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79 Not Just Christianity, But the Christian Right The Battle over Public Education and the American Sunday School Movement in the Left Behind Series for Kids 3 In 1998, U.S. evangelical minister Tim LaHaye and prolific Christian writer Jerry B. Jenkins released the first novel in the Left Behind series for kids. Called The Vanishings, it was modeled after their tremendously successful Christianthemed narratives for adults. Briefly, The Vanishings follows the experiences of four young people who are left behind on earth when the end of the world approaches and those believers who have accepted Jesus ascend into heaven. The event, which is discussed in the first book of Thessalonians in the New Testament and commonly termed Rapture,1 happens as quickly as it does unexpectedly . As the blurb on the back cover of the first Left Behind novel indicates, “In one shocking moment, millions around the globe disappear.” Taken as only flesh and bone, they shed all of their material adornments and, as the books repeatedly reiterate, “vanish right out of their clothes.” When LaHaye and Jenkins’s four central characters realize what has happened, they are left to grapple with the despair of knowing that they missed their chance to accept Jesus and thereby enjoy eternal life. With Rapture taking place in the opening novel of the Left Behind series for kids, the subsequent books follow the experiences of the protagonists—sixteenyear -old Judd Thompson, fourteen-year-old Vicki Byrnes, thirteen year-old Lionel Washington, and twelve-year-old Ryan Daley—during the seven-year period known as Tribulation that encompasses the time between the ascension of God’s faithful and the arrival of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Tribulation is a time of great trials, tests, and tragedies. These four young people are orphaned by the Rapture, because their parents were either true Christians who are now in heaven or, in the case of Ryan’s mother and father, they were nonbelievers who were killed in the many fires, accidents, and related catastrophes that occur in the wake of the disappearances. Adding to these difficulties, RAISING YOUR KIDS RIGHT 80 a series of biblically-related plagues, disasters, and scourges begins breaking out worldwide. From earthquakes, locusts, and tidal waves to meteor showers, volcanic eruptions, and water turning into blood, these calamities kill millions around the globe and make daily life ever more treacherous. Finally, and by far most threatening, the group witnesses the rise of the Antichrist. This demonic figure takes the form of a handsome Romanian named Nicolae Carpathia whose personal charisma, eloquent public speaking skills, and hypnotic charm cause him to be elected as the U.N. secretary-general within days after the disappearances . Upon assuming office, Carpathia quickly begins to consolidate power. Not surprisingly, one of his first tasks is to systematically eradicate Christianity. Within this environment of physical peril and spiritual persecution, LaHaye and Jenkins’s four central characters struggle both to maintain their newfound faith and to save as many other souls as possible before Armageddon. In an effort to do so, they form an underground Christian resistance group, which they call the “Young Tribulation Force” (or simply the Young Trib Force). Whereas their counterparts in the series for adults use globe-trotting jets, the latest high-tech computer gadgetry, and even various forms of military weaponry to fight the Antichrist, the juvenile characters in these novels employ a more ageappropriate method: they write, publish, and distribute a Christian newspaper at their public school. This seemingly mundane activity, however, proves to be anything but ordinary. Each book is packed with an array of page-turning events: mistaken identities, near-escapes, covert actions, secret hideouts, frequent kidnappings, clandestine meetings, high-speed chases, and—at one point—even a haunted house. Many chapters end with thrilling cliff-hangers, and each installment contains exciting teasers about the next volume; thus, the books are both plot-driven and episodic. The Left Behind series for kids has been a tremendous success in the United States. Initially feeding off the anxiety generated by the impending turn into the new millennium and accompanying fears about Y2K, and then being greatly reenergized by the attacks of September 11 and resulting concerns over homeland security, the books have tapped into a powerful cultural vein and catered to a strong psychological need. However, the success of LaHaye and Jenkins’s books cannot be attributed simply to historical circumstances. As even my brief plot overview indicates, the...

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