descriptions of apocalyptic literature, contrasting it with George Orwell's bleak prophecy. "If you want a vision of the future," Orwell said, "imagine a boot stamping on a human face. Forever." The apocalyptic response to this is, "No, not forever." That, in a nutshell, is the theme of these passages from John's apocalypse.

Comments

[damnedyankee]

Hattie is already taking the earlier flight to New York, the 8 a.m. nonstop into the arms of the Antichrist.

Don't forget that two-hour layover in the spleen of the False Prophet.

Woo-hoo! LB Friday is upon us!

[damnedyankee]

Really, it's a pity that L&J don't/won't/can't think through the implications of the events they're describing, using the ripple effect of the Event only as window dressing as they rush down the Checklist Of Doomifying Doom. There's a real story in here somewhere, and thanks to Fred's ministrations, you can almost hear it clawing and screaming to get out...

[bananie]

so glad you referenced dave's thoughts on apocalypse here.

[histrogeek]

There are decent doomsday novels (the first half of Children of Men, On the Beach, Canticle for Leibowitz, even God help me, The Stand) out there, but none are based on Scofield's Checklist. With only seven years to complete the checklist, you basically have no time to write about the implications of anything. The disappearance of all the children in the world would be worth a whole novel encompassing years all by itself. Something as cosmicly huge as the End of the World would daunt even talented writers. Tellingly when C.S. Lewis wrote The Last Battle, he only focuses on the Antichrist, the last king (who only heard about events very late), and the children from Earth. Even he knew better than to try and cover it all.
America is only vaguely back to normal after something as piddling in apocalyptic terms as 9/11 and it's been 6 years. Even one event on the Checklist of Doomifying Doom would be hundreds of times worse than that.

[damnedyankee]

But if they had tried to give it a decent treatment, then it would have meant they could have cranked out more books and kept the RTC gravy train going even farther.

While the thought of more of the World's Worst Books may be daunting, we seem to be having our fun with what's available...

[Alan M.]

I've been reading and enjoying your L.B. analyses, and until now haven't had anything to add. But something struck me as I was reading this one.

Yet again here they toss in a little aside intended to remind us of the reality of life after The Event, and yet again that reminder fails to grasp even slightly what that reality would really be like.

What if your hypothesis here is wrong? What if it's not that they don't grasp the concept your describing, but that they really believe this is what the world will be like? What if they really believe that anyone who's not a RTC must be a narcissistic egoist, and so they believe it's the collective remainder of humanity that "fails to grasp even slightly what that reality would really be like"? In other words, a world full of people in denial as they try to return to their self-involved little lives.

Admittedly, it's almost more depressing that they would hold THAT worldview than the one you propose, but it's food for thought...

[mmack]

Major League Baseball teams in spring training face the daunting task of replacing the dozens of players lost in the cosmic disappearances

Fred,

I don't think I've laughed harder at anything Our Intrepid Authors have written than that line above (Except maybe your Damned Yankees line). It's almost as if I expect Rayford to proudly think "Well THANK GOD we still have baseball! Somehow we'll make it through!" One imagines Rayford standing ramrod straight with Old Glory waving in the wind behind him.

It's the end of the World, but damnit, we've got Season Tickets!

[Jesurgislac]

That's frustrating. I would have liked to have heard more about baseball's efforts to carry on after The Event.

How many RTC play baseball, really? (Mind you, in a world where half the passengers on Concorde are RTC...)

This provides material for a whole new field: how does the Rapture affect professional sports?

Apparently, all the terrestrial TV companies in the UK had a detailed plan, laid down years before, for exactly how they'd proceed when the Queen Mother died. When Princess Diana was killed, they simply took their plan for the Queen Mum and ran with it, assuming it would work out. For about 48 hours afterwards, normal TV was cancelled, we kept getting news bulletins (which involved someone saying solemnly "yes, Princess Diana is still dead"), and then it dawned on the Great British Public that if this went on, they'd miss Eastenders and Coronation Street. There was a mass uproar and the TV went back to its usual schedule, though it went haywire again for the day of the funeral. When the Queen Mother actually died, the TV companies had figured out that they shouldn't disrupt normal scheduling, and didn't, though predictably we got a lot of Royal history (omitting the part about her being a Nazi sympathizer).

