# What did this bumper sticker mean?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2002, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908 "2002-04-16T08:05:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/1 "2002-04-16T08:05:01Z")
It said “In Case of Rapture, This Car Will Be Unmanned”. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/2 "2002-04-16T08:10:45Z")
It’s a Christian bumper sticker. It indicates that when the Rapture (i.e. the second coming of Christ) comes, the driver of the automobile the sticker is on will be taken to Heaven, because he’s been such a good Christian. Presto, free car! 😃 How they already know _now_ that they’ll pass the test, I do not know. ---
**Author:** ![Mooney252](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@Mooney252](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooney252)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/3 "2002-04-16T08:13:18Z")
Then is rapture automatic if a woman is driving? ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/4 "2002-04-16T08:18:09Z")
It’s religious? My word…I thought it was some security warning (like the guy had an ejector seat in case someone stole it…my imagination went wild). ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/5 "2002-04-16T08:20:28Z")
Yeah, sounds like you got a wild imagination, all right! ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/6 "2002-04-16T08:24:01Z")
(Disclaimer: I am not proselytizing, and IANATheologian.) The occupants of said car are most likely born again premillenialist Christians (not all Christians believe the following), who believe that Jesus Christ died on a cross and was resurrected and they can accept him into their hearts in a personal relationship (i.e., “saved” or “born again”). In addition, they believe that Jesus Christ will again return to earth and instantly take all those who are born again in what is referred to as “[the Rapture](http://www.billygraham.org/spiritualhelp/answers.asp?show=oneq&rside=onecat&q=138)” into the air with him, leaving on earth those who are not born again. Basically, the occupant of this car most likely believes they are born again and when the Rapture happens, they will go with Jesus Christ in the sky while their car remains on earth. (Please let me know if there are any factual errors in this!) ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/7 "2002-04-16T09:12:39Z")
My goodness, I always thought it was some sort of play on words that had to do with orgasm and emasculation. Learn somethin’ new every day. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/8 "2002-04-16T09:23:42Z")
It’s just another smug, annoying “born again Christian” saying basically, “When Jesus comes, I will be jerked out of this car leaving it in motion to crash into whatever non-born again morons are left behind, so there!” Or, to paraphrase Chevy Chase, “I’m saved…and you’re not!” Just ignore them. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/9 "2002-04-16T11:07:00Z")
Then you’ve seen the other sticker? _“Come the rapture, can I have your car?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Kiki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kiki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiki)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/10 "2002-04-16T13:11:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by White Lightning \* > \*\*My goodness, I always thought it was some sort of play on words that had to do with orgasm and emasculation. Learn somethin’ new every day. \*\* That’s what I thought too! Does that mean we’re going to hell? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/11 "2002-04-16T13:56:53Z")
you people who didn’t know what it meant… you are joking, right? (go ahead and whoosh me) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/12 "2002-04-16T14:59:54Z")
Um, no, **OpalCat**. Not everyone on this board lives in an area or country where people with such beliefs are common… 🙂 I’d never heard of this bumper sticker until I started reading the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/13 "2002-04-16T15:07:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > \*\*you people who didn’t know what it meant… you are joking, right? (go ahead and whoosh me) \*\* No, they’re serious. This bumper sticker is based on the same odd belief that the “Left Behind” series is based on: that, a few years **before** Christ’s for-real Second Coming, he’ll come **partway** down from Heaven, and the faithful will be levitated up from wherever they are, to meet him in the clouds. This is what’s known as “The Rapture” in conservative Christian circles. From there, Jesus supposedly will take them all back up to heaven, while a few more years of bad shit happens down here - including the reign of the Antichrist - before Christ comes back for real. Personally, I’d like to see what would happen if all those who _believe_ in the Rapture, were to be Raptured. It might just usher in the Millennium, down here. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/14 "2002-04-16T15:13:42Z")
My wife asked me about this bumper sticker a while back, knowing that I come from a large family of Fundies. (There’s a reason why I’m on _this_ end of the country and they’re on t’other.) So I explained ‘The Rapture’ to her, ending with “so now you know what _that_ means”, meaning the bumper sticker. She thought about it for a couple of seconds, and said: “Yeah. We get all their stuff!” True story. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/15 "2002-04-16T15:25:14Z")
I should mention that there is _some_ Scriptural basis for “The Rapture”; it isn’t made up out of whole cloth. For instance, [Matthew 24](http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=RsvMatt.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=24&division=div1): > [@](#): > > 35: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. > 36: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. > 37: As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. > 38: For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, > 39: and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. > 40: Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and one is left. > 41: Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left. > 42: Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Or [1 Corinthians 15](http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Rsv1Cor.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=15&division=div1): > [@](#): > > 51: Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, > 52: in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. Or [1 Thessalonians 4](http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Rsv1The.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=4&division=div1): > [@](#): > > 13: But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. > 14: For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. > 15: For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. > 16: For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; > 17: then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. And the [Book of Revelation](http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/RsvReve.html) is one Scriptural reference concerning the intervening bad times between the Rapture and the Second Coming. Most Christians, including many conservative Christians, don’t believe in the Rapture, or in a literal time of tribulation as laid out in Revelation. But those who do are basing their belief on _something_. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/16 "2002-04-16T15:47:22Z")
I thought that the concept of the rapture was about as common knowledge as stuff like “the egyptians built the pyramids” and other stuff. ---
**Author:** ![blanx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f04885/32.png) [@blanx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blanx)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/17 "2002-04-16T16:05:24Z")
Egyptians built the pyramids? ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/18 "2002-04-16T16:44:30Z")
and there is much debate (in certain Christian, circles, anyway) over _when_ the rapture will happen – before “the tribulaton” (all that nasty end-of-the-world stuff), during the tribulation, or after it. And this is all argued with much fervor and quoting of obscure scriptures, often in the original language – and then the meaning of that original language is debated, etc. It’s not nearly as exciting as it sounds… it’s almost as much fun as the evolution vs. creation debate! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![thinksnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thinksnow/32/2849_2.png) [@thinksnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thinksnow)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/19 "2002-04-16T16:52:18Z")
I though Ethiopian slaves built the pyramids? ---
**Author:** ![Zoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6de8d8/32.png) [@Zoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoff)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908/20 "2002-04-16T16:55:47Z")
> [@](#): > > I thought that the concept of the rapture was about as common knowledge as stuff like “the egyptians built the pyramids” and other stuff. Nope. I didn’t know what this bumpersticker meant until I asked my wife a couple of years ago. My wife had pretty much the same reaction as you. She was amazed I had never heard of the concept, but I hadn’t despite living in Virginia my whole life. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-this-bumper-sticker-mean/103908.md?page=2)