{"id":574,"date":"2010-08-09T07:16:58","date_gmt":"2010-08-09T07:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/omeoflittlefaith\/2010\/08\/rapture-orphan-interview-part-1.html"},"modified":"2010-08-09T07:16:58","modified_gmt":"2010-08-09T07:16:58","slug":"rapture-orphan-interview-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omeoflittlefaith\/2010\/08\/rapture-orphan-interview-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Rapture Orphan Rescue: The Interview (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week<\/b> I called your attention to a new online business called Rapture Orphan Rescue<\/a>. Like Eternal Earthbound Pets<\/a> but with kids, it promises to care for children who potentially get left behind should their parents get “caught up in the air.” The proprietors expect to be left behind themselves because they are atheists. (They suspect, however, that if the rapture DOES happen, that’ll be good enough reason to convert to Christianity.)<\/p>\n

We had some good discussion about the ethics of such a service, and I thought it would be interesting to go right to the source: I asked the owner of Rapture Orphan Rescue for an interview, and he graciously complied. His name is Justin and he lives in Texas, but I’ve promised not to reveal any more than that. (Not because he doesn’t stand behind the business, but because of a few other quite legitimate reasons.) <\/p>\n

In the interview, I’ll call him ROR.<\/p>\n

I’ll split the interview into two parts. Look for Part 2 tomorrow.<\/p>\n

——————<\/p>\n

JB: What’s your religious background\/story? Have you
\nalways been a nontheist or did you “de-convert” from a religious
\ntradition?<\/p>\n

ROR: I grew up in the
\nTexas-shaped buckle on the Bible-belt. However, I’d say that my parents
\nwere divided on their degree of religiosity. I fell in line with my
\nmother’s creationist, born-again version of Christianity with
\nan inerrant Bible, while my father had a more liberal view but typically
\nstayed out of the discussions. I was pretty evangelical even in my day-to-day life, attempting to ‘witness’ to all of my friends. I was so scared
\nthat they were going to hell, that it consumed me. <\/p>\n

By the age of 12 I
\nhad made it my mission to save as many people as possible. Despite my
\nyouth, my enthusiasm and an eye for detail actually yielded a moderate
\namount of success. By 13, I had read many of the 90’s-era creationist
\nand Intelligent Design creationist books — even read the whole Bible — and
\nwas all fired up and ready to debate. Once again, I met with moderate
\nsuccess. I kept refining my technique, and growing my subject-matter
\nexpertise. <\/span><\/b>Probably
\nabout a year or two later I finally decided to see just exactly what
\nthose pesky atheists were trying to say with all of their flawed
\narguments. I felt bulletproof, but even more than that, I felt like I
\nwas the bullet and the atheists needed the proofing. <\/p>\n

I spent weeks
\nculling the internet, library, and even a book or two that had been
\nrecommended to me. My plan backfired. I was taken aback at the logical
\nand philosophical arguments, but those didn’t sway me yet because I had
\nfaith that I would find adequate answers and rebuttals later (I didn’t).
\nWhat really made me snap was an article on the Talk.Origins archive
\nabout “problems with flood geology<\/a>” (it’s
\nstill there). That article was not attacking the existence of God, or
\nusing philosophical arguments that I could wiggle out of, or any vague
\nconcepts at all. It was attacking something very specific that I
\nhappened to believe in: that Noah’s ark was real, that the world was less than
\n10,000 years old, and that these two concepts were proof that evolution was a
\nlie. <\/p>\n

Now I know that your readers may have all sorts of different
\nperspectives on this (and really every issue within Christianity), but if
\nyou take an honest look at that article, how could you not conclude
\nthat my beliefs were wrong? It was page after page of science, logic,
\nand empirical data that directly contradicted my beliefs so thoroughly
\nthat I actually began to cry. 
\nI cried for three days. I went back to my Bible, my
\nparents, my creationist websites, and my notes. I found nothing there
\nthat hadn’t also just been utterly decimated by the facts presented in
\njust that one article, amongst the hundreds I also read there. <\/p>\n

So I just
\nshelved it all — all of my doubts. I still identified as Christian for a
\nfew more years, but never really brought it up with other people like I
\nused to. Over the next few years, I was exposed to more science and how
\nthe scientific method actually works, and secular humor from people
\nlike Bill Hicks<\/a>, and even George Carlin<\/a>. All of the self-defense
\nmechanisms that I had set up for my cultural identity began to crumble,
\nand I finally was able to look at the questions again.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
I went through this progression in my late-teens and early
\ntwenties: Liberal Christianity <\/i>(very brief) -> Deist<\/i> (brief) ->
\n<\/b>Agnostic<\/i> -> Militant Agnostic<\/i> -> Weak Atheist<\/i> -> Strong Atheist<\/i>
\n<\/b> -> Anti-theist<\/i> -> Explicit Atheist<\/i>. For those unfamiliar with the
\nterms, Weak and Strong Atheism are summed up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Where did the idea for Rapture Orphan Rescue come from?<\/p>\n

<\/b>My wife and I were driving home from the OB\/GYN two weeks ago, as she is
\npregnant with our first child. On the way home I mentioned that somebody
\nhad made a website that offers a ‘pet-rescue’ for pets that were left
\nbehind in the Rapture (Eternal Earthbound Pets<\/a>). We had a laugh, and some
\nlight discussion. She jested, “But what about babies? Aren’t all babies
\natheist? Somebody should start a baby rescue site.” <\/p>\n

Immediately, the two
\nof us realized what a great idea it was, and we ran with it. 
<\/b>
On your website, you spend as much time trying to talk people out of their rapture beliefs <\/a>as you do describing your services. I’m
\nimpressed by the lengths you go to here, but I’m wondering: how committed you are to Rapture Orphan Rescue
\nas an actual business? Which is more important to you in this venture:
\nmaking money or making a statement?<\/b><\/p>\n

I’d say that making
\nmoney takes a back seat, because I really don’t expect anyone to sign
\nup. Yes, it’s true that the pets site has 200 contracts already. But as you say, I
\ngo to extraordinary lengths to convince potential customers not to hit
\nthat Paypal button. (Other than the donation of course!) <\/p>\n

But I am taking
\nthe business seriously, just in case. I really am doing the following:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
    \n
  • Putting together a team of committed and like-minded atheists in every state (more sign up every day)<\/li>\n
  • Requiring a job
    \napplication form, with plans to incorporate official background checks
    \non every person I hire (I’m just waiting for that first customer so I can pay for
    \nthis)<\/li>\n
  • Working with a lawyer<\/li>\n
  • Prepared and refined several contingency plans ‘just in case’<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    ——————<\/p>\n

    There’s more to the interview,<\/b> but I don’t want to run too long. Come back tomorrow as Justin and I discuss the ethics of his business, accountability issues, and the sticky question of whether evangelical Christians even believe their unsaved kids will be left behind.<\/p>\n

    In the meantime, what do you make of his de-conversion story? Does his path from super-committed Christian kid to explicit atheism surprise you? Are other kids with a similar commitment to biblical inerrancy and Young-Earth Creationism faced with the possibility of a similar de-conversion when they meet logical and philosophical challenges to these beliefs?<\/p>\n

    Let’s discuss, but please keep it civil.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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