Post by Paddy by Grace on Dec 5, 2009 8:32:32 GMT -7
Pay Attention to this site and know HOW to give an answer 
www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=89624095-c6de-4058-a583-fadf5d0a0413&p=1
Some see the signs in natural disasters or political news, others in apocalyptic visions at the movie theatre. Whatever the inspiration, a growing online community is devoted to tracking the imminent arrival of the Rapture.
Specifics vary according to denomination and individual belief, but basic Rapture doctrine says Jesus will unexpectedly return and bring faithful Christians to Heaven, leaving non-believers and followers of other faiths behind to face a prolonged period of global strife.
"I think it's becoming more mature, people are becoming more organized," says Todd Strandberg, the Benton, Arkansas-based found of RaptureReady.com. "The number of web and blog sites have just proliferated." Strandberg believes his site, founded in 1987, is one of the oldest, and it attracts about 250,000 unique visitors and eight million views a month. Its cornerstone is the Rapture Index, a weekly score that ranks the nearness of the Rapture based on indicators such as inflation, crime rates and natural disasters.
We're getting a lot of secular interest because of 2012," he says, referring to the new John Cusack movie based on belief the ending of the Mayan calendar in 2012 forecasts an apocalypse.
The index hit a record high of 182 on Sept. 24, 2001 and the current ranking is 167 -- above the "fasten your seatbelt" threshold of 160. The Antichrist is said to be a charismatic global leader and some believe Barack Obama fits the bill, Strandberg says, while others see foreshadowing in the Middle East peace process or leadership of the European Union.
"When Jesus comes to take the church away in the Rapture, it's going to be a surprise event, so we need every tool we could possibly come up with," Strandberg says.
YouTube is home to dozens of well viewed Rapture videos with dramatic soundtracks and text asking "Are you ready?" edited onto news images, historical footage and special-effects disasters from Hollywood movies.
For $14.95 a year, members of YouveBeenLeftBehind.com can store messages and email addresses of people they'd like to reach after the Rapture, sending a final appeal to unsaved loved ones or passing along pragmatic info they'll need for the years of "tribulation" they believe will follow. The website's team includes five Christian couples around the U.S. who are required to log into the site each day, the FAQs explains, and if they fail to check in for six consecutive days, the system will send out the stored messages under the assumption the Rapture has occurred.
Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Asian tsunami, aU.S. election that divided the population last year and the economic collapse all contributed to a feeling that the Rapture could be near, says the site's Benton, Arkansas-based founder Mark Heard.
"There's a lot of doubting Thomases out there who just need some evidence, and hopefully the event itself will be enough evidence for them to consider that what we've been telling them all these years is true," he says.
Even non-believers are staking out a piece of this Rapture cottage industry online.
For $110 per pet, the website Eternal Earthbound Pets says it matches up Christian clients with atheists who pledge to go to their homes immediately after the Rapture to rescue and care for their pets, who are believed to lack souls and would presumably not be saved.
Bart Centre, author of The Atheist Camel Chronicles and founder of the site, says they just signed their 100th client and he doesn't believe his own atheism is at odds with this business idea. If someone in New Hampshire asked him to insure their house against an earthquake, he says, he'd gladly do so even though the state has never had a major earthquake.
"We're not insuring against our being wrong, we're insuring clients who believe they are right. I don't have to believe what they believe in order to ensure them," Centre says. "If we really thought that there was a big possibility of the Rapture happening, obviously our fee structure would be much steeper."
www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=89624095-c6de-4058-a583-fadf5d0a0413&p=1
Some see the signs in natural disasters or political news, others in apocalyptic visions at the movie theatre. Whatever the inspiration, a growing online community is devoted to tracking the imminent arrival of the Rapture.
Specifics vary according to denomination and individual belief, but basic Rapture doctrine says Jesus will unexpectedly return and bring faithful Christians to Heaven, leaving non-believers and followers of other faiths behind to face a prolonged period of global strife.
"I think it's becoming more mature, people are becoming more organized," says Todd Strandberg, the Benton, Arkansas-based found of RaptureReady.com. "The number of web and blog sites have just proliferated." Strandberg believes his site, founded in 1987, is one of the oldest, and it attracts about 250,000 unique visitors and eight million views a month. Its cornerstone is the Rapture Index, a weekly score that ranks the nearness of the Rapture based on indicators such as inflation, crime rates and natural disasters.
We're getting a lot of secular interest because of 2012," he says, referring to the new John Cusack movie based on belief the ending of the Mayan calendar in 2012 forecasts an apocalypse.
The index hit a record high of 182 on Sept. 24, 2001 and the current ranking is 167 -- above the "fasten your seatbelt" threshold of 160. The Antichrist is said to be a charismatic global leader and some believe Barack Obama fits the bill, Strandberg says, while others see foreshadowing in the Middle East peace process or leadership of the European Union.
"When Jesus comes to take the church away in the Rapture, it's going to be a surprise event, so we need every tool we could possibly come up with," Strandberg says.
YouTube is home to dozens of well viewed Rapture videos with dramatic soundtracks and text asking "Are you ready?" edited onto news images, historical footage and special-effects disasters from Hollywood movies.
For $14.95 a year, members of YouveBeenLeftBehind.com can store messages and email addresses of people they'd like to reach after the Rapture, sending a final appeal to unsaved loved ones or passing along pragmatic info they'll need for the years of "tribulation" they believe will follow. The website's team includes five Christian couples around the U.S. who are required to log into the site each day, the FAQs explains, and if they fail to check in for six consecutive days, the system will send out the stored messages under the assumption the Rapture has occurred.
Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Asian tsunami, aU.S. election that divided the population last year and the economic collapse all contributed to a feeling that the Rapture could be near, says the site's Benton, Arkansas-based founder Mark Heard.
"There's a lot of doubting Thomases out there who just need some evidence, and hopefully the event itself will be enough evidence for them to consider that what we've been telling them all these years is true," he says.
Even non-believers are staking out a piece of this Rapture cottage industry online.
For $110 per pet, the website Eternal Earthbound Pets says it matches up Christian clients with atheists who pledge to go to their homes immediately after the Rapture to rescue and care for their pets, who are believed to lack souls and would presumably not be saved.
Bart Centre, author of The Atheist Camel Chronicles and founder of the site, says they just signed their 100th client and he doesn't believe his own atheism is at odds with this business idea. If someone in New Hampshire asked him to insure their house against an earthquake, he says, he'd gladly do so even though the state has never had a major earthquake.
"We're not insuring against our being wrong, we're insuring clients who believe they are right. I don't have to believe what they believe in order to ensure them," Centre says. "If we really thought that there was a big possibility of the Rapture happening, obviously our fee structure would be much steeper."