“Deconstructing harmful beliefs can be a very difficult and isolating experience so my main goal in speaking out is simply to let people know that they are valid and not alone,” Ajoy told ChurchLeaders.
Nevertheless, when CNN linked to their article titled “For some Christians, ‘rapture anxiety’ can take a lifetime to heal” on Facebook, some evangelicals voiced their distaste for how journalist AJ Willingham framed the story.
“Most Christians who know what the rapture is, aren’t afraid of or fearful of the rapture. This is typical of something CNN would write because they are an ungodly people,” said one commenter. Another wrote, “CNN is the traditional go-to source on theology issues. Said no one. Ever.”
Ajoy later took to TikTok to read some of the more colorful responses.
One person said that the article was from “Anti-Christ Gang,” another accused CNN of “spreading satanic propaganda,” and yet another referred to Ajoy as “an apostate.” Others spoke divine wrath and judgment over Ajoy and CNN for their “abomination” and “perversion.”
“The article is written as though the rapture isn’t going to happen…” someone commented. Another questioned whether the article was written by Satan.
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Conversely, a number of users commented below Ajoy’s video with their own experiences of rapture anxiety.
“I came home one day from school and found a pile of my friend’s clothes in the living room. Everyone was gone. I made calls to my church friends and no one picked up. I thought I’d been left behind. Turns out, my friend had gone jogging with my sister,” one said.
Another said that they didn’t believe they “will ever get over rapture anxiety.”
“I thought I was the only one who grew up with this fear,” someone else wrote. Ajoy replied, “definitely not.”
In a statement to ChurchLeaders, Ajoy expressed that the way some evangelicals responded to the CNN article was not entirely surprising to her.
“When it comes to tightly held beliefs, it’s easier to dismiss and demonize those who pose a threat to one’s theology than it is to reflect on how certain beliefs may have caused harm,” Ajoy said. “In that sense, I expected the negative response from evangelicals. There was even a time I may have responded similarly.”
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“The lack of empathy in the comments is just another example of how evangelicals often choose dogma over people. There’s a reason so many of us have left evangelicalism. I’m an EXvangelical because I wanted to follow Jesus and love my neighbor more genuinely,” Ajoy went on to say. “Constantly being vilified by evangelicals who claim to embody love just further proves I made the right decision to leave.”
