QFC / FRED MEYER

[March 30th, 2005] Only rogue grocery stores would pitch sickening depictions of their own customers' supposedly imminent doom (if their patrons don't quickly become fundamentalist Christians, that is).

But leave it to area QFC and Fred Meyer stores to use prominent displays this month to promote The Rising, the latest installment of the "Left Behind" series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The bestselling series portrays the true believers (only fundamentalist Christians qualify) escaping to Heaven, while the rest of us are "left behind" to endure Hell on Earth under the Antichrist and face slaughter en masse.

Here's a small taste from a recent "Left Behind'' installment of what's "in-store" for the nonbelievers: "Their innards and entrails gushed to the desert floor...their flesh dissolved, their eyes melted and their tongues disintegrated...leaving grotesque skeletons standing, before they, too, rattled to the pavement."

That's a fate a little more vexing than getting stuck behind somebody with too many groceries in the 10-items-or-less lane.

Despite the unbroken losing streak shared by all prophets of Armageddon, millions of readers accept the "Left Behind" books as Truth, with a capital T. But for store customers in a culturally diverse city, the book promotion comes off as bizarre at best, insulting to non-fundamentalist Christians at worst.

Store managers characterize the promotion for The Rising as a "corporate directive" (both stores are owned by the Cincinnati-based Kroger) and "book of the month" involving merely a "work of fiction, just like Harry Potter."

And company higher-ups report no complaints about a book chosen-à la John Grisham-because of the series' bestseller status.

Well, here's a gripe from the Rogue Desk. While people are entitled to their beliefs and even to adopt religion as a flame-retardant, they're also free to decide whether their local grocery store is stoking prejudice and social division just to fire up sales.