What the Left Behind authors seem to think the Rapture would be like is the death of the Queen Mother: it happens, it's not worth disrupting the TV schedules over, and Life Goes On. Let's watch Eastenders.

I know I've said this before: but they seem to take for granted a very detached attitude to children. All children. Any children.

[Redem]

One of my favourte thing in the 144,000 jew evangelist is that it imply generations of Jews exist for the sole purpose of procreating more jew for them to be there at the end of the world. The problem is that for Jew for exist generations of people must follow the Judaism which doesn't say Jesus was the messiah, hence they would de facto go to hell up until the time the 144 000 evanglist come around.

[Sarah Dylan Breuer]

On LB's simultaneous obsession with and cluelessness about technology, just wait until you read all about how the Tribulation Force is able to procure for Tsion Ben Judah the technological miracle of a SECOND COMPUTER MONITOR so he can see more biblical text on screen at once, and for a mere $25,000 or so! 'Cause it's unthinkable that a biblical scholar studying a couple of texts at once would, say, have two bibles and open them to different places, and it's not like you could have gotten a computer even when LB was written for $2000 or less that could drive two monitors in non-mirroring mode.

And on LB's portrayal of people shrugging their shoulders and getting back to work when their children disappear and God aborts every pregnancy: I'm reminded of the occasional headlines we saw in Buffy the Vampire Slayer along the lines of "MYSTERIOUS DEATHS: VAMPIRES ALMOST CERTAINLY NOT INVOLVED." If LaHaye and Jenkins had a sense of humor, they might have emulated that approach: "MIRACULOUS SHIT HAPPENS: GOD ALMOST CERTAINLY NOT INVOLVED." If they had an ounce of real empathy, they might have explored it in emotional scenes of Rayford or Chloe having a meltdown after walking by yet another makeshift memorial of photographs, flowers, and stuffed animals for all the children gone. But LaHaye and Jenkins aren't surprised at the cruelty or the bloodshed they're depicting. They expect it. They think their God will bring it about. They'd be disappointed if they found out that God had no such plans, but since that thought never crosses their mind, they rush past everything but the most deliciously (to them) gory carnage so they can concentrate on the big planes and clumsily-sketched technotoys that, other than marathon bathroom sessions and exchanges consisting of nothing but a hodgepodge of bible verses (reading the LB books I often felt like I was in a biblical version of that improv comedy game where you try to hold a conversation consisting of nothing but song titles), are the primary focus of LaHaye's and Jenkin's imaginations.

[NewsCat]

Fred you don't seem to grasp the eternal optimism of LaHaye and Jenkins that as many as "dozens" of MLB players actually qualify as "their" type of Christians.

I'm frankly amazed he would think it's as many as a dozen that would be raptured. That wouldn't even cover all the replacement players for one team.

[histrogeek]

I remember in my sophmore year of college my dorm seemed to acquire a sizable number of fundies. How I'll never know, but as a regular church-going mainline Christian I was often asked by friends to play Squanto between them and the newbies. Once a Jewish friend of mine came up and asked me if it was true that Christians thought only 144,000 Jews would go to Heaven. Apparently one of the fundies had point-blank said, "Oh, you're Jewish aren't you? Did you know that only 144,000 of your people will be saved?"
I could hardly believe it. If nothing else, it was just bad manners. I explained the Revelation passage (pointing out that modern Jews, according to a literal account of the Bible, can only include two or three of the 12 Tribes, the other 9 or 10 were lost during the Assyrian occupation) and pointed out, as if it needed to be, that only a few Christian groups thought much of these predictions. Frankly you'd be better off watching The Omen trilogy to understand Revelation.

[mmack]

This provides material for a whole new field: how does the Rapture affect professional sports?

Some sports fans (and non sports fans too) would probably argue that professional athletes may be the one group of people on Earth so self absorbed that they'd miss the Rapture without thinking of how it affects them.

As an aside, would Real True Chicago Cubs Fans be raptured after 99 years (and counting) without a World Series Title? Talk about the patience of Job! (or an act of true martyrdom)

mmack, a White Sox fan who will be Left Behind with all of you on this board.

[Ursula L]

Regarding baseball:

I remember considerable news-time being given, post 9/11, to discussing when the baseball season would start up again. The discussion seemed to split between "start right away to prove the terrorists can't stop us" versus "don't start too soon, it's frivolous and would be disrespect for those lost."

