I was handed a tract this weekend that was full of exclamations of how the Rapture was coming on May 21, 2011. It had some calculations to explain how they came up with this date, most of which relied on 7000 years having passed since the Flood, but I couldn't help but notice that they hadn't taken into account the change from Julian to Gregorian calendars, so I, for one, will be laughing heartily when the Rapture comes on May 10, 2011 and whoever did the math on these tracts looks really dumb.posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 1:50 PM on May 19, 2011 [24 favorites]
posted by Copronymus at 10:48 AM on March 29, 2010 [17 favorites −] [!]
I'm afraid to ask, but I will - why is there a pile of pickles at 2:17?That's the surprise!
"Camping first inaccurately predicted the world would end in 1994. Even so, he has gathered even more followers -- some who have given up their homes, entire life savings and their jobs because they believe the world is ending.Just one example ...
Esther, the receptionist in the Oakland office, said some of her most extreme coworkers have recently driven up in fancy cars or taken their families on nice vacations as a last hurrah."
"Ex subway worker sinks $140,000 life savings into campaign advertising the end of the world."posted by ericb at 2:12 PM on May 19, 2011
"According to their most recent IRS filings, Family Radio is almost entirely funded by donations, and brought in $18 million in contributions in 2009 alone.posted by ericb at 2:21 PM on May 19, 2011 [3 favorites]
According to those financial documents, accountants put the total worth of Family Radio (referred to as Family Stations on its official forms) at $72 million. With those kind of financials -- and controversial beliefs -- it's no wonder skeptics have accused the group of running a scam.
... Meanwhile, some employees are questioning the meaning of Harold Camping's goodbye letter sent to the Family Radio mailing list last week. While he says farewell, he encourages employees to 'steadfastly continue to stand with us to proclaim the Gospel through Family Radio.'
Could that mean he plans on disappearing, but the company should still go about its business as usual?
... Also curious is why Family Radio requested an extension to file their nonprofit paperwork. The group is required to submit financial documents in many of the states where they solicit donations, and in Minnesota they requested an extension from their July 15 deadline to November 15.
July 15th was already well past their Judgment Day prediction -- when they say believers will ascend to heaven -- so why bother requesting an extension to November?"*
"And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."posted by sciurus at 2:44 PM on May 19, 2011 [2 favorites]
- Luke 12:39-40
"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2
No one I know thinks there's anything to it. Particularly since Jesus HIMSELF said no man would know the day or the hour.Sounds like you don't expect it. So, I feel obligated to point out to you that in that same speech, Jesus went on to say that "the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him".
As I said to a facebook friend earlier, more chance of a zombie apocalypse this Saturday than a Rapture.
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.posted by Flunkie at 4:09 PM on May 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
From what I understand it's a rolling rapture that will occur in one time zone at a time. No jokeJust to be safe, I hereby unilaterally define my own new time zone, GMT-876600.
I'm just aghast that this guy isn't in jail for fraud. He's taking these people's money to enrich himself with a bunch of BS cooked up to sound scholarly and important.I frankly don't see how that makes him different than any number of religious leaders, including mainstream religious leaders. Why single him out?
his math and his timing are notHow do you know?
Witnessing that terror and hopeless fear, seeing the suffering that it brought, I stopped thinking of his “Bible prophecy” obsession as a kooky, but mostly harmless set of beliefs. I began to realize that it was a framework that burdened its followers with the inevitability of disappointment, false hope, denial and an inconsolable fear. Its adherents were its victims. There were other victims, too, but its main damage was wrought in the lives of those who most believed it.posted by Zozo at 8:02 PM on May 19, 2011 [5 favorites]
We might conclude by asking, “What view of the world is encouraged, even legitimized by the Rapture/Left Behind ideology?” It can be fairly described as an extremely pessimistic, “outsider mentality.” It feels “left out” of the world and of society, so it eagerly anticipates leaving all of that behind. In fact, God shares their disgust, and the signs are clear: God is coming soon to put an end to it. The world itself is doomed to destruction, so there is obviously no point in caring for it or protecting it now.posted by charred husk at 5:50 AM on May 20, 2011 [7 favorites]
Everyone left behind on the earth at the time of the Rapture will be subject to the sufferings of the Tribulation. The violence envisaged and described (as in the “Left Behind” novels) is almost pornographic in detail.
The spirit of vengeance is much in evidence as those “left behind” are subjected to extreme anguish. The hope that the earth and most of its inhabitants will soon be destroyed is a cause of happiness and rejoicing among those who are eager to be separated from sinners and “raptured” out of the world because then they will be with the Lord.
The three teenagers have been struggling to make sense of their shifting world, which started changing nearly two years ago when their mother, Abby Haddad Carson, left her job as a nurse to “sound the trumpet” on mission trips with her husband, Robert, handing out tracts. They stopped working on their house and saving for college.Sickenly sad and selfish on the parents' part.
Last weekend, the family traveled to New York, the parents dragging their reluctant children through a Manhattan street fair in a final effort to spread the word.
“My mom has told me directly that I’m not going to get into heaven,” Grace Haddad, 16, said. “At first it was really upsetting, but it’s what she honestly believes.”
... While Ms. Haddad Carson has quit her job, her husband still works as an engineer for the federal Energy Department. But the children worry that there may not be enough money for college. They also have typical teenage angst — embarrassing parents — only amplified.
“People look at my family and think I’m like that,” said Joseph, their 14-year-old, as his parents walked through the street fair on Ninth Avenue, giving out Bibles. “I keep my friends as far away from them as possible.”
