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Sincerely,
Ken Schei

In 2006 I did a podcast intitled "Rescuing Jesus (and America) from the Religious Right". These podcasts are no longer available on iTunes, but can be downloaded or played by clicking HERE

LEFT BEHIND?

I recently watched a program on the Discovery Times Channel entitled: "The Rapture." Near the end of the program, Tim LaHaye (co-author of the 'Left Behind" series), made the following comment:

"Our job as Christians is to proclaim the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Now, if people don't want to believe that, it's a free country, a free world. They can choose not to, but they have to live or go into eternity on the basis of the choice they make."

I was struck by his casual demeanor and seeming lack of concern as he delivered this statement (I would suggest that people try to watch the program to see for themselves). According to his beliefs, anyone who does not "choose" to believe as he does, will be sentenced to an eternity of unimaginable pain and suffering. However, Mr. LaHaye's affect was what I would expect from someone who was trying to convince people that mortgage rates were going to go up and that if they "choose not to believe" that was their right, but they would be stuck with higher mortgage payments.

In an interview with Paul O'Donnell, Mr. LaHaye seems to also show the same lack of concern for his fellow human beings who will be sentenced to what can only be seen as a Cosmic Concentration Camp (Hell) for all of eternity. Not for being bad people (murderers, rapists, child molesters, etc.), but merely for being mistaken in their beliefs:

O'Donnell:
Must these predictions come to pass? Can't they be avoided the way Nineveh avoided its fate?
LaHaye:
These prophecies are not based on what God is going to do, but what He knows man is going to do. He's going to rapture the church. If people reject the prophecies and reject the word, is that God's worry?

If Mr. LaHaye's God is as heartless as Tim seems to be, then I guess it would not be his "worry."

It would seem that one of the things being "Left Behind"....is compassion.

To my way of thinking, anyone who believes as Mr. LaHaye does (literal Hell for eternity for anyone who does not accept Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior), and wants to go to Heaven anyway, cannot possibly be considered to be a good and moral person. Enjoying Heaven while knowing that your "host" had condemned millions of your fellow human beings to Hell, would be as repugnant to a moral being as sipping tea at Bertesgarten would have been during the Second World War.

"Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company." (Mark Twain)