What was missing, I thought, was the question "when will transportation be normal enough to get the players to the away games"?

At least L&J have the last question covered - the logistics of getting enough players where they should be for games. But ignoring the first two seems rather unreal, in hindsight. I'd expect the "sports" part of the news to be filled with player-by-player analysis of each team, for who was and wasn't left, lengthy memorials to those gone, and even lengthier discussions about how this would effect rankings for seasons in progress, gambling odds, etc.

[Majromax]

What if it's not that they don't grasp the concept your describing, but that they really believe this is what the world will be like?

I still think it's bad theology being reflected, in its entirety, in the novels.

From L&J's point of view, the entire End of the World scenario is caused by the Darn Devil and his Dastardly Dozen. God/YVWH/Zeus, in this scenario, acts firstly as a "deliverance from evil."

In this simplified, dualistic view, Good God cannot cause bad things to happen. Therefore, the Rapture must be interpreted strictly as intended -- rescue and separation for the RTCs and kids. The Remainder must carry on life as normal otherwise, because otherwise the Rapture would be a cause of nontrivial events.

Look at how the books have covered things so far. Within a week (how long has it been, anyway?), the longest-lasting effect of the Rapture was Planned Parenthood going out of business -- not even a ripple in a pond by comparison.

If the Rapture in these novels, caused the chaos we know a similar event would cause in reality, people would be left with the inescapable conclusion that "God's a jerk" and that he'd be directly responsible for the end of the world -- rather than the intended conclusion of "be grateful he'll deliver us from it."

[bulbul]

two European agencies ... coordinating
LOL!

[julia]

But if they had tried to give it a decent treatment, then it would have meant they could have cranked out more books and kept the RTC gravy train going even farther.

There's an interesting question - do they really think they have time to do that?

I find it really difficult to believe that people who are working as hard as these folks are to accumulate long-term secular power here in the destruction zone are really planning for a short-term future, but who knows.

The Queen Mother was a nazi sympathizer? I wouldn't think she'd be interested in any ideology her sister-in-law was involved in.

[grendelkhan]

histrogeek: There are decent doomsday novels (the first half of Children of Men, On the Beach, Canticle for Leibowitz, even God help me, The Stand) out there

I gotta throw in a mention of The Forge of God, and the somewhat-related "How to destroy the Earth". It gives one a pretty good sense of how large everything is, and suddenly rains of fire and dudes on horses seem rather petty.

[bulbul]

"If you want a vision of the future," Orwell said, "imagine a boot stamping on a human face. Forever." The apocalyptic response to this is, "No, not forever."
Fred, I am ashamed to admit that I sometimes forget what a brilliant writer and theologian you are. Thank you for reminding me.

[Bugmaster]

Canticle for Leibowitz was a good book, even though it was so very sad... One of the more hopeless books that I've read, almost as hopeless as Simak's City :-(

[cjmr's husband]

Simak's City :-(

I read that as SimCity. I assume that's NOT what you meant.

[Darryl Pearce]

...hmmm.

"Not forever."

I am reminded of a cautionary axiom: "That which can't last forever, won't... but it will last a lot longer than you thought it would even after taking into account it'll last a lot longer than you thought it could.

-~-~-

Next question: is the Tribulation after the Rapture just a "waiting room" until everybody goes to Hell, or--after seeing the tribulations of the Tribulation--can a soul be reconciled and go to Heaven?

[Zingo Stertch]

It seems every Friday I always think the same thing, "How the hell can someone be so detached from reality? From humanity?" I forget; have we had mention of any ‘Missing Person’ billboards? Make-shift public forums with pictures tacked to cork board? Anything like that bit in War of the Worlds were the car radio has the "This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test..." droning on forever?

I also think, "Children of Men is a really good movie."

[Zingo Stertch]

It seems every Friday I always think the same thing, "How the hell can someone be so detached from reality? From humanity?" I forget; have we had mention of any ‘Missing Person’ billboards? Make-shift public forums with pictures tacked to cork board? Anything like that bit in War of the Worlds were the car radio has the "This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test..." droning on forever?

I also think, "Children of Men is a really good movie."

[Zingo Stertch]

Curse you, double post!

