For instance, a 1983 Gallup poll revealed that 62 percent of the respondents had "no doubts" That Jesus will return again to earth, and a 1994 poll for U.S. News and World Report indicated that 61 percent of Americans believe that Jesus will return (Gallup and Castelli 1989:4; U.S. News and World Report, December 19, 1994, 64). The U.S. News and World Report survey also found that 53 percent of those polled believe that some world events in the twentieth-century fulfill biblical prophecy, and that a significant percentage of Americans believe that the Bible should be taken literally when it speaks of a final Judgment Day (60 percent), a Battle of Armageddon (44 percent), the Antichrist (49 percent), and the Ratpure of the church (44 percent). (U.S. News and World Report, December 19, 1994, 64)(typed out of Google Books, any misspellings doubtlessly mine)
And I wouldn't care, but I've got friends who've used religion as a tool to gain some insight into themselves — insight which I'm slowly beginning to realize I lack — so the bigotry makes me offended for the sake of my friends/religious MetaFilter muses, and it stops religious discussions on MetaFilter from really committing themselves to the things that I want to talk about w/r/t religion. When our comprehensive view of religion is that it's delusion based on a "giant space fairy", it's impossible to glean anything meaningful from the discussion beyond hatred and over-simplification.Based on my experience being an atheist, I've noticed a few changes in my outlook on the religion issue. In fact, I might even go so far as to say it's been a spiritual development that is not uncommon for maturing atheists, especially of the raised-with-reason-not-religion variety.
…in theological discussions with religious leaders, I often ask what their response would be if a central tenet of their faith were disproved by science. When I put this question to the Dalai Lama, he unhesitatingly replied as no conservative or fundamentalist religious leaders do: In such a case, he said, Tibetan Buddhism would have to change. Even, I asked, if it’s a really central tenet, like reincarnation? Even then, he answered. However, he added with a twinkle – it’s going to be hard to disprove reincarnation.That's the difference.
Harold Camping proclaimed the Lord's return would be in 1994!I'd say that these are tiny, tiny differences compared to the belief in Christ's divinity, belief in Judgement, the resurrection of the dead, the communion, the Trinity, the Ten Commandments, the gospels, Christ's miracles, the crucifixion, the remission of sins... and I'm inescapably drawn to that great scene in Life of Brian where he's explained the difference between the Judean People's Front and the People's Front of Judea (search for it in that link - it's hysterically funny...)
Harold Camping now proclaims the Lord's return will be on May 21, 2011!
Harold Camping teaches that the world will end in fiery destruction on October 21, 2011!
Harold Camping (Family Radio) has aired Mormon advertisements!
Harold Camping taught that NO ONE was saved between 1988 through 1994!
Harold Camping teaches that the church age ended in 1994!
Harold Camping teaches that the Holy Spirit is NO LONGER working in the church!
Harold Camping teaches that EVERY church in the world is apostate!
Um, your argument so far is pretty much like saying that the difference between NAMBLA and most homosexuals is tiny since NAMBLA members fuck males and so do most other homosexuals.Really?
Ok, I admit I chose poor example. The point had nothing to do with rights or even magnitude of differenceBut that's what the whole argument in this thread seems, to me, to be about: the magnitude of difference. There are people saying it is tiny, and people saying it is not.
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.Do those sound like the words of people who thought that Jesus might be coming back like, maybe in another 10,000 years or so, whenever he gets around to it?
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
Those people standing around with signs, offering to help? Those are better people than I am.I don't really see how the same logic can't be applied to Camping himself. But in any case, part of what they mean by "help" is "make people stop being gay". This is "helping" because gay people are going to burn in hell, as an affront to their god.
This is "helping" because gay people are going to burn in hell, as an affront to their god.And just to be clear, they seem to mean this quite literally:
We believe that the union of same sex marriages is contrary to the Scriptures, to nature, and is in no way acceptable before the Lord. (Gen 1:26-28 w/ 2: 18-25; Mal. 2:15; Matt. 19:4-6; Lev. 18:22; 20:13a; Rom. 1:26-27)posted by Flunkie at 12:53 PM on May 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
As with all sins of the flesh, we believe that by confession, repentance and affirmation of God's holy standard, homosexual men and women find forgiveness, acceptance, restoration and blessing according to the will of God and according to His prescribed divine order for marriage.
(...)
We teach that this resurrection of the unsaved dead to judgment will be a physical resurrection, whereupon receiving their judgment (Romans 14:10 13), they will be committed to an eternal conscious punishment in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:11 15).
And yet here we are again with the same old "yes, all Christians really are like that" twaddle.Maybe part of the issue is that what people (who, by the way?) who say that "all Christians are like that" mean something different, by "like that", than you are imagining that they mean by "like that". So what is it, exactly, that you think they mean when they say "like that"?
