News Site Retracts Story that 'Rapture' Already Happened

Saying that it can no longer stand by its story that the Rapture may have happened earlier this month, the Swift Report, a popular conservative weblog, is officially retracting its account of the much-anticipated event in which God summons his faithful to the heavens.  After receiving hundreds of complaints from outraged readers who'd been 'left behind,' an editorial investigation determined that the Swift Report had failed to follow basic journalistic principles in the preparation and reporting of the piece.

An author admits that she cannot confirm the authenticity of three dozen cases of reported 'rapturing'

By Howard Ogilvie, Swift Report ombudsman

WASHINGTON, DC—A popular conservative weblog has issued a retraction regarding a story it ran last month, in which it claimed that the Rapture, the much-anticipated event in which God summons his faithful to heaven, had already happened. In response to the article, The Swift Report received hundreds of angry e-mails from outraged readers who'd been 'left behind.'

The outcry prompted the site to launch an independent investigation, which ultimately determined that the article's author, Deanna Swift, failed to follow basic journalistic principles in the preparation of the piece. "We deeply regret the disservice this flawed story did to the American public, which has a right to count on the Swift Report for fairness and accuracy," said Todd Fox, editor and co-founder of the site.

Neither fair nor accurate
The investigative panel said that a "myopic zeal" to be the first news organization to broadcast an earth-shaking story about the rapturous event was a key factor in explaining why the Swift Report had produced a story that was neither fair nor accurate and did not meet the organization's internal standards.

This is not the first time that Ms. Swift, a conservative journalist, commentator and long-time presence on the Houston social circuit, has landed in editorial hot water. Earlier this year, Ms. Swift acknowledged accepting tickets to President Bush's inaugural ball in exchange for penning praise-filled prose about the President and his policies. While she insisted that she had done nothing wrong, Ms. Swift later conceded that accepting gifts from the White House may have compromised the Swift Report's ability to circumvent the liberal media filter.

Readers' wrath
The article gave the account of former Spring Hill, KS, resident and adult film actor David Dumé, who was apparently raptured in front of a crowd of stunned onlookers at the Spring Hill Baptist Church, leaving behind a pile of clothing, gold jewelry, an outsized diamond-covered crucifix, and several piercings and chains. But just hours after the rapture story appeared, readers began posting angry comments and sending emails demanding a retraction.

"You have this opportunity to print a retraction," wrote one reader, identifying himself only as 'Bud.' "You must admit that you made up the whole False Rapture story and you must do it now. God still loves you but He expects those of us who have messed up to make things right. The 'days of wrath' are about to start. This is a fact. And after they do, folks like you will loose any protection you may have had, if you are born again. But if you were born again you would not have written something like this in the first place."

And flawed reporting revealed
The article also attracted the attention of leaders and parishioners of the Spring Hill Baptist Church, including its pastor, the chairman of its board of deacons and several long-time parishioners. All noted that the article contained fundamental inaccuracies about the Kansas church.

"As the current pastor of Spring Hill Baptist Church for the past three years, I hate to tell you but we have never had a Pastor DeLong here, not even as a visitor and we do not know anything about a Mr. Dumé. If we find any evidence of the rapture occurring we will let you know. I am going to ask the janitor if she found any jewelry or clothing. I am happy to talk to anyone wanting to be ready for the rapture and I would advise them to read Romans 10:9, so they will be prepared."

Still other readers complained that they were unable to confirm even the most basic facts reported in the article. Wrote Sean Lanham: "I just got off the phone with Mark Taylor, editor at the Tri-County Newspaper in Gardner, Kansas, which is the town directly adjacent to Spring Hill and slightly to the northwest. He had never heard of David Dumé. He had never heard anything relating to his ascending through any ceiling in front of several stunned onlookers at the Spring Hill Baptist Church. He further assured me that had such a thing ever eventuated it would most assuredly not have slipped beneath the radar of his newspaper."

A Swift defense
While Ms. Swift initially stood by her reporting, she has since acknowledged that the story was flawed, attributing its many errors and inaccuracies to a Swift Report intern who was responsible for researching the article. "This has been a difficult but important period for us. It represents a unique opportunity for all of us at the Swift Report to learn from the mistakes surrounding the flawed Rapture  article and reaffirm our commitment to the American public to practice journalism of the highest standard,'' said Ms. Swift.

The Swift Report was created in November of 2004 by Swift and Fox in an effort to shine a light on abuses by the liberal media. The Swift Report has no relationship to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Howard Ogilvie can be reached at [email protected]

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Comments

[John]

As of today,April 26,2008 the Rapture has not happened or else I would have heard about it.

[John]

As of today,April 26,2008 the Rapture has not happened or else I would have heard about it.

[Jessie]

The acutal "rapture" is just supposed to be the Christians going to heaven, right? Well, if the Bible says that all men will be judged in the last days, it wouldn't make sense to be judged as soon as you died. And a day for a dead person is like 80 years to us. Is it possible that God's deceased children have been taken to heaven? Because there's some speculation now that there are only 2 Trumpets left to sound, so to speak.

[Luke Rook]

On a lighter note, I would like to recommend to all believers to make sure they have written their rapture wills so their estate does not fall into malicious hands. You might want to make sure the janitor did not take that jewelry and them piercings to a pawn shop too.

[Julie]

Dear friends,
PLEASE study your Bibles!!!
2 Peter 3:10 says "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

Does that sound quiet to you???
2 Thessalonians 5:2-4 promises true Christians that Christ's coming will not take them by surprise, they will be watching and waiting and will know when Jesus's coming is near.

Read 1 Thess. 4:16-18; Matt. 25:31; Rev. 1:7; 2 Thess. 1:7,8; Mal. 4:1,2

You owe it to yourself to study this topic out with much prayer and scripture to scripture comparison.

In the end times, many will be deceived by the "Rapture Theory" know what you believe and be able to prove it from the Bible. We must build our beliefs on many scriptures, not just one or two taken out of context. We cannot blindly take our pastor's word for it.

Jesus IS coming soon and we must be ready and waiting! Matt. 24:44; Isaiah 25:9

Sincerely,
jb

Please email me if you have questions! For further study check out www.bibleuniverse.com.

[News Junkie]

Alas, the U.S. is not ready for religious humor. :-(

[News Junkie]

Alas, the U.S. just isn't ready for religious humor. :-(

[News Junkie]

Alas, the U.S. just isn't ready for religious humor. :-(

[MB, SC]

Now come on and tell me, that every Christian who's even heard of this hasn't asked themselves the question "what if?"

What if.

And we're all still here.

[Eric Forat]

deanna or whoever: you're the BEST!

[MT]

UNSUBSCRIBE

Please REMOVE my name from your mailing list.

[Davis]

If the so called "liberal media " had done this the right wing would have talked about them for weeks . I was praying that it was true because that would show that none here now will get to their heaven this way . Davis

[Pastor Steve]

Howard, I appreciate your help in getting this story corrected. It will ease the minds of many of the people here at Spring Hill Baptist. Most members seemed to have accepted our 15 minutes of fame with a smile, but we do not want people to be misinformed. I did recieve 2 phone calls one from California and one from Hutchinson Kansas and one e-mail response. The call from California was how I found out about the Swift Report. It has created some interesting discussions. If I can be of further help you can contact me at Spring Hill Baptist Church.
Pastor Steve

[[email protected]]

xtian freaks