[Lea]

Next question: is the Tribulation after the Rapture just a "waiting room" until everybody goes to Hell, or--after seeing the tribulations of the Tribulation--can a soul be reconciled and go to Heaven?

Isn't the possibility of salvation post-Rapture the entire premise of the Left Behind series (besides, I mean, "God will KICK YOUR ASS and you'll LIKE IT")?

I also want to third the recommendation of A Canticle for Leibowitz, which is an astonishing novel. One of my all-time favorites. (When I taught it in my Intro to Lit class a couple of years ago, a few students came up to me and said "You know, I don't like science fiction at all but this is terrific."

Of course, a few others got twitchy about the portrayal of Catholicism -- I teach at a Jesuit university. I am not sure why; I'm Catholic myself and it never would have occurred to me to be twitchy about it. Kids these days.)

[nieciedo]

@Bugmaster
Canticle for Leibowitz was a good book, even though it was so very sad... One of the more hopeless books that I've read, almost as hopeless as Simak's City :-(

I thought it was sad the first time I read it, but the second time I realized that it's actually a message of hope. An all-out nuclear war is probably the worst thing that can be conceived of happening -- yet in Canticle for Leibowitz, civilization rebuilds itself (after onl about 1600 years if I remember correctly). When the second nuclear war happens, the Church launches and ark of children to another planet -- the children and their caretakers leave singing even as the bombs start to fall -- and the priest that closes the door shakes the dust of Earth from his feet. Life goes on. Maybe not on Earth and maybe it would take longer for civilization to revive, but human life would go on elsewhere and might do a better job.

[nieciedo]

I also think, "Children of Men is a really good movie."

I didn't. The movie didn't convey the bleak sense of hopelessness and trauma that a world without children should have -- although it did a better job that L&J (but that's not saying much). The book of Children of Men was much more convincing.

[Kathryn in Sunnyvale]

What if it's not that they don't grasp the concept your describing, but that they really believe this is what the world will be like?

Alan,
Your comment reminded me of an After-The-Rapture book I'd glanced through some years ago* (more than 4, less than 15?).

I particularly remember one paragraph. The author(s) needed to skip ahead a few months, so they quickly summarize what happens in those months. It went something like:

"People began to have competitions to see who could be the most evil. Teachers tortured their students [how could they have students if children were raptured? Perhaps high school?] Religions leaders sacrificed on alters turned towards the antichrist. The Cubs won the World Series."

Just kidding on that last bit. Still, yes, those authors seemed to think that without the moderating influence of RealTrue Christians, everyone else just starts to eat kittens and babies.

So perhaps J&L think they're being nice to the unraptured in assuming that the left behind would still be interested baseball instead of, say, kittenball.
-----------
* iirc, that book also had a few scenes lifted from post-apocalyptic science fiction novels, with the serial numbers painted over. (for example, a surfer surfing a tsunami scene straight out of a Niven novel.)

[forestwalker]

Thanks for the word from David Dark. Here's the passage Fred is referencing:

"As a literary genre, 'apocalyptic' is a way of investing space-time events with their theological significance; it is actually a way of affirming, not denying, the vital importance of the present continuing space-time order, by denying that evil has the last word in it." N.T. Wright (The New Testament and the People of God.) ...

We've apparently got the word "apocalyptic" all wrong. It's not about destruction or fortune-telling, it's about revealing. ...

Apocalyptic shows us what we're not seeing. It can't be composed or spoken by the powers that be, because they are the sustainers of "the way things are" whose operation justifies itself by crowning itself as "the way things ought to be" and whose greatest virtue is being "realistic." Thinking through what we mean when we say "realistic" is where the apocalyptic begins. If the powers that be are the boot which, to borrow Orwell's phrase, presses down upon the human face forever, apocalyptic is the speech of that human face. Apocalyptic denies, in spite of all the appearances to the contrary, the "forever" part.

(from his book Everyday Apocalypse)
http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Apocalypse-David-Dark/dp/158743055X

A powerful thought indeed, the bit on being "realistic", especially. It applies as much to L&J as much as it does to Caesar or Fukuyama.

[Andy]

Probably the reason "The Event" hasn't registered with the global community yet is because CNN is only reporting the disappearance of millions of blond women under 30.

[Scott]

How many RTC play baseball, really?

Athletes are Manly Men and thus honorary RTCs.

