I just watched it again, and it struck me me-the Grinch is just like the atheist trolls that plague my Christian Forums. They like to come with a "gotcha question," something they think is so deviously clever that no Christian could possibly answer. And they always leave disappointed and defeated.
Its the same with the Grinch. His "Gotcha" was the material side of Christmas. So he stole all the presents and was surprised and shocked when the Whos celebrated Christmas anyways.
He puzzled until his puzzler was sore.
Could it be that Christmas doesn't come from a store?
Perhaps Christmas means a little bit more?
And then like so many atheists before him the Grinch became Christian, moved off his cold mountain of doubt and into the warm embrace of the church. And then he became a famous apologist and defender of the faith.
And thats just like the boys and girls from our shadow site, FSTDT.
They've failed time and again, lost debates (refusing to admit defeat), and gone home angered that they got banned for trolling.
Unlike the Grinch their revelation will be quite different. It won't be a happy event like Christmas. Their epiphany will happen with the rapture. They mocked and laughed saying, "where is the promise of His coming?"
Here at last they will see the divine evidence they've been asking for. Unlike other atheists, our shadow people will recognize this for what it is. They claim they can't wait for the rapture so they won't have to listen to Christians anymore. But in the dark of their room, the bravado will be gone: they will be alone. If the rapture happened then the rest is true as well, and that means they have only 7 years left to live-if they are lucky.
This video doesn't involves atheists, but rather the unsaved in a Christian setting.
Still its a good illustration.
I propose that atheists might recognize the rapture for what it is because they have mocked it so long. and certainly, the great delusion will not be instantly following the Rapture. There will be a period of time where this will be treated as a national emergency.
After all their mocking and lurking on Christian sites, bit by bit things might start to percolate in their closed minds...The world will have never experienced a divine event on this scale: especially if (as some believe) all children under the age of accountability are taken as well.
So profound as this is, then yes a powerful delusion will have to be sent.
But there may be some brief window before that delusion occurs. In that time there will be a lot of non-Christians who grew up in the shadow of the church who will understand what happened and fall on their knees.
I think its logical to assume that atheists will react this way as well. They may be consumed by bigotry, but in mocking the Bible they still hear it-and the Word does not return void.
I think there will be a brief period of time right after the rapture but before the delusion where a lot of people turn to Christ. Atheists have a long history of seeing the light. some of the most famous Christians are former atheists.
