Nicholas Guyatt - Have a Nice Doomsday: Why Millions of Americans Are Looking Forward to the End of the World

I ts June 6, 20066/6/06and Im standing in Mardels, a Christian superstore in Littleton, Colorado, waiting for the arrival of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. LaHaye and Jenkins are the biggest stars in the Christian publishing industry, the authors of blockbuster books about the end of the worldthe Left Behind serieswhich have sold more than 60 million copies since 1995. Today, theyve come to this suburb on the southwestern side of Denver to plug their new book, The Rapture . Littleton is a place you already know aboutthree miles down the road is Columbine High School, where twelve students and one teacher lost their lives in 1999 during Americas most notorious school massacre. But theres no trace of that tragedy in the gathering crowd at Mardels, which snakes around the bookstacks in a long and cheerful line that ends at the empty signing table. The authors are due to arrive in ten minutes, and a couple of hundred fans are already here to greet them.

Over the past ten years, the fifteen novels in the Left Behind series have assured Americans that theyre on the verge of the End Times, the last moments before the apocalyptic prophecies of the Bible are fulfilled. Tim LaHaye, like most Bible prophecy enthusiasts in the United States, believes that our current world systemgovernments, economies, religions, culturesis about to collapse. The warning signs are already there for the faithful to observe; in fact, God will rescue true Christians before things get really bad in a massive spiritual airlift known as the Rapture. This is where the Left Behind series begins, with the baffling, instantaneous disappearance of all true believers.

The hero of the books isnt one of these lucky few who are snatched away by God. Hes a 747 pilot named Rayford Steele who misses out on the Rapture because he doesnt share his wifes faith in Christ. In the dramatic first scene of the original Left Behind novel, Rayford is hitting on one of his flight attendants at precisely the moment when dozens of Christian passengers vanish into thin air. Seven years (and twelve books) later, the series ends with the Second Coming, and Rayford gets to meet Jesus Christ himself.

Its hard to think of a more blockbuster ending to a fictional sagathe final book is called The Glorious Appearing but along the way things get very nasty for Christians. The Antichrist, a loyal servant of Satan called Nicolae Carpathia, becomes the leader of the world. Christians are persecuted for their faith and ordered to worship Nicolae. A giant earthquake kills more than a billion people. Worst of all, the United States falls by the wayside. America, for once, does not ride in to save the world from the bad guy. Satan manages to install Nicolae as secretary-general of the United Nations, and repeatedly bests the White House. (By the third book in the series, a UN army has bombed Chicago and other American cities.) The Antichrist sets up his world headquarters in the rebuilt Iraqi city of Babylon, and America fades from view. This period is known as the Tribulation, and its going to be as bad as that sounds.

All of this may seem implausible, but the point of these books is to jar us from our everyday reality and remind us that God is in charge of our future. In the real world, Bill Clinton managed to remove the troublesome UN secretary-general, Boutros Boutros-Ghali back in 1996, and George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003 against the wishes of the Security Council. In the Left Behind universe, its the Antichrist who bosses the UN and seizes Iraq, and only Jesus Christ can sort out the ensuing mess.

Littleton is as patriotic as any other American suburb. By the entrance to Mardels, theres a prayer tree inviting shoppers to write the names of loved ones or friends serving in the military on blue leaves, so that other customers can pray for them. The tree is crammed with leaves, filled out with tiny handwriting. Many of them say President Bush as well as the names of soldiers and units. But the Left Behind books suggest that the current world order is on the verge of collapse, and that the war on terror is about to be overshadowed by a much grander conflict in which America plays no role. The Antichrist may already be among us, suggest Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, and when he comes to power therell be nothing that the United States can do about it.

WHEN TIM AND JERRY finally arrive, the crowd bursts into applause and the signing begins. LaHaye turned eighty in April, and he looks at least ten years younger. He has a full head of red hair and a bright smile as he meets his readers, but there is something a little too healthy about his appearance: hes sprightly in a rather artificial way, like a bagged salad. Jerry Jenkins is much younger, tall with a smartly trimmed gray goatee.

As they sit at the table, Tim LaHayes wife, Beverly, joins him and helps with the signing. Beverly is also a conservative celebrity. Back in 1978, she was so appalled by the liberal agenda of feminists that she founded Concerned Women for America, a pressure group dedicated to fighting the Equal Rights Amendment (which was intended to make sex discrimination unconstitutional) and the spiritual forces of darkness more generally. Nearly thirty years later, Beverlys organization has successfully kept that amendment at bay through fund-raising and Washington lobbying, and CWA has branched out. These days, it runs campaigns against gay rights, abortion, sexually active teens, and even popular music. Sometimes these issues overlap in exciting ways: iPods Keep Teens from Saying No! declares a recent news story on the CWA Web site.

Tims hand is giving him trouble, so the publicity people have preprinted his signature on a book plate and only Jerry is signing the books. Beverly is busy sticking plates into the new copies of The Rapture . The authors seem genuinely happy to chat with the customers, and theres a cheery air. The posters for the event had darkly trailed the release date6/6/6Will You Be Ready?but Mardels seems unruffled by the arrival of the Antichrists special day.

We picked this date a long time ago, but then they scheduled The Omen for a Tuesday release. Ive found my way to LaHayes publicist, a smart and wary woman whos also called Beverly. She put together the Rapture signing tour and has arranged for me to chat with Tim when the event is over. Movies come out on Fridays, not Tuesdaysbooks come out on Tuesdays, but theyve taken our slot. Beverly has been handling interviews with LaHaye and Jenkins all day, and shes been too busy to read the short piece in the New York Times that mentions the book in passing. (The Times article also reports that 216 people have bet an average of $2 each that the world will end today, at odds of 100,000 to 1. Its not clear how they intend to collect.) In addition to the many suitors from the local media, Fox News sent someone to the afternoon press junket to do a piece on LaHaye and Jenkins and the 6/6/6 tie-in, but Beverly has just found out that its been bumped from the evening broadcast: They found an exorcist instead, she says with a familiar resignation.

The crowd continues to move toward the signing table. There are quite a few younger people in the line, as well as some children who seem to have been dragged along by their parents. (The kids perk up when theyre handed an empty box by the Mardels staff: LEFT BEHIND: ETERNAL FORCESTHE VIDEOGAME. Preorder your copy today!) Many of the readers have stories to tell about how the Left Behind books have helped them in their own spiritual lives. Tim LaHaye isnt standoffish, but Jerry Jenkins, who lives just down the road in Colorado Springs, directs the banter. Jenkins actually writes the books; LaHaye helps with the plotting, and ensures that the spiritual message is clear and biblically consistent.