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Apocalypse, Judgment Day, Harold Camping, End of the World, Christ, Judgement
If you don't know already, it would seem that the beginning of the end has happened. It wasn't the end all be all of endings, at least not in the way we were told to expect it. May 21 came and went and the only thing we had to show for it was a slue of jokes about Judgment Day (including many from yours truly). Some people felt like all the jokes were in poor taste and mean spirited. I felt like it was a pretty typical response to something that could cause anxiousness (to some degree, at least) and that it was a fairly lighthearted way to debunk what I saw as not only poor theology but ultimately hurtful theology. 

Much like the outcry around Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Terry Jones, there are many people who feel like we have given Mr. Camping too much attention and while I completely see their argument, I also recognize that there will be certain segments of society that will not ignore him, no matter what. For me that places a bit of onus on counter voices (particularly Christian ones) to give a different perspective. So, I mostly made jokes. You know things like, “...might as well go green. Unplug your stuff Friday night. 'kay?” and a list of jokes ministers could tell in church the day after.

I'm not sure what to make of Mr. Camping.  Part of me believes that this engineer turned Christian radio mogul turned self anointed prophet, who happens to be worth more than $70 million and gave none of it away before the deadline of May 21, is just in it for the almighty dollar. Part of me listens to him and wonders if he might actually believe what he says and feels the slightest bit of sympathy for him (and that same part then wonders if he may not suffer from a mental issue associated with aging).

 
 
May 21 2011, Judgement Day, judgement, Harold Camping, left behind
Jesus is Coming! Look busy. 

A fellow by the name of Harold Camping is claiming that he has biblically calculated the Day of Judgment.... and people are believing him. It doesn't hurt that this civil engineer happens to have 66 radio stations to help promote his hypothesis (honestly, I'm a little surprised he hasn't either bought or sold a station to avoid that number). The interesting thing is, people believe him even though he has been wrong about this before.

In his book, Harold Camping 1994?, he claims to have used the Bible to calculate when the world will end – September 6, 1994 (or maybe between September 15 and 17). The interesting thing isn't that the world didn't end. The interesting thing isn't even that he now claims to have made a miscalculation.  The interesting thing is that he, like almost all others who make these kinds of calculations, places the biblically predicted time within his lifetime. In his case, also like many others, it also happens to be relatively imminent. (I could say that it is just imminent enough to allow time to capitalize on it's occurrence, but that would be rather cynical and far be it from me to be cynical about something like this). 

Purely statistically speaking, given the timelessness of time, and the odds of a random person deciphering the mysterious numerology of the Bible only to find that it points to the second coming and the end of the world within their own lifetime are mindbogglingly astronomical.  Yet, many people believe.

Never mind that the Bible itself tell us that no one will know the time, not even the angels. Never mind that his methods mean treating the Bible as if it is a cryptic document. Never mind that the book of Revelations is a book of hope, not death and destruction, writing to a people suffering under the rule of a heavy handed Roman government. All of those things are just facts that get in the way of believing that the day of The Great Hoover in the Sky is upon us (as I've noted before, I can't help but believe God would have upgraded by now. So, it is probably a Dyson).

Ultimately this is all a rush to judgment. Damn the facts, I want to be saved while others are left behind. It leaves me asking, “what should we do on May 22nd?” 

I have a thought: when the Holy Dyson doesn't suck up the holier-than-thou, let's celebrate with a judgment free day. See if you can spend a whole day without judging people for their religion, their sexual orientation, the way they drive, the way they talk, their level of education, the way they dress, the color of their skin, their political alignment, or any other of a long list of things upon which we judge each other daily.

If you truly want to see heaven sooner, that's how you get there.

(Update: I just found a FB page that promotes this idea. Check it out).
(Update 2: You can listen to my Rapture sermon here: "The End is Near(er)"