Fox News has been covering the booming business of bunkers or doomsday shelters – and reports it's not just the wealthy who are buying. Fallout shelters and stockpiling nonperishable foods are ways people can prepare for the unexpected, and many no doubt already have. But why are people seemingly more on edge these days?
Dr. Alex McFarland is an author, speaker, and co-host of a daily program on American Family Radio. He finds the growing interest in the shelters interesting.
"After decades of being kind of a joke from the 1950s, bomb shelters have been coming back in the last decade, and people who can afford it have been contracting to build bunkers on their property," he observes. Not just that, but they are stockpiling medical supplies, food, firearms, and more.
McFarland said there was a day when those who were doomsday preparers (”preppers”) were very often conservative and/or religious people, if not Christian. But since the pandemic, the number of people who have contributed to the doubling of the number of preppers have been members of the political left.
"I think people realize the world is very unstable,” says McFarland. “We have an open border; nearly eight million illegals have come into America since Joe Biden took office. There seems to be instability everywhere; as of February 2024, there are 25 wars going on in the world. North Korea, Syria, China, are all said to have nuclear capabilities.
“So, I think a lot of people see the handwriting on the wall that as the West, America, and the world has lost [its moral compass] - in fact, has actively cut itself loose from a moral compass – people see instability, danger, and they want to be prepared for it."
As a biblical scholar, McFarland knows the Bible clearly states that near the end of time, people will wax worse and worse – and perilous times will come.
"But the solution is, I believe, not to build a bomb shelter and sequester in the ground,” he advises. “The solution, the real security, is to be in Christ, [to have] a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, because the Bible says that Christ is coming back, that righteousness will rule and reign."
McFarland said it's only prudent and understandable for people to stock up on supplies and prepare for their families – but faith in Jesus Christ and becoming a Christ-follower is the only true hope.
