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Teen hopes to have sex before Rapture

CAPS CITY, Fla. - Kurt Maniotti, 17, a junior at Gilbert Farreah High School, says he's had a wonderful Christian upbringing, and for years has dreamed of his first sexual encounter with his wife on their wedding night. But after his pastor's sermon last week about the second coming of Christ, Maniotti was plunged into anxiety that one day the trumpet will sound and he'll be caught up to meet the Lord in the air — without ever having enjoyed the marriage bed.

"I've been really praying that the Lord would delay His return until I can have sex," Maniotti says, sitting on the edge of his bed, hands clasped nervously. So great is his concern that he's looked into moving to Alabama and Mississippi, where marriage laws are more lenient and he could take a teenage bride. He's also considered marrying a near-stranger, having sex, then having the marriage nullified, but his conscience disallows it. Still, he can't shake the fear of missing what he regards as "probably the highest form of earthly pleasure."