"It has been a really tough weekend" (...)posted by Flunkie at 7:47 PM on May 22, 2011
But today, almost 18 hours after he thought he'd be in Heaven, there was Camping, "flabbergasted" (...)
"I'm looking for answers" (...)
"But now I have nothing else to say," he said, closing the door to his home. "I'll be back to work Monday and will say more then."
I don't think Camping was trying to dupe people or hustle cash. I think he believed he was saving immortal souls from perdition.Yes, this is my opinion too, especially after having read this article by a former family member of Camping. He comes across as a true believer.
Guy makes the same exact prediction 3 times in a row (1988, 1994 & 2011)Well, 1994 wasn't the same exact prediction - it was "it might happen in 1994, but it might not happen until 2011". But in any case, could you please tell me about 1988? Perhaps a link to information on it? I had only previously heard of 1994 and 2011. Thanks.
Which post(s) was this?It was, as I said, the one that was laced throughout with implications of empath priding himself on "ignorance-and-xenophobia bullshit", preachy entreatments not to mock anyone, to get to know them personally before passing judgment upon them, and to assume that everyone is worthy of respect, plus an implication that empath's goal is to have fun by feeling smugly superior to people
But really, like I said, Memail if you really want to continue this.You seem to want to either continue this in Memail or else not continue it at all. Assuming that I am correct about that, then perhaps you should take it to Memail or stop talking about it, based upon which of the two is what you actually want.
From the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, Blacks and Jews marched arm-in-arm. In 1909, W.E.B. Dubois, Julius Rosenthal, Lillian Wald, Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch, Stephen Wise and Henry Malkewitz formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). One year later other prominent Jewish and Black leaders created the Urban League. Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington worked together in 1912 to improve the educational system for Blacks in the South.Communists:
Thus, in the 1930s and '40s when Jewish refugee professors arrived at Southern Black Colleges, there was a history of overt empathy between Blacks and Jews, and the possibility of truly effective collaboration. Professor Ernst Borinski organized dinners at which Blacks and Whites would have to sit next to each other - a simple yet revolutionary act. Black students empathized with the cruelty these scholars had endured in Europe and trusted them more than other Whites. In fact, often Black students - as well as members of the Southern White community - saw these refugees as "some kind of colored folk."
The unique relationship that developed between these teachers and their students was in some ways a microcosm of what was beginning to happen in other parts of the United States. The American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, and the Anti-Defamation League were central to the campaign against racial prejudice. Jews made substantial financial contributions to many civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, the Urban League, the Congress of Racial Equality, and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. About 50 percent of the civil rights attorneys in the South during the 1960s were Jews, as were over 50 percent of the Whites who went to Mississippi in 1964 to challenge Jim Crow Laws.
“I Never Met a Black Person Who Was in the Communist Party Because of the Soviet Union:” Jack O’Dell on Fighting Racism in the 1940s
Jack O’Dell was a union organizer, a civil rights leader, and a member of the Communist Party. His political consciousness formed in the 1940’s, when the African-American community became more assertive in their efforts to improve conditions and expand civil rights. Like many blacks, including one of his role models, Paul Robeson, O’Dell was drawn to the Communist Party because of their staunch stand against racism and segregation. During the 1940’s, O’Dell found a welcoming environment in the National Maritime Union. Later, he worked for the director of the Southern Christian Leadership Counsel (SCLC) office in New York, before becoming SCLC’s voter registration director in seven southern states.
O’DELL: We may have been out from under McCarthyism by the ’60s but we were not out from under the official ideology of anti-Communism. President Kennedy on June the 23rd of 1963, had a meeting at the White House with the civil rights leadership because he had introduced the civil rights bill. He took Martin out on the White House lawn and told him that his relations with Jack O’Dell was jeopardizing the passage of the civil rights bill. He told Martin that I was the number four Communist in the United States. Martin said, “Well, I want to see the documentation of that?” He said, “Okay. We’ll set up for you to see it.” This is what Martin reported to us. Kennedy’s rationale was that Strom Thurman and some of the southern Democrats were getting ready to make an issue of who Martin’s connections were that they considered communists, Jack O’Dell being on the staff and Stanley Levinson as a confidant. Kennedy, said to Martin, according to Martin, that if they made that a public issue he, Kennedy, would not support the civil rights bill. So Martin has a choice, in effect, coming out of that conversation, to sever these ties and salvage Kennedy’s support for the civil rights bill or stay with his friends and have an attack come from Strom Thurman. Unless you sacrificed your principles you couldn’t escape the anti- Communism. They had no reason to Red bait him but it went on anyway. I’m just saying that the anti-Communism had become institutionalized as an effective weapon in intimidating and preventing the movement from developing. And of course, it had succeeded in some instances and failed also because movement was developing anyway.O'Dell had replaced Bayard Rustin, an advisor to King who had planned the March On Washington. Rustin was forced out of a public role in the SCLC after being attacked by Strom Thurmond as a "Communist, draft-dodger, and homosexual." A Quaker, he had been member of both American Friends Service Committee and the Young Communist League. He left the CPUSA after Stalin ordered it to abandon its work for racial equality during World War II.)
