The Town Hall Archives

Jared · Posted: Wed May 14, 2003 8:05 pm Post subject: "Left Behind" Profiteering?

Every once in a while (quite often, actually), I just need to rant about something that's annoying me. Well, it's time again...

Some of you are fans of the Left Behind book series. I read them and liked them for a while, but later lost interest as the books began to repeat themselves over and over again and more and more liberties were taken in the writing of the books. (I'm a pre-tribber, which is the view portrayed in the books, but I still find many portions of the Left Behind series to be very wrong.)

But while I began to personally dislike the series, I didn't despise it. A lot of good was accomplished with the books despite the shortcomings. According to author Jerry Jennings, over two thousand people wrote in to say that they accepted Christ after reading the books. All issues about whether the books are accurate aside, that's a wonderful thing!

Unfortunately, Jenkins and LaHaye haven't been content with the books. I just opened up my inbox and found, with all the other junkmail, an email screaming "BREAKING NEWS: Signs of the End Times: SARS, Iraq, Israel?" It will go in the same place the messages telling me where I can get a great rate on my new home loan go... In the deleted items folder. Until I purge it, that is.

But before I deleted it, I did read through it. I guess they accomplished their first goal, of peaking my interest, but I was interested as in "what kind of lows are they stooping to in this?" Pretty low ones, apparently.

SARS has been in the news for quite a while and Israel and Iraq are nothing new as far as I'm concerned, and yet this is "BREAKING NEWS." Actually, it's not news at all. But avoid that for the moment. The email is sent out by "The Left Behind Prophesy Club" and that made me even more annoyed. If they want to talk about prophesy, fine. Dr. LaHaye is a noted Biblical scholar well-versed in eschatology. He's the author of a great study on the book of Revelation that I read many years back.

But it doesn't say "The Prophesy Club with Tim LaHaye" or something like that. It says "The Left Behind Prophesy Club." Writing a fictional account of prophesied events is one thing, but going on to use that fiction to promote and serve as the basis is another entirely. I'll take my fiction based on the Bible, but I have no use for a study of something biblical based on fiction. Or even promoted using it.

It's a cheap advertising gimmick and is not befitting a serious subject. My inbox isn't the only place I've seen this ad. On some of the more gossipy news sites, I've seen it targeted to certain keywords. Reading about last week's tornados? Well, the guys at "The Left Behind Prophesy Club" would like to inform you that things will get worse in the end times.

This is also opportunism at its worst. Questions about the end times are valid and I'm not opposed to something as a companion to the Left Behind series if its goal is to give the real facts to nonbelievers who picked up a Left Behind book and were intrigued and a little concerned. But that's already been covered, in a book by LaHaye and Jenkins entitled "Are We Living in the End Times?" I have not read the book and therefore cannot comment on its value and content, but I think the book is fine in concept.

But this ad I received in my inbox, which wants to sell me a subscription to this club, is shameless profiteering and way too much hype. Furthermore, it's chief selling point is this: "In depth analysis and interpretation of the news in light of end-time Prophecy."

Now, that's okay in and of itself, but I must say that I get a little nervous when people start scanning every news item to find some tie-in to the end times. Some things, sure. Israel's statehood in 1948 was major, as was its growing borders in the Six Day War of 1967. But I cannot stand the people that scour everything that airs on the evening news to find some sort of hidden sign.

Now, I'd be willing to believe that LaHaye and Jenkins are above finding some secret about the second coming in an article about how OPEC actions have made the price of gas rise by an average of three cents. But the blaring title of the email dispels any benefit of the doubt I was willing to give them. Iraq and Israel? Yeah, there could be some sort of tie-in. This stuff's hardly breaking news, but the fact that one nation in the middle east, namely Iraq, might be headed toward at least a rudimentary form of democracy, does perhaps point toward a time when a seven year peace treaty by nations of that region could be signed with Israel. But that's a conjecture and you could easily look at it the opposite way as well, noting that there'd be less need for the treaty if countries in that area were not under fascist Islamic rule.

But the title mentions SARS before even getting to Iraq. Uh, SARS!?

I'm sorry, but I can't remember a single passage in scripture that mentions severe acute respiratory syndrome as an indicator of the coming of the rapture. There's nothing that even vaguely resembles that. It appears that the "Left Behind Prophesy Club" is simply capitalizing on something that's instilling a lot of fear in people right now.

Of course, if everyone wasn't making such a big deal out of SARS, maybe people would realize that they're more likely to die by, say, oh... just about ANY way... than from SARS. Thousands die daily from heart attacks, car crashes, drowning and the like, but I haven't seen people completely avoid their vehicles or shy away from swimming pools (well, right now with the temperatures in the 70s at best, people aren't swimming... but you get the point). Instead, they fear airplanes and Toronto, Beijing and Victoria. Caution is one thing, media-induced panic another.

This Left Behind paid subscribers newsletter seems to be the newsletter of choice for those who always want to be shocked, panicked and terrified. The sub-header to an partial write-up on SARS (Get the rest and more for only $19.95 per quarter; sign up today!) reads ominously, "Peril grows as world shrinks." The article features sections of an old World Health Organization document noting that a new infectious disease in only one country could constitute a health emergency. Yes, it could. But then again, it could not.

