By Laura Donnelly, Bonnie Malkin and David Barrett 7:01PM BST 21 May 2011
Given that the end of the world was supposed to be nigh, it perhaps wasn’t surprising that Christian doomsday prophet Harold Camping had shown some reluctance to take advance bookings.
The 89-year-old Californian preacher and radio host had prophesied that the Rapture would begin at 6pm May 21st in each of the world’s time zones, with non-believers wiped out by rolling earthquakers, as the saved ascended into heaven.
His refusal to schedule a media interview for the following day - “It is absolutely going to happen. There is no way that I can schedule an interview because I won’t be here.” - was being replayed by media as the world firmly stayed standing.
On the microsite Twitter, groups of atheists and sceptics were last night swapping tales of After Rapture parties, with one group, in Tacoma, Washington, branding their celebration “Countdown to Back-Pedalling”.
Mr Camping’s doomsday prediction wasn’t his first. He blamed an earlier apocalyptic prediction which passed quietly in 1994 on a mathematical error, last month saying: “I’m not embarrassed about it. It was just the fact that it was premature.”
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Apocalypse predicted for Saturday 20 May 2011
This time would be different, with “no possibility” it would not happen. While across the United States, some devotees reportedly sold all their possessions and took to the streets to warn of the second coming of Jesus, in Britain, sceptical voices were louder.
After 6pm passed without incident in New Zealand and Australia, Stephen Fry tweeted: “Marvellous news! Rapture doesnt mean end of world; apparently all the planet’s imbeciles disappear in one go.”
Amid the sound of ruffled feathers he later added: “Calm down. Never said all Christians are imbeciles. Just those who think they’ll be raised up today. They do the faith a grave disservice.”
Earlier TV scientist Professor Brian Cox had suggested it was a good time for a global practical joke: “I think we should all pretend the rapture is happening so that when Harold Camping gets left behind later today he’ll be livid.”
Some of the first reports that the apocalypse was not keeping to schedule emerged from New Zealand. Kiwis confirmed there were no signs of the dead rising from the grave, nor of the living ascending into the clouds to meet Jesus Christ.
Daniel Boerman tweeted: “I’m from New Zealand, it is 6.06pm, the world has NOT ended. No earthquakes here, all waiting for the Rapture can relax for now.”
On the island of Tonga, which reached 6pm an hour earlier, there was a reported absence of zombies, true believers hurtling skywards, arch-angels and trumpeters.
Two minor earthquakes did hit the Pacific earlier in the day, measuring 3.1 and 4.8 and not triggering any tsunami warnings, but earthquakes of that magnitude are a regular occurrence in the region.
Mr Camping, a retired engineer, spread his message of doom via Family Radio, which has a network of 66 radio stations and online broadcasts.
However websites in the United States reported that not all of those working for the station were so sure, with a receptionist telling journalists that she expected to turn up for work on Monday.
(Reuters) - With no sign of Judgment Day arriving as he had forecast, the 89-year-old California evangelical broadcaster and former civil engineer behind the pronouncement seemed to have gone silent on Saturday.
Family Radio, the Christian stations network headed by Harold Camping which had spread his message of an approaching doomsday, was playing recorded church music, devotionals and life advice unrelated to the apocalypse.
Camping previously made a failed prediction Jesus Christ would return to Earth in 1994.
In his latest pronouncement, he had said doomsday would begin in Asia, but with midnight local time come and gone in Tokyo and Beijing and those cities already in the early hours of May 22, there was no indication of an apocalypse.
The Oakland, California, headquarters of the network of 66 U.S. stations was shuttered with a sign in the door that read "This Office is Closed. Sorry we missed you!"
Family Radio officials, with the help of supporters, had posted over 2,000 billboards around the country warning of a May 21 Judgment Day.
The headquarters, which appears to be normally closed on Saturday, was also shuttered on Friday.
Camping, whose deep sonorous voice is frequently heard on his radio network expounding the Bible, could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
The shades were drawn and no one answered the door at his house in Alameda, California.
Sheila Doan, 65, who has lived next door to Camping since 1971, said he is a good neighbor and that she is concerned about Camping and his wife, because of the attention his pronouncement has received.
"I'm concerned for them, that somebody would possibly do something stupid, you just don't know in this world what's going to happen," she said.
Atheists in different parts of the country were planning celebrations and get-togethers to mark the failure of Camping's May 21 prediction to come true.
In Oakland, the same city where Camping's network is based, over 200 people gathered at an atheist convention at a Masonic lodge where speakers jokingly took note of the Judgment Day pronouncement.