[Robb]

[Children of Men] didn't convey the bleak sense of hopelessness and trauma that a world without children should have -- although it did a better job that L&J (but that's not saying much)

Wow, you didn't think so? That's got to be one depressing book. I've always been kinda excited by post-apocalyptic movies, but that one gave me a sick feeling (might have been the handheld camerawork) - I thought that it was way too depressing, but maybe that's because I'm still being such a sap over having a kid. It's funny because she's coming up on 18 months and I'm more likely to cry now than I was when she was born.

I was actually thinking, though, that Children of Men had the sickening negativity that Left Behind has, but instead of L&J's underlying jubilance, CofM has an appropriate gravitas.

[Bugmaster]

I thought it was sad the first time I read it, but the second time I realized that it's actually a message of hope...

Firstly, retroactive spoiler alert. Secondly, the launch was exactly why I thought the book was so devoid of hope. The way it was presented, it felt fairly unrealistic (reminiscent of that last scene in Brasil); and, even if the launch did happen so what ? The monks essentially gave up on the rest of humanity, who are quite demonstrably beyound redemption. And I can guarantee you that, once the monks land, they'll start playing Sid Meyer's Alpha Centauri with psi-weapons and laser tanks, within years of arrival... They're still human, after all. Simak has a similar vision in City, only his is even worse, because he's Simak.

[Lucia]

Actually, a lot of MLB players are extremely religious -- ever notice how many of them point to the sky after hitting a home run or making a great play? Although an awful lot of them are Catholic, so (in L&Jland) they don't count.

True story: during the 2003 ALCS I am noodling on the computer, DH is watching the game. When it's over he comes down and says to me, "We've learned something tonight. The Lord Jesus Christ can't hit lefties."
"Really. And how do we know this?"
"Because Trot Nixon [who hit the game-winning home run] said in a post-game interview, 'that wasn't me out there, that was the Lord Jesus Christ.'"

Baseball fans take note: the Cleveland Indians now have Him on their team.

(I can never decide about that sky-pointing thing. Baseball players as well as anyone else, I guess, should be pleased when they make the best of their God-given talents, but I kinda want to say to them "Go into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, point.")

[Lucia]

The Queen Mum was a Nazi sympathizer? I had no idea.

[LL]

Props to Andy for - Probably the reason "The Event" hasn't registered with the global community yet is because CNN is only reporting the disappearance of millions of blond women under 30.

RE Recognizing the inhuman, unreal world they are describing would force them to recognize not just that the plot of their novel makes no sense, but that their whole "prophetic" scheme makes no sense. They would not be able to do a better job telling this story even if they were better writers. If they were better writers, they would have to tell a different story.

Yeah, LeJenkins and their followers really do seem to think of the rest of us as monsters, assigning motives to us that exist only in their fevered imaginations (and which thus say more about them than they do about anyone else). They wouldn't say "monsters" (at least not to our faces), but it's clear they believe that all the unbelievers go out every night and have anonymous sex with strangers, do every illegal drug there is, perform abortions just for the hell of it, take the Lord's name in vain every 20 seconds, etc. If only there was a way to get rid of us, to cleanse the world of all the horrible people who don't think like they do... I've always thought this is why end-of-the-world scenarios are always so popular, because it suggests to people who don't shrink from the idea of the horrible deaths of billions of people that one day, it'll happen (the comet, the plague, the nuclear war) that will wipe out most humans on earth and we can start fresh and do it "right" this time. As if.

[aunursa]

I suppose this is here to bring Rayford up to speed with what the rest of us have already read,

Although Rayford read the book jacket, and is aware that he's the protagonist in a PMD book series, he hadn't yet had the chance to digest the previous chapters.

(Nor has he been able to view the "Left Behind" video, like they did in Spaceballs.)

[Penh]

John Shirley's "The Other End" is another good variant on the End Of The World, although it's sadly only available in a limited edition at the moment. It includes a nice jab at "the authors of a popular series of novels about the Rapture," who are rather dismayed to find themselves Left Below.

[k]

Major League Baseball teams in spring training face the daunting task of replacing the dozens of players lost

My first thought? I bet they all played for The Colorado Rockies.

[the opoponax]

The Queen has a few great bits about the Queen Mum's awareness that the media, royal staff, Anglican Clergy, etc. are just cribbing from her own funeral plans.

