RaptureLetters.com

You may or may not be familiar with the “rapture” concept in the American Evangelical Christian tradition--a reasonable description may be found here--but the basic idea is that, prior to the thousand-year reign of Christ on Earth, and just prior to the seven-year horror show known as the “tribulation,” all saved Christians will be assumed directly into heaven. This is the premise of the wildly-popular Left Behind series of books, films, radio plays, etc., and is also, some would argue, a driving force behind current U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Well, in case you’re concerned that un-saved friends and family won’t know what’s happened to you after your car is found in a ditch with your clothes in a neat pile on the driver's seat, fear no more! www.raptureletters.com will send an email to your left-behind pals, announcing that good old holier-than-them has been assumed. And, as a bonus, the standard email (alas, you cannot edit it) will also give them some handy tips for getting saved themselves--it’s not too late!

I can’t tell whether these guys believe it themselves, or whether it’s just a moneymaking scam: the site is described as a “personal ministry,” and while registration is free, a donations page is displayed prominently after you register a name. According to the donations page, “Ninety percent of all donations [they] receive are used to further the kingdom of God and 10% goes toward administration costs.” I can’t figure out precisely what this means (any better than they can figure out whether “percent” is singular or plural). I do know that if I were running that site, “administration costs” would be my salary as webmaster, and “the kingdom of God” would coincidentally be located in my apartment.