SARS is a problem, not a sign that the rapture is just around the corner. And I'd say that Tim LaHaye knows it.

In another article to whet your appetite, there's talk about the current middle east "road map for peace." I agree that the plan is dead on arrival and makes Israel give up too much, but they seem to insinuate (without saying it directly) that it is much, much more and may directly tie in to prophesy. Apparently they're very ill-informed about what's in this "road map." It's a lot of things, but it's not the seven year treaty. Everything in the news related to Israel does not fulfill prophesy. These people are smart enough to know that and I'm very disappointed that they seem to have set that knowledge aside in order to make some money (a little under $80 per year per subscriber).

Even worse, in a blatant and incredibly dumb way of tying in the prophesy to the fiction, there are two key quotes in the piece. One is from President Bush outlining his middle east plans. The other? One from Tsion Ben-Judah, a fictional character in the Left Behind series. It's the quote that practically closes the whole thing, with the words "but... it's good to remember that" preceding the quote. Uh, that's where the Bible verse goes, guys! Not some words of a fictional character!

Only one sentence follows then Ben-Judah quote: "Whatever happens, we will follow events and help you interpret them in light of Scripture." Maybe that should be rewritten to say that whatever happens, "we will follow events and help you interpret them in the light of our wonderful and best-selling book series."

It's quite sad that two noted Christian authors would stoop to these lows to make a buck. Especially when they are already multi-millionaires from their real work. They don't need a phony, prophesy-based get rich scheme. But, seemingly not satisfied yet, they have one now.

Get your prophesy news, extra Left Behind message board access and behind-the-scenes book information now! All for just $19.95 per quarter. And we'll also throw in--

Disgusting.

The Top Crusader · Posted: Thu May 15, 2003 12:01 am Post subject:

Errr... I have many qualms with the Left Behind series already... but that's pretty bad. I would HOPE at least that the authors aren't directly involved in all this.

Samwise · Posted: Thu May 15, 2003 6:19 am Post subject:

Hey,

I'm a post-mil and I mostly disagree what the book has to say.
I don't mean to offend anybody who is a pre.
If we believe that world will get worse and worse, why should we be missionaries? Why should we go out and work? If we believe in that how could we ever have hope in anything?
I don't think that Israel and Iraq are the end of the world. I've heard people say, "I wish the end of the world will come". When they say that, It's a real scary thing.

The Top Crusader · Posted: Thu May 15, 2003 10:17 am Post subject:

Errr... do you mean post-trib? If so, I can agree with you, but, uhh... post-mil, well...

E87M2 · Senior Member Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 1106

Jacob Isom · Posted: Thu May 15, 2003 12:56 pm Post subject:

While the "Left Behind" series may be good, I don't personally like how they go for action adventure rather than solid morals in the books. It disgusts me. Have any of you read "The Remnant" yet? The authors killed off two or three of the main characters, all in brutal, visual ways! Buck was crushed by a falling vehicle, while the others were pretty much mutilated to smithereens. Afterwards, friends of the characters didn't really grieve as a normal person would; they just kept on going with the storyline instead.

Another thing that annoys me about the books is that they emphasize that you can get saved after the rapture even if you've heard the Gospel message. Some verses in scripture point to it being just the other way. If you hear the Gospel and reject it, then the rapture happens and they try to "get saved" then... it's not going to happen. The books really emphasize that we have a "second chance" and it actually could motivate someone NOT to get saved before the rapture in hope of being able to get involved in the world's schemes after the rapture.

It's also interesting to note that some of Tim LaHaye's beliefs about the End Times are off whack.

Jason_Agent1131 · Posted: Thu May 15, 2003 1:19 pm Post subject:

And I'm sure we all would know MUCH more about all of this than somone who is a Bible Scholar of over 20 years.

I'm not saying the books are fact, and I'm not saying that I agree with everything they have written either. However, I do believe that they never advertised these fiction books as 100% fact...if they did they would be fools!

They took the theory that they believe could be more plausible than the others, and they built a story line around it.

HOWEVER, I do agree whole-heartedly with Jared, I do think that some of the marketing gimmicks are preposterous! They have turned a semi-reputable book franchise into a ridiculous money focused, attention getting, bad movie making, black spot on Christianity. But, I would be very surprised if Tim LeHay & Jerry Jenkins were the masterminds behind this repulsive turn. I'm guessing that there is some hyperactive 30s something marketing major behind all this, looking forward to the next time she can go to Nordstrom's and buy her $300 prada handbag.

I respect Tim & Jerry, along with their fictional & scholarly work, but I think they need to see what is happening to the company that they started.....its getting out of control.

Paul B · Posted: Thu May 15, 2003 4:58 pm Post subject:

while were talking about the left behind movies if that what the topic is.I saw kirt cameran on tv preaching.Did he get saved?If so what kind of church dose he goto anyone know?

rosie · Inquisitive Member Joined: 07 Jan 2003 Posts: 1197

I saw him preaching on tv, too. Yeah, he got saved. Hence his apearance on tbn. And his presence left behind...

Jason_Agent1131 · Posted: Thu May 15, 2003 5:21 pm Post subject:

He has been a christian for quite a long time