The world was supposed to end on September 23.
Or at least the majority of the inhabitants of the world were supposed to levitate into the air and disappear into the sky to never be seen again. Yet when the fateful night came, I sat awaiting some sort of sign. Maybe a shining bright light, or maybe seeing people start floating through my window. Despite this, nothing happened. Instead, the next day came and the one after that. “Rapture Tok” sank into the background like it never happened, but it did, and I wonder what caused this strange phenomenon to occur.
WHAT IS RAPTURETOK
Rapturetok was a subset of TikTok in which you could find a variety of videos of Evangelical Christians coming together to talk about how they believe the world is ending soon. The root of this claim is tracked down to South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela, who threw out that date in June of this year.
“He (Jesus) said to me on the 23rd and 24th of September 2025, I will come back to the Earth.” He claimed.
His words, despite having no basis behind them, sent the Evangelical community into a frenzy and many took to social media to express their concerns and plans. To prepare multiple people spoke of how they began to sell their personal belongings, from minuscule objects such as books or jewelry to monumentally life-changing decisions such as selling their homes and quitting their jobs. Ironically, the concept of the rapture is never stated in the bible explicitly, but it is a belief that evangelicals hold dear to their hearts. One day, they will be raised into the sky and meet Jesus, a figure holy to many.
RELIGIOUS OCD
What happens when faith in God becomes an all-consuming fear of disobeying that same God? That is when you get Religious OCD. Religious OCD is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder that manifests itself through intrusive thoughts or urges that go against your morality. It manifests through things like sin, good or bad, and divine punishment.
While scrolling through the hashtag #RaptureTok, one stood out to me in particular. An older lady wore a worried expression and soberly said, “I am not going to lie, I am nervous about the rapture.”
She talks of how the rapture has terrified her since her younger days. Due to it, she is unable to plan or save money just in case it all turns out to be true. She defines this feeling as “scruples,” which is the feeling that you believe everything that you are doing is wrong. It is the eternal feeling of “What if?”
MY EXPERIENCE
OCD has consumed my entire life. Every step I take, every move I make is thought out extensively. My brain is always on 24/7, and it feels as if there is a second person in there trying to make me doubt everything. This is why when I heard about “Rapture Tok,” I felt a sense of kinship with these people.
Let me be clear, I am not one to harp on people for making jokes, and I would be a hypocrite to say that RaptureTok jokes were not funny, yet I could not only laugh. I felt sympathetic.
I know the feeling of religious OCD all too well.
What if I am in the wrong religion? What if I am just wasting time? Stop thinking like this it’s blasphemy! But what if?
My brain is unfortunately wired this way. It thinks of the worst possible outcome that could happen, and then I try to will my brain to stop thinking about it. The more I think about it, the more I fear it will manifest into reality. Yet what if, when I stop thinking about it, I won’t be on guard? I won’t be able to stop it.
I have days where it is bad, and I stay up thinking about the concept of hell. Oh, how cruel it is. I convince myself that is where I am going. I lull myself to sleep by whispering prayers to myself, hoping it goes away. I used to sleep with a prayer book under my pillow; I believed it protected me despite knowing deep down it would not.
It’s strange. I am so self-aware of myself, but I am unable to get better. This is the reality of living with religious OCD. It is cruelly ironic because, in all honesty, I am not even religious. Maybe that makes the matter worse.
There is no encouraging ending to my personal experience. I have not “beaten” OCD. For me, it comes in waves and when I least expect it. All I could do was just try to ride them out.
CONCLUSION
“Rapture Tok” came and went, and with it brought me self-reflection. Many can laugh and ask, “How can they even believe this?” These people are lucky they do not have to live in a constant state of “What if?”
In the way the world is now, with despair and nothing being sure, it is not strange that people cling to religion. This is what happens when people are desperate. They want to believe in something, and faith gives them solace. The rapture, on the other hand, makes them feel like it was all worth it if they can meet their precious one.
I can understand them in that sense. We all just want to believe in something.