“I don’t really have any motivation to try to figure out what I want to do anymore,” he said, “because my main support line, my parents, don’t care.”
His mother said she accepted that believers “lose friends and you lose family members in the process.”
“I have mixed feelings,” Ms. Haddad Carson said. “I’m very excited about the Lord’s return, but I’m fearful that my children might get left behind. But you have to accept God’s will.”*
"Jerry Jenkins, co-author with Tim LaHaye of the 'Left Behind' series of apocalyptic novels that have sold millions of copies worldwide, has a problem with the prediction.Ya' think?
'As a believer, I'm already a kook compared to most people, so for someone to choose a date and get everyone excited about a certain time, my problem is it makes us look worse,' said Jenkins, 61."*
we're left with thousands of people who threw away their life savings and their preparations for a future because they got duped by a con man.I'm not so sure he's a con man. Why are you?
Because he's done this several times before, making quite a bit of money each time.Really? As far as I have previously heard, there was just one other time. Can you cite others? And can you cite your claim that he made quite a bit of money each time? Thanks.
"According to their most recent IRS filings, Family Radio is almost entirely funded by donations, and brought in $18 million in contributions in 2009 alone.posted by ericb at 4:40 PM on May 20, 2011
According to those financial documents, accountants put the total worth of Family Radio (referred to as Family Stations on its official forms) at $72 million. With those kind of financials -- and controversial beliefs -- it's no wonder skeptics have accused the group of running a scam."
As far as I have previously heard, there was just one other time.Also, I have read in several places that that one other time was not an absolute prediction, as this one is; rather, it was a "maybe", and (I have read) also included 2011 as another maybe.
"Broadcasting online as well as over local airwaves, Family Radio reaches at least 150 countries in 82 languages.It's a goddamn con ... just like most evangelical Christian enterprises in the U.S.
... The nonprofit had $72 million in assets in 2009 (the most recent year for which financial records are available), and holds several lucrative FCC licenses. A sizable chunk of its funding comes from donations. All this, says [PR Manager Tom] Evans, shows that God has favored them.
... Though Camping has not wavered in the certainty of his message, neither have staff made plans to cease broadcasting. Evans says this simply reflects a desire to be good citizens. 'We'll just let God stop it whenever He's going to,' he says. 'We suspect it will be around 6 p.m. our time.'"*
Okay, New Zealand. Are you guys in the air?It's only 1:30 PM in New Zealand. They've still got four and a half hours.
So, its currently 4pm Saturday May 21st in Kiribati. In two hours are they going to go with:c) Nothing.
a) An embarrassed admission of error.
b) 'Obviously there were no true Christians in Kiribati'.
I don't suppose there are any news channels planning to offer rolling coverage of different time zones, like they do for New Years Eve?Man, I sure hope not.
Surely they'll be asked directly?As soon as 6:00 PM Kiribati time rolls around? I sincerely doubt it.
Failure of predictionsposted by Rhaomi at 9:35 PM on May 20, 2011
As of 6 pm local time on Christmas Island, May 21 2011, no earthquakes have occurred [46], nor has there been any evidence of rapture activities.
On May 21, from what we hear, a small number of Christians will disappear and God will rock the rest of us with earthquakes, plague, asteroids, and all manner of suffering. On Oct. 21, after five months of torture, the universe will cease to exist. This is obviously disconcerting news, and we thought we'd lend a hand.Rapture-Relief.org, run by the Seattle Atheists group.
"... the fear he fosters spreads around the world.posted by ericb at 2:23 PM on May 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
This woman, fearful of the end of the world, took a boxcutter to the throats of her two daughters, and then sliced her own throat. This is what religion encourages: fear based on imaginary terrors.
Here's a man who committed suicide in Nairobi. Here's a family torn by parents who gave away everything to Camping; the mother said a daughter would be left behind…at least she didn't try to cut her throat.
I want to see Harold Camping prosecuted for bilking people out of their money, for destroying lives and families. I want to see his radio empire dismantled and the people who promoted his lies disgraced and ashamed.
It won't happen."
Camping, who told The Huffington Post last week that May 21 was "no laughing matter," had refused to discuss what he would do with donations if the day passed without event. In recent months, followers have given generously to his company, which runs 66 radio stations in the U.S. and is worth at least $120 million.posted by ericb at 8:59 AM on May 23, 2011
On Sunday, [Family Radio spokesman Tom Evans] Evans said Family Radio's assets "far outweigh its liabilities," and that it will "certainly do everything it can to take care of people." But he said that there has been no decision on giving money back to donors.*
Gunther Von Harringa, who heads a religious organization that produces content for Camping's media enterprise, said he was "very surprised" the Rapture did not happen as predicted, but he and other believers were in good spirits.posted by ericb at 1:58 PM on May 23, 2011
"It hasn't shaken my faith, and we're still searching the Scriptures to understand why it did not happen," said Von Harringa, president of EBible Fellowship, which he operates from his home in Delaware, Ohio. "It's just a matter of OK, Lord, where do we go from here?"
Family Radio's special projects coordinator, Michael Garcia, said he believed the delay was God's way of separating true believers from those willing to doubt what he said were clear biblical warnings.
"Maybe this had to happen for there to be a separation between those who have faith and those who don't," he said. "It's highly possible that our Lord is delaying his coming."
Radio host now says Judgment Day coming in Octoberposted by ericb at 7:26 PM on May 23, 2011
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