Actually, she comes off quite well there -- one of the more sympathetic characters in the film. Though they don't allude to her being a Nazi sympathizer. In fact, she has a bit where she reminds Elizabeth of her promises to the English people during the war.

[damnedyankee]

Speaking of Shirley, I'd recommend to anyone and everyone here to track down his "Eclipse" trilogy (Eclipse, Eclipse Penumbra, and Eclipse Corona) at your earliest possible convenience if you haven't already done so. The international politics are a little dated (Soviets, Warsaw Pact, etc.), but Shirley saw the RTC's coming a long time ago.

[rampancy]

Oh, before I begin, I'm a long-time reader, first-time poster, etc., etc.

@Bugmaster: Love the Alpha Centauri reference - I actually cringed when I tried to play The Lord's Believers, especially when their leader starts preaching when you select their faction (for those who never played it, when you select any given faction in the game, a little audio clip from their leader plays). I didn't believe anyone in real life could be like that; boy how wrong I was...

@Lucia: I think the MLB custom of pointing to the sky originated with Babe Ruth - I remember reading about how before he went up to bat, he'd point up to the sky as if to taunt the opposition, in a "see-that-that's-where-the-ball-is-going" kind of way. From what I remember of an old A&E Biography episode on him I saw as a child, he surely wasn't Christian...

[Jeff]

Some sports fans (and non sports fans too) would probably argue that professional athletes may be the one group of people on Earth so self absorbed that they'd miss the Rapture without thinking of how it affects them.

I tought that would be "celebrities" (people famous for being famous) in general. The movie star who's got to be in every issue of People, the sports star more worried about image than scores, etc.

So perhaps J&L think they're being nice to the unraptured in assuming that the left behind would still be interested baseball instead of, say, kittenball.

Whoo hoo, kittenball! "It's a nice warm day here in bin Laden Park, and the LA Pornos are taking on the SF GayGayGays. The players are sharpening the spikes on their bats as the kitty warnglers look on." (No kitty porn allowed here, though!)

re taking the Lord's name in vain: Isn't that what L&J do, when they presume to say what God wants and what He will do?

[cjmr]

Don't know if Babe Ruth was a practicing Christian as an adult, but he was brought up in a Catholic orphanage/refomatory...

[Paul Walton]

Don't know if Babe Ruth was a practicing Christian as an adult, but he was brought up in a Catholic orphanage/refomatory...

Not an RTC then.

[txredd]

CRASH: Write this down..."We gotta play 'em one day at a time."

NUKE: Boring.

CRASH: Of course. That's the point... "I'm just happy to be here and hope I can help the ballclub."

NUKE: Jesus.

CRASH: Write, write--"I just wanta give It my best shot and, Good Lord willing, things'll work out."

(NUKE STARTS WRITING them down)

NUKE: "...Good Lord willing, things'll work out."

[Bugmaster]

I actually cringed when I tried to play The Lord's Believers, especially when their leader starts preaching when you select their faction

Yeah, they're pretty nasty. I always make sure to take them out first, because their faction is the only one that cannot be trusted, at all, in any capacity. Diplomacy with them is pointless, they'll just attack you in 2-3 turns anyway.

[Scott]

they believe that all the unbelievers go out every night and have anonymous sex with strangers, do every illegal drug there is, perform abortions just for the hell of it, take the Lord's name in vain every 20 seconds, etc.

1. I wish.
2. Nope, just wine.
3. N/A
4. Yea, I'll cop to the Lord's name in vain thing.

[Hibryd]

Rayford continues watching CNN, where the anchor's TelePrompter has switched from "exposition" mode to "summary of what you've read so far" mode.

I get a theology lesson and a laugh. I love this site.

Speaking of the news, why on earth are they covering the international criminal status of a reporter? I mean, really, the only times a print journalist's name gets to prime time news is if he's 1) Kidnapped by terrorists, or 2) Killed by terrorists. The possibility that he may have been killed via car bomb would make the news *if* the news had nothing else to report (like, say, the disappearance of every child on Earth and millions of adults), but the story "he was wanted by Interpol but isn't any more - no further details"... YAWN.

Probably the reason "The Event" hasn't registered with the global community yet is because CNN is only reporting the disappearance of millions of blond women under 30

Not to mention Fox News, where Greta Van Susteren is actively looking for every vanished white girl under 20.