# What if all professed Christians disappeared? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 31, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589 "2013-12-31T20:45:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cerealbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Cerealbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerealbox)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/21 "2013-12-31T21:56:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What version of the Rapture takes fake Christians but leaves behind the babies? As for babies, that’s was standard Catholic belief until just a few years ago. Also, unless you’re a mind reader, how on earth would you know if they were ‘fake’ Christians? They say they’re Christians so they’re Christians. There is one and only one religion I am aware of that says all the Christians are going to suddenly disappear under miraculous circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/22 "2013-12-31T22:00:26Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I answered your question. Atheists are persecuted in the same sense that there is a War on Christmas, except you don’t seem to have the same attitude towards that. > > But this thread is a demonstration of how at least some atheists would react. Even if the Rapture happens right in front of their faces, they would find some way to talk themselves out of it. See Luke 16:31. See the OP(no “rising of the dead” there that I can see), which doesn’t seem to resemble any Rapture I’ve ever heard of. Now, if my scenario actually matched how some described the Rapture, you might have a point, but I deliberately phrased it so that the _only_ thing we know is that all those that _professed_ to be Christians are gone. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/23 "2013-12-31T22:00:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Once again, “Rapture!” was only the title-the op states that all who professed to be Christian(whether they were in fact believers in that faith) suddenly disappear, _and we never find out what happened to them._ I think this “Rapture” business may be questioned when it is found out that a lot of people who everyone knew to be “Christian in name only” were gone…but that all the babies from Christian families were left behind. I tried to be very careful in the way I wrote the OP. So all of the infants and very young children will be ‘left behind’ owing to the fact that they have not yet learned to speak, while Fred Phelps and his clan will be taken away? That might make things a bit harder to parse. But still, given that 2 billion or so people who identified as ‘Christian’ have disappeared, and few if any who identified as ‘anything else’ (accounting for the fact that there may be some people who have professed their Chrsitianity ‘non-publicly’), I’m not sure there would be any other way to interpret things than “the Rapture has occurred”. After that, I imagine there’s be a rush on Bible sales, and a lot of people preparing for the Tribulation in whatever way they see fit. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/24 "2013-12-31T22:07:47Z")
> [@Cerealbox](#): > > As for babies, that’s was standard Catholic belief until just a few years ago. Also, unless you’re a mind reader, how on earth would you know if they were ‘fake’ Christians? They say they’re Christians so they’re Christians. There is one and only one religion I am aware of that says all the Christians are going to suddenly disappear under miraculous circumstances. Wait a sec. I’m no biblical scholar, but doesn’t whatever Christian texts exist for the rapture state that only a subset of Christians will actually be taken and everyone else will remain? I seem to recall something about 20,000 people being taken up, but I could be very wrong. And anyway, isn’t the concept of a rapture a somewhat recent development? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/25 "2013-12-31T22:09:20Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > 1. I’m not aware of any other Gods that have threatened to carry out such an action. I am not aware that even the Christian god threatened to carry out such an act. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/26 "2013-12-31T22:10:49Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > So all of the infants and very young children will be ‘left behind’ owing to the fact that they have not yet learned to speak, while Fred Phelps and his clan will be taken away? That might make things a bit harder to parse. But still, given that 2 billion or so people who identified as ‘Christian’ have disappeared, and few if any who identified as ‘anything else’ (accounting for the fact that there may be some people who have professed their Chrsitianity ‘non-publicly’), I’m not sure there would be any other way to interpret things than “the Rapture has occurred”. After that, I imagine there’s be a rush on Bible sales, and a lot of people preparing for the Tribulation in whatever way they see fit. I have no doubt that some will believe no matter what. If there is a sudden interest in Christianity because of this, will it rise fast enough to fill in the gaps left by the departure? What percentage of Congresscritters profess to be Christian, and who would take their place? How far down the line the line of Presidential succession would we have to go to find a person that didn’t disappear? I can see what is left of the Italian government laying claim to the Vatican City. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/27 "2013-12-31T22:20:23Z")