An Associated Press survey in 1997 revealed that 24% of American adults expected to be still alive when Jesus returns. Many of these probably believe that they would be raptured (elevated from the earth to be with Jesus) and thus will never experience death.posted by empath at 7:11 AM on May 23, 2011 [3 favorites]
A poll conducted for Newsweek magazine in 1999-JUN asked American adults whether they believed that Jesus would return during the next millennium -- i.e. between years 2001 and 3000 CE. Results were:
All persons surveyed : 52%
Evangelical Protestants: 71%
Non-Evangelical Protestants: 48%
Roman Catholics: 47%
Non-Christians: 20%
A group of Michigan teens celebrating that Harold Camping’s “Rapture” prediction was wrong jumped off a bridge late Saturday afternoon; 17-year-old Anthony Thompson was caught in the current, is missing, and is presumed to have drowned.Harold Camping's 'Rapture' prediction ends in tragedy; teen believed dead
it is never okay to mock a religious belief.In this thread, you have called Camping and his followers "deluded", and their beliefs "bunk". More broadly, you have referred to eschatological religious beliefs -- not just Camping's -- as "rubbish". You've also at the very least left open the question of the appropriateness of calling people who believe that Christ will literally return within 1000 years as "dupes".
Correction -- I have quoted others who said that. But moving on.You said this, and if you were quoting someone while doing so, that wasn't clear to me:
I'm not certain why it's not clear to you, because I don't see where in that quote any claim that I personally ascribe to either belief.You referred to people who "recognized bunk as the bunk that it was". That seemed like a personally invested statement to me. I'm willing to believe you when you claim that it was not. But please, in the future, if you're going to say things like this and then dispute that you meant them, please refrain from asking me again whether I'm going to ask for what the definition of "is" is. Thank you.
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 9:00 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.*
"As Saturday drew nearer, followers reported that donations grew, allowing Family Radio to spend millions on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the doomsday message.posted by ericb at 10:26 AM on May 23, 2011
... Marie Exley, who helped put up apocalypse-themed billboards in Israel, Jordan and Lebanon, said the money allowed the nonprofit to reach as many souls as possible."*
Oh, right -- I forgot to add the Flunkie disclaimer.?
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 7:25 PM on May 23, 2011
Radio host now says Judgment Day coming in October"FU-uck you, old man.
Haven't we had enough of this subject? It's been posted before, in threads that are still open, and everybody except a small group of dupes knew it was horseshit. If the only function of this thread is to once again mock the people who were victimized by this, and to gloat because we were not similarly fooled -- well, shame on us. We may have the advantage of not being fools for faith, but, you know, we still end up being gloating assholes whose understanding of the world is limited to who do we feel contempt for, and whether it's based on reason or not, it fucking sucks.Clearly we at Metafilter, not Harold Camping, are the ones who are really hurting Harold Camping's duped (1994), doubly-duped (May 21 2001), now triply duped (October 21 2011) followers. We should just shut up about it, because it's our fault for noticing the Emperor has no clothes. If we'd just kept our smug gloating atheist mouths shut, Jesus would have come back on schedule Saturday at 6pm local time in each different time zone. Shame on us, Metafilter!
Shimkus, an Illinois Republican, who won his seventh term [in November], earned a dubious bit of YouTube notoriety in March 2009 when he told a subcommittee hearing on energy and the environment that we needn't worry about global warming because of Genesis 8:21-22...Now, why is this so scary? Because regardless of what reality is, this guy is going to turn to the same passage and deny it. So if science says that kids are healthier if they get sex education in 6th grade, this guy will also probably deny it from some random scripture. And if another study says that putting people through rehab for drug offenses will be less expensive and more effective and better for society, this is the type of guy who will ignore that and say that drugs are "wrong" and users should still be thrown in jail, even if there is no biblical scripture to support that. He will deny the internal logic of the book, even after he uses it to deny the logic of the rest of the universe.
Shimkus notes that he believes the climate is changing, and toward the warmer side. But he questions whether spending money to mitigate its effects is wise, especially given God's guarantee that floods would not destroy the earth before Jesus returns. ( source )
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