left behind

I remember watching A Thief in the Night at a Pentecostal church in Portland, back in the early 1970s. Loosely based on Biblical  ("end times") prophesies, the storyline reflects evangelical beliefs about the trials and tribulations that await non-believers who don't ascend to Heaven during the coming Rapture. War. Pestilence. Disease. Famine. Natural disasters, a New World Order, and the inevitable ascension to power of the Antichrist.

The film was groundbreaking, in that while it was produced by Christian filmmakers, it was aimed at a wider audience. Hence, the infusion of rock music and the liberal "borrowing" of special effects most frequently attributed to horror flicks. Evangelism, writ large by popular culture.

The church bulletin called it "family entertainment," but I recognized it immediately for what it was: a hellfire-and-brimstone sermon intended to bring movie-goers to their knees.

I'd seen milder versions of this act many times before, in revival tents and church meetings. Doubts burned hot in my belly, even as a small girl, primarily because I couldn't fathom a God so vengeful that he'd tear whole families apart, that he'd rip all of creation asunder. But when the movie ended and the lights went up–when I saw stark terror, etched into the tear-streaked faces of the innocent children sitting in the pews all around me–the glowing embers of disbelief finally erupted into flames.

And here we are again, 40-some years later, witnessing the same (and to my mind, shameful) use of fear-based marketing to scare into the fold all those who live at/beyond the margins of church doctrine.

Although I suspect Left Behind will rake in lots of money, the underlying message runs counter to everything I believe. Light, replaced by eternal darkness. Love, yanked away at a moment's notice. When fear is the teacher and these are the take-away lessons…if that's your thing, so be it. But you can go on ahead without me.