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Bit of a moral question for you. Do you feel it's wrong for an atheist to own a clothing company that sells christian graphic t-shirts and other accessories?
Nope. More power to him. I'm all for free enterprise.
That seems to me to be a little bit different. It is not being paid to Evangelize religion which is in fact the only objection I would have to 'profiting from religion' (1) but rather to get the religious to put their money where their mouth is. Of course, we Heathen hellspawn do not believe for a moment that these bods are going to be raptured, but when it doesn't happen, I would bet a large amount that they will put their false prediction out of their minds and get on with preaching the next one.
The similarity to failed end of the world predictions will not escape the mentally aware.
And thereby hangs a tool. I have mooted before that, When Penn Gillet is elected president and the tanks flying the blank flag of Atheism rumble down the ...uhh.. ...the approach to the White House, one of the first laws to be enacted would be that anyone making an end of world prediction should be fined a swingeing amount as a fine for spreading alarm with baseless rumours. Effectively, this initiative is the same thing.
I am presuming that the money is to be paid up front by the rapturists and is non - refundable.
If so, it is getting them to invest more in their claims than an easy come easy go declaration. They will immediately be asked just how much in terms of hard dosh do they really believe this stuff. And, if they do, and the money is gone, then a few of these failed predictions and, like the doom - mongers, they will begin to see that they cannot afford to trumpet such stuff and expect get away with it scot free.
If of course, they refuse to see that their pets are cared for when they get raptured, then it looks either callous and mean of them on the one hand or, on the other that they know they'd lose this particular bet that the rapture is going to happen.
(1) I was going to say as following from my previous post, that I would be content to work in a bookshop that had a section on religion, though I might grit my teeth at Creationist books appearing on the shelves. But then, I might disagree with what they say, but would defend to the death their right to say it.
It's certainly not illegal. It's fulfilling a marketing niche. Some wouldn't want to do so for reasons of conscience, but others might not mind making the dough. It's just up to the business owners' preferences.
So Camping predicted the end of the world for May 21, 2011, and it failed to take place. Now two and a half years later, if Camping were to announce that the end of the world will really take place November 5th, 2015, no one is going to believe him.
Jesus predicted the end of the world within the lifetimes of his audience, and two thousand years later we are still waiting. Yet the credibility of Jesus remains undamaged in the eyes of millions.
Some of the more loyal imbibers of the Kool-Aid would probably believe in a 11/5/15 mass extinction, if I had to guess. I think I recall apocalypse forecasters who've been wrong on more than one occasion but still managed to retain a following--I could be wrong, though. Not a subject I'm interested to research at the moment
Morality is subjective. I'm with my fellow Matt and fellow northerner on my feelings on this--conflicted at best. mordant as usual wrote a valuable response. Many other 'merican respondents are predictably all too happy to play the profiteer.
I don't think the problem is his moral compass, I think it's his customers. When they find out he is an atheist, he might encounter a boycott out in front of his store. But hey, on the bright side at least he can serve gays in clear conscious. lol
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That seems to me to be a little bit different. It is not being paid to Evangelize religion which is in fact the only objection I would have to 'profiting from religion' (1) but rather to get the religious to put their money where their mouth is. Of course, we Heathen hellspawn do not believe for a moment that these bods are going to be raptured, but when it doesn't happen, I would bet a large amount that they will put their false prediction out of their minds and get on with preaching the next one. 
...the approach to the White House, one of the first laws to be enacted would be that anyone making an end of world prediction should be fined a swingeing amount as a fine for spreading alarm with baseless rumours. Effectively, this initiative is the same thing. 