"It's kind of crazy, but there's actually a dark side to it too," said Stuart Bechman, national affiliate director of a group called American Atheists.
"There are a lot of silly and even unfounded beliefs that go on in the religious community that cause harm," he said.
Tom Evans, a spokesman for Camping, said earlier this week that at least several tens of thousands of people listen to Family Radio's message.
The network is heard in more than 30 languages through international affiliates, according to Family Radio.
In New York, at least one of Camping's followers continued to hold out hope Judgment Day would come.
Retired Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker Robert Fitzpatrick, 60, said he spent more than $140,000 of his savings on subway posters and bus shelter advertisements warning of the May 21 Judgment Day.
"God's people are commanded to sound the warning, to sound the trumpet so to speak so people know," Fitzpatrick said of his advertising blitz.
He said Camping led him to believe Judgment Day would be May 21, but added that he disagreed with the broadcaster's prediction it would begin in Asia.
In Fitzpatrick's view, from his reading of the Bible, Judgment Day would begin around 6 p.m. Eastern Time. He said on Saturday he still had no doubt Judgment Day would come this day.
"I wouldn't even entertain that question because there's too much proof from the Bible," he said.
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Harold Camping says the rapture is coming May 21. Here?s what you need in case Judgment Day is truly upon us.
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For some reason, perhaps a slow news cycle, respected media outlets are giving Camping?s prediction ample ink. I thought it was only appropriate for Altadena Patch to weigh in too and give Altadena residents a few helpful hints to make it through the weekend.
We?ll find out by the end of the day if Camping?s math adds up. And just in case he?s right, here are five Judgment Day necessities that you should pick up to prepare for the big day.
1. Toilet paper ? Obviously. Stock up at one of our local groceries.
2. Water - Another no-brainer. Hydration is a staple of any good rapture gameplan.
3. Music ?It's not too late to check out Altadena's independent record store. If you'd rather read a book by one of Altadena's local author, stop by Websters.
4. Sweatpants ? If the world?s going down, might as well get comfortable. You might have to leave town to get the lowest price on department store sweat pants though.
5. Shake Weight - The world may be ending but that doesn't mean you need to stop caring about your health. With the Shake Weight, you can get strong and sculpted arms that will be the talk of the post-apocalyptic dating scene.
Alright, you?re all set. No go out there and give ?em he--! Er?. or something.
Do you think Camping deserves all the press he's getting? Are you doing anything differently this weekend? Tell us in the comments.
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Apocalypse September! (An Historical Look)
POSTED BY WALTER BRASCH, PH.D. IN BREAKING NEWS, RELIGION.
MAY 21ST, 2011
AUTHOR?S NOTE:
This column was written in 1994 when Harold Camping made his prediction for the apocalypse. He now says he?s certain?absolutely, positively, 100% certain the rapture begins at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 21. But, what?s telling is that America hasn?t changed since 1994?the issues noted lightly in the column are still here. The facts change, the problems don?t. So, enjoy this light-hearted look at history?and contemporary America.
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WANDERINGS, with Walt Brasch
Week of July 24-30, 1994
by Walter Brasch
The world will end in September [1994], at least if Harold Camping has his way. Camping, an engineer and former Bible School teacher, says his research has convinced him that in 1988, 13,000 years after what he believes is the earth?s creation, Satan broke forth from the underground. It?s probably just a coincidence, but 1988 was also the same year that George Bush, whom Sadaam Hussein called The Great Satan, was elected president.
Nevertheless, Camping claims the Christian church has been teaching false doctrine the past couple of thousand years, and that his calculations reveal the truth. Normally, it?d be easy to dismiss Camping?s Day of Doom forecast, especially since all the other religions have the ?absolute truth.? But, Camping is a media-savvy apocalyptic kind of guy. He has written two books about it, and owns a network of 40 radio stations, all of them belching airwaves of impending doom to the thousands of Americans who believe in the media?and have donated at least $12 million during the past year to his stations.
Alas, with so much opposition, especially from religious leaders who are upset that Camping has better slide rules than they do, Camping needs all the support he can get. Fortunately, a little known tenet of the Coppola Theory of Apocalypse Now states that a wave of stupidity will wash over the people prior to the final holocaust. There have been many clues in the past few months alone. Here are just a few.
In Philadelphia, an orthodontist who admitted he fondled a couple of hundred girls and young women who trusted their teeth but not their bodies to him was convicted of a charge of molestation, and stripped of his license. Psychiatrists say Dr. Warren Graboyes (yes, