The Post-Rapture Post is a website that allows Christians to auto-send messages to their loved ones after Christians are raptured into heaven. Sure, there are other sites that do this, but what makes this site different is it’s run by an atheist:
But you must be thinking to yourself, “How can the letters be delivered after the Rapture?” The answer is simple. The creators of this site are Atheists. That’s right, we don’t believe in God. How else would we be able to deliver your correspondence after the Rapture?
In the FAQ there’s the question, “How Do We Know that You Will Not Ascend To Heaven with Us?” Here’s the answer:
The Bible says that only those that repent of their sins and accept Jesus as the True Son of God will be saved. We do neither. Some of our personal sins include: drunkenness, heresy, sacrilige/blasphemy, gluttony, laciviousness, and sloth. There is no way we are going to disappear into Heaven any time soon.
Why did the creator — who happens to be a reader of this blog — create it?
The answer is that, while I don’t personally believe, I feel that others may need my services in the event that the impossible happens. Also I need money to support my sinful lifestyle.
Many cards can be purchased, including:
- $8 “Chin Up” Card — Tells a friend or loved one who has been left behind to keep their head held high during the end times.
- $8 “Told You So” Card — What most Christians would really want to say when their fantasies are vindicated.
- $8 Damned Soul Card — A simple reminder of what happens to those who, either through sinful living or apathy, reject God’s laws.
- $800 hand-scribed message (!) on medieval style parchment sheets, and rolled and wrapped with a fine Italian ribbon.
I’m somewhere between (1) thinking this idea is awesome and wishing I thought of it first and (2) not believing Christians would actually order something so absurd.
Dammit, that’s the kind of idea that i wish had before…
This idea can be extended in all directions: post-rapture memorial services; pet care; legal services (in case your left behind loved ones mistakenly file a missing persons report) etc.
“I’m somewhere between (1) thinking this idea is awesome and wishing I thought of it first and (2) not believing Christians would actually order something so absurd.”
Poe’s law at work. :)
OMFG. Why didn’t I think about that?????
This is awesome!!
That’s freakin’ awesome! Ingenuity at it’s finest. Thinking of others and serving them in this way is more “christian” than you think. ha ha. Had to say it.
The “rapture” is not even a biblical word so I’m not sold on the “half go now, the rest wait till later” scenario. So in that case, I’m a little upset I didn’t capitalize on this visionary planning. Of course, the absolute best demographic to sell this to are the Kool-Aid drinkers. They create their own “rapture” when comets come or Democrats/gays get elected (see GodHatesFags.com for your target audience – IDIOTS). I’d bet they’d pay a load. As a Christian myself, ALTHOUGH I DON’T AGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT, I know the “Told You So” card would BY FAR be the biggest seller. Great forethought with that design.
Good site find. I’ll Tweet this to my Christian audience and see what response I get.
1) I agree. Genius. Genius. Genius. Those jerks ;)
2) I’ve seen some Xtians displaying objects that even I, as a non-believer, found rather sacrilegious, so I do not doubt that some would order
@kyknoord: post-rapture pet care. Now THAT is genius! Sign up today! Reserve your spot for your beloved soulless pet with a deposit of $5,000!
Yep it is funny but if you really can purchase these messages is in an ok thing to do i.e. is it ok to rip stupid people off?
I would imagine that there are some very vulnerable people who may use this service and that sort of makes me feel uneasy but part of me says go ahead it’s no less than stupid believers deserve.
Nice jab, Jabster. I didn’t call you guys stupid so hook a brother up and don’t call me (us) stupid. That very attitude from Christians annoys the crap out of me and I know it annoys you. And now you’re doing the same thing. No wonder people can’t talk to each other.
Rant over. ha.
Hey guys, SERIOUS QUESTION: I blogged about this site just now and I told my readers I’d ask you a question. Allow me to be ignorant about this and help me, PLEASE . . .
Do I say that atheists have particular “beliefs” or a “lack of beliefs”?
I’m not P.C. at all and don’t claim to be. But I do want to be accurate. Seriously, let me know.
Thanks. And again, great site find – genius!
@Stephen W
Well what would you call someone who a) believer in Rapture and b) pays money to have a message delivered after it happens – do you think that’s not stupid? Others things that can make a believer stupid are denying evolution and believing that the earth was created by god 6,000 years ago. If you’ve got a better term than stupid then I’m willing to use it. Oh and I didn’t say all believers are stupid just those that believe certain things especially when it comes to taking their own holy text as the literal truth.
Here’s a question for you – if someone straps a bomb to themselves on the grounds that they are going to be rewarded in heaven how would you describe that?
So I’m happy to respect that people should be able to believe what they want but that doesn’t mean I have to respect their views.
What’s great about this is that the sites creator can just set it up and then not do anything! Just let it run and see if he gets any money. There’s no way for any customers to know if any letters are really being written and sent (except of course they could see from heaven, duh, what was I thinking?). And it’s not like anyone could sue him to say that he is ripping people off, because most Christians believe the rapture will occur, so I can’t imagine a case actually going to court.
I would be highly curious to know how profitable it is. Probably not very, as it seems to be more of a novelty, eh? Pretty funny.
@Stephen Webb
Remember that atheism is purely “lack of belief”. Different atheists might think different things about certain points of contention, but they should never be called a “set of beliefs” as they vary too much and have nothing to do with faith, but are only based on evidence and skepticism.
@Stephen:
“Do I say that atheists have particular “beliefs” or a “lack of beliefs”?”
Atheists don’t believe in a god. That’s pretty much the definition. As to other beliefs, it’s been my experience that most atheists tend to be rational empiricists, and thus unlikely to hold any beliefs that aren’t based on evidenence. So I guess “lack of beliefs” pretty much covers it. However, there are numerous people out there who don’t believe in a god, but do believe in qigong, or karma, or orgone energy or homeopathy or whatever. It is, unfortunately, impossible to ascribe any precise set of beliefs to the group “atheists”, much to Ray Comfort’s dismay. We’re just too diverse a group!
In any case, “lack” of belief gives a sense that one is somehow incomplete without belief, to which many atheists would take exception. Better to steer clear of describing atheists with the broad brush of “belief/unbelief” entirely – we do not believe in a god, and that’s the only unifying factor amongst us.
From the site’s FAQ:
Why Should We Trust You to Deliver Our Messages?
Although we are not religious, we believe that a man’s word is his bond.
Awesome!
If the site’s creator is reading this, you should offer gift certificates. I could see (mostly atheist) people purchasing them for their religious friends and family members, kind of as a ‘tongue in cheek’ gesture.
@yunshui
My experience is that a lack of a belief in god doesn’t mean that you don’t believe in other non-evidence based realms. I wonder is this is more to do with where you live than anything else. So in the US, which has a strong religious background, I can see that the default is to believe in god and a way to not believe in god is by actually looking at the evidence but here in the UK the default of anyone under the age of 40 is not to believe in god in the first place.
P. M. L.
Quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve seen in a month
*snort*
Anybody else notice the title of the FAQ page reads “God hates FAQS”?
Classic!
HILARIOUS! I didn’t see the “God hates FAQS”. Classic indeed.
JABSTER – strapping on a bomb regardless of why = stupid. I agree. And people that would pay money for this websites’ service = stupid. I thought you meant Christians in general.
While you may believe (or don’t) something different doesn’t make anyone stupid, in my opinion. Ignorant perhaps. But my point is that this can go both ways. We can argue all day about details as to evolution, 6000 years, etc…. Either way, not stupid. And it still goes both ways.
For the record, and I’m NOT saying you said this – Muslims strap on bombs, not Christians. So yes, strapping on a bomb for a “reward” or “virgins” = STUPID. I ALSO will admit that some CLAIMING Christian beliefs (although way different from me in this case) also bomb abortion clinics, federal buildings, etc…. However, that’s NOT what I believe or teach.
TO THOSE WHO ANSWERED MY QUESTION / McBloggenstein – THANK YOU. I understand your thinking and explanations. Good points. Just wanted to be clear. And I THINK I’m a tad clearer – maybe. ha. THANKS AGAIN!
@Stephen “While you may believe (or don’t) something different doesn’t make anyone stupid, in my opinion. ”
I’m sorry to be rude, Stephen, but we’re talking about a belief in the end of the world that has been going on for 2,000 years. At least since Paul warned the Corinthians not to get married because “the appointed time has grown very short,” Christians have been telling themselves that the Eschaton would be upon us “soon.” Check out the “Brief History of the Apocalypse” page and realize that these are only the ones that were recorded: http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm
How many times is Hal Lindsay going to update his “Late, Great Planet Earth”? How many books are LaHaye and Jenkins going to squeeze out of the “Left Behind” series? How long does this have to go on before we can call this whole mess of belief “stupid”?
For the record, and I’m NOT saying you said this – Muslims strap on bombs, not Christians.
Suicide bombing is a tactic that has no hard-and-fast religious attachment. Though I am sure it comforts you to think that it does.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bombing#History
Your suggestion that it does was actually kind of offensive, and I’m not even Muslim (or any other religion).
