End Times Entertainment: The Left Behind Series,Evangelicals, and Death Pornography

Many Evangelical Christians are avid fans of the Left Behind series despite the shocking amounts of violence and death the novels contain. This enthusiastic support is puzzling, given that Evangelicals frequently criticize the mainstream entertainment media for the displays of violence in movies, television programs, and video games. In this article, I attempt to explain why the fictional violence of the Left Behind series entertains Evangelical audiences, while the fictional violence of the mainstream media repulses them. I examine Evangelical tastes in entertainment in light of the general increase in displays of violence in the American entertainment industry over the last two centuries. I argue that Evangelicals are as entertained by displays of violence as mainstream audiences are, as long as the violence is in line with key Evangelical values.