In the big book of dangerous & gullible soothsayers Harold Camping should get his own chapter.
If you live in the UK you may well ask "Who is he?".
Harold Camping is the American fundamentalist Christian who's getting all his fellow deluded (often embarrassingly self righteous) Christians riled up about the second coming, the so called 'rapture' or for the unbelievers Armageddon!
(As a brief personal aside there is actually a place called Armageddon it's a small town in Israel and I really wanted to visit it whilst I was traveling having volunteered on a kibbutz in Israel many moons ago. Just so i could say I'd been to Armageddon. Perhaps I'll get the real thing now but I doubt it if the history of such predictions is taken into account).
So when's the big day and will I need to pack some sandwiches?
Pencil this into your diary or set a reminder on your iPhone:
"Judgment Day" / Rapture is on 21st May 2011 and the actual End of the World on 21st October 2011."
This is three days before my birthday so I'd like my presents on the 20th just in case!
A mental millionaire.
It would be sad to see the mental breakdown of an 89yr old man broadcast with such ubiquity if it weren't for the fact that so many in America actually believe him.
This is largely because those same gullible Christians (is there another kind?) part with their hard earned cash on a regular basis to feed this old mans vast media empire which is called the Family radio network and which broadcasts around the world in numerous languages from 66 stations. As well as this up to 2000 billboards spread his doomsday message across America.
What would Jesus do?
What is truly sickening is that Camping & his fellow Christians have spent about three million dollars on billboards! That's three million dollars that could have been spent on the poor, the sick or those in need of help. I suggest that Mr Camping and the Family radio network donate a similar amount to mental health charities and secular education, perhaps on 22nd May 2011!
What many have noted is that Camping previously suggested the world was going to end in 1994 and even had a book out suggesting as much. What is again quite sad is that this previous attempt was seen by many of his followers as a miscalculation.
Scary stuff
This really is scary stuff! Not the fact that the world will end but the fact that there's something seriously wrong with an education system that perpetuates this nonsense.
Religion should be eradicated from all schools & replaced with a system that teaches people how to think for themselves & question all received wisdom (yes even that of science as that is partly what science is based on) one that allows them to continually question their own beliefs and those of others.
For the religious it's a scary thought to have to face the world alone & their misguided beliefs allow them a safety blanket to shield them from the existential questions we all have to face.
Religious people are often those most afraid of death which is ironic you'd think it would be the other way around!
Stand for the truth not ignorance of the facts!
The story of Jesus isn't a new one just the names have changed.
The mythology behind a man born of a virgin who performs miracles dies and is resurrected exists repeatedly in different religions prior to Christianity. Mithras is one such Persian God man.
Muslims and Christians don't even agree on the details as Muslims believe God wouldn't persecute a prophet so he ascended into heaven rather than being resurrected so at least one religion has it wrong so what makes Christians or Muslims so sure of the facts?
Not to fully look into the history of your chosen religion is just ignorant & means there's no difference between believing in one set of nonsense and another. In that case believing that the Morlocks live in the center of the earth & we must appease them with cheese & onion pasties from Greggs the bakers is just as valid.
If you believe in something ridiculous you should expect those views to be challenged and to be able to question those beliefs & have them questioned.
If I said the earth was flat I'd expect you to laugh & I'd expect you to challenge me to prove it. I wouldn't expect you to simply go along with my nonsense and help me raise money for special fences to be built along the horizon to stop ships falling off.
Question everything!
I'm tempted to say that Christians should take heed of their own big book of nonsense which claims:
"Beware of false prophets..." Matthew 7:15
...but all received wisdom goes unquestioned & is often maintained by an act of cognitive dissonance that is so great I'm surprised it doesn't lead to madness!
Perhaps this is what's happened to poor Mr Camping & his unfortunate flock?
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