And the best thing is, if it DID happen, they wouldn’t be around to complain if you didn’t do what you said you would. ;)
@Stephen
“While you may believe (or don’t) something different doesn’t make anyone stupid, in my opinion. Ignorant perhaps. But my point is that this can go both ways. We can argue all day about details as to evolution, 6000 years, etc…. Either way, not stupid. And it still goes both ways.”
Ignorant is a lack of knowledge, believing in something when there is overwhelming evidence that is not true is just plain stupid. As believer in a YE wilfully dismisses the evidence and that makes them stupid. If you can think of a better definition than that then by all means do. The arguments that are put forward are completely lacking in evidence and are in fact centred around trying to disprove (and very badly as it happens) that evolution happened. Well I suppose that’s all they can do when their ‘evidence’ can be summed up as “it was all magic”. So yes we can argue all day “about details as to evolution, 6000 years, etc” also long as you considered an argument consists of one side with overwhelming evidence and the other side as continually repeating no it’s not and then ignoring the evidence.
Good call on the Muslim part. My bad. I know that no religion (hopefully) tells you to strap on a bomb. I’m just speaking generally, as every other comment on this entire blog speaks generally about Christians, that for the most part, suicide bombers are ISLAMIC by their own admission. But I agree, in text on a blog comment, that is offensive. Thanks.
I’m done with “stupid” talk. Good points from Jabster. I can argue but I can’t type that much. Lunch on me if you ever have the time and are in my hood.
Thanks guys. See you all on the next post.
Stephen
The problem (and one of the reasons that most of us feel the need to discuss these things) is that they don’t think it’s stupid.
They don’t think it’s stupid to believe that becoming a martyr will take them to a better place with virgins, just like you don’t think it’s stupid to think that Jesus is the son of God. Both beliefs are based on what different holy books told you. Nothing else.
Remember that you have to ask yourself why you believe what you do, while thinking all other beliefs are stupid, knowing full well that people of all other beliefs think yours are just as stupid. Their beliefs are no more stupid than yours (debatable I guess), because they are no different in their basis.
Once a person accepts that there is an afterlife and you can do things to improve your position in that afterlife, then all bets are off. Those people will roast babies over an open fire if they think it will give them a better afterlife. The actions of this life become trivial compared to their fantastical beliefs of what is going to happen in Pretendsville after they die.
The mistake is the same if they think blowing themselves up will earn them virgins, or if they believe not killing cows will let them be reincarnated one rung further up the food chain, or if they believe that being ‘righteous’ will get them past some gates made out of pearl. The belief can justify any action, so the problem is not so much the actions as the belief that encourages those actions.
“Once a person accepts that there is an afterlife and you can do things to improve your position in that afterlife, then all bets are off.”
Excellent point!!!
> (2) not believing Christians would actually order something so absurd.
Believing the absurd is the first step to buying the absurd.
Love the feedback! Gift certificates are a great idea. I just made the site in a few hours years ago and I still manage to get money every month from ads and merch sales. Thanks for the interest!
Joshua Witter
Postmaster General
Post-Rapture Post
I’d be curious to see your sales– any $800 takers taken?
Well, if you did that, it would be rather stupid, I think. You just got some rather strong evidence that God exists and you’re worried about financial gain now? C’mon.
@ Joshua
So if the rapture does happen, and one of your customers doesn’t get whisked away, are you going to send the notification they ordered to them? ;)
@ 2-D Man
No return addresses on these letters ;)
@ catsfive
No $800 letters sold yet… wanna be the first?
thats not right, to scam the believers that way, I hope they run some sort of conversion center or an atheist group to do some good with the money not just parties and ho’s.
“not just parties and ho’s”
AHHHAHA It’s hilarious that you assume it will be used for that!
In all seriousness, around 80% of my profits have indeed been spent on ho’s, and the majority of the remainder for parties.
I guess that makes sense.
You can’t have a party without a ho, but you can have a ho without a party.
One problem with this idea. Atheists lack any and all morals without God. It’s almost guaranteed that they would not actually follow through on what they’ve promised…they have no reason to.
;-)
Ah, but after the Rapture we’d have evidence, so we wouldn’t be atheists anymore.
I like the bumper sticker that reads: “If you leave in the Rapture, can I have your car?”
Personally I find it amazing how many people are convinced Christ and the end of the world will arrive within a decade or so, yet still invest in retirement plans.
I’m confused……if someone leaves a message that implies that they assume their family and/or loved ones will not be going to heaven.
What does that say about their faith in the family and/or loved ones?