If this were to happen, it would be devastating, in my opinion, especially in the Americas. I honestly believe that there are large numbers of USikans who profess a belief in Christianity they don’t actually practice or believe just because it is easier. POOF! All gone, including most politicians. Add to this the huge number of those who actually believe, and you end up with a veritable 50-state wasteland. Central and South America would become 99 percent deserted. The Canuckistanis could descend, I guess, what’s left of them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/28 "2013-12-31T22:22:06Z")
Major shift in world politics as a significant portion of the Western world disappears and Asia is relatively untouched. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/29 "2013-12-31T22:26:05Z")
The Rapture has already happened, approximately (checks calendar) 15 weeks ago. All Christians who were deemed worthy in the Eyes of God were already taken up to Heaven in a brilliant, blazing bolt of light. Know any Christians that have been missing since September? Know any that are still walking around? That should tell you something. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/30 "2013-12-31T22:30:31Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > If this were to happen, it would be devastating, in my opinion, especially in the Americas. > > I honestly believe that there are large numbers of USikans who profess a belief in Christianity they don’t actually practice or believe just because it is easier. POOF! All gone, including most politicians. Add to this the huge number of those who actually believe, and you end up with a veritable 50-state wasteland. Central and South America would become 99 percent deserted. > > The Canuckistanis could descend, I guess, what’s left of them. Would those left in the U.S. accept assimilation by whatever comes in to fill in the gap? I don’t think fighting back would be a viable option, but perhaps a migration to California to consolidate forces, with maybe a unification with what was left of Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/31 "2013-12-31T22:36:23Z")
It’s a trick rapture. Doing it after New Years Eve, the best night to catch people doing something regrettable, but before Sunday and they’ve had time to repent. God deaked you. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/32 "2013-12-31T22:47:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > See the OP(no “rising of the dead” there that I can see), which doesn’t seem to resemble any Rapture I’ve ever heard of. Now, if my scenario actually matched how some described the Rapture, you might have a point, but I deliberately phrased it so that the _only_ thing we know is that all those that _professed_ to be Christians are gone. Then it’s not really the rapture then is it? So that makes your thread title misleading. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/33 "2013-12-31T22:48:43Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Well, there would only be, at most, about 40-50 million Americans, probably less. Large swaths of the countryside would be near vacant. Don’t count on the Mexicans to move in, because the majority of them will be gone too. > > Then China and India go “huh” and decide all this vacant land could be very useful. > [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > If this were to happen, it would be devastating, in my opinion, especially in the Americas. > > I honestly believe that there are large numbers of USikans who profess a belief in Christianity they don’t actually practice or believe just because it is easier. POOF! All gone, including most politicians. Add to this the huge number of those who actually believe, and you end up with a veritable 50-state wasteland. Central and South America would become 99 percent deserted. > > The Canuckistanis could descend, I guess, what’s left of them. At the risk of making this more complicated, the Catholics do not believe in the rapture in the same way as many protestants do. [http://www.catholicbible101.com/therapture.htm](http://www.catholicbible101.com/therapture.htm) > [@](#): > > So go ahead and read the Left Behind series if you must, but remember, hardly any of it is biblical. The learned and educated religious people of the Bible didn’t understand the first coming of Christ. Just so, a lot of learned and educated religious people today don’t understand the rapture any better than the Pharisees and the Sadducees did the first time. But, they sure make a lot of money by selling books about their personal opinion of the events surrounding the rapture. > > So will the Rapture happen? YES, but it will be a one time event, on the last day of our earthly existence, after the dead have been raised, and it will be seen and witnessed by all. So, if there something like the protestant rapture, Catholics do not think it will involve them, so… 5 de Mayo becomes an American Holiday! ;)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/34 "2013-12-31T23:02:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Would those left in the U.S. accept assimilation by whatever comes in to fill in the gap? They wouldn’t have much choice I would think. The only advantage is I believe non-Christians, in the aggregate, are slightly more intelligent than Christians, but that may not be enough considering their embarrassingly paltry numbers. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I don’t think fighting back would be a viable option, but perhaps a migration to California to consolidate forces, with maybe a unification with what was left of Mexico. Unfortunately, without the Christians, I think the Americas suddenly become the ripest fruit for any secularist nation to pick at their leisure. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/35 "2013-12-31T23:07:16Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > At the risk of making this more complicated, the Catholics do not believe in the rapture in the same way as many protestants do. > > [http://www.catholicbible101.com/therapture.htm](http://www.catholicbible101.com/therapture.htm) > > So, if there something like the protestant rapture, Catholics do not think it will involve them, so… > > 5 de Mayo becomes an American Holiday! ;)😃 No, because the OP states all Christians, not just Christians who believe in a certain flavor of Christianity. All. Although there’s no reason we couldn’t still celebrate Cinco de Mayo after the purge. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/36 "2013-12-31T23:07:46Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > The Rapture has already happened, approximately (checks calendar) 15 weeks ago. All Christians who were deemed worthy in the Eyes of God were already taken up to Heaven in a brilliant, blazing bolt of light. > > Know any Christians that have been missing since September? Know any that are still walking around? > > That should tell you something. Ariel Castro was the only guy that made the cut? I didn’t see that coming. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/37 "2013-12-31T23:14:32Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > So, if there something like the protestant rapture, Catholics do not think it will involve them, so… Many Protestants believe the Rapture will not include Catholics, either. Most self-identified “True Christians” believe that the Rapture will whisk away _only_ those who subscribe to their particular version of Christianity, and the more “True” they think they are, the smaller that actual number becomes. And as True Ch. =\> Infinity, # of True Ch’s =\> Zero. Therefore, no absolute True Christian can possibly exist (except for Jesus Himself) and all believers in Christ are eternally damned to hell with the rest of us godless pagans, buddists, jews, hindus, muslims, new agers, zoroastrians & navel-worshippers. Q.E.D. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/38 "2013-12-31T23:16:21Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > No, because the OP states all Christians, not just Christians who believe in a certain flavor of Christianity. All. I did mention that it would turn complicated. 🙂 You need to be aware that for that and many other reasons Christian followers of the rapture usually do think that Catholics will not be invited, and in turn Catholics do not think so either, so while it is true that the OP mentioned all Christians I do think that the beliefs will indeed play a part of who is taken in. > [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Although there’s no reason we couldn’t still celebrate Cinco de Mayo after the purge. 🙂 I’ll pass the salsa. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/39 "2014-01-01T01:16:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I cannot recall any described “Rapture” that takes every single person that professed to be Christian, whether they believed it themselves or not. So? All that would mean under the circumstances of your OP is that nobody got the Rapture exactly right, but a lot of people described a Rapture that turned out to be in the general ballpark of what happened. And since pretty much all the ‘Rapture experts’ would have been Raptured, most people remaining here would remember no more than generalities about what the Rapture was supposedly about. In your OP, something happens that resembles what the fundies have been yammering about all these years, at a level of accuracy that would suffice for most remaining people. It’s not like there’s a lot in the Bible about the Rapture, anyway, even if we give the fundies the benefit of the doubt about what texts are about the Rapture - just a scattering of verses here and there. A few verses in Matthew 24, a couple of verses in I Corinthians 15, a few verses somewhere else in Paul’s letters that I’ve forgotten in the 40 years since I cared about any of this nonsense…not much, and even the connection between them has to be assumed. My point is that there’s nothing there that’s specific enough to say that your Rapture would or wouldn’t be THE Rapture, even if people like me were still around to debate it. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Ariel Castro was the only guy that made the cut? I didn’t see that coming. I always wanted to start a denomination based on Jimmy Hoffa having been Raptured, but nobody else. Hey, they ain’t found his body yet. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589/40 "2014-01-01T01:32:11Z")
1. I work in Silicon Valley, so we’d hardly be affected at all. My department? Maybe one person would vanish, two or three max. 2. We’d finally be able to get some bills through Congress. 3. Lloyds of London will be loaded when they go. \ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-all-professed-christians-disappeared/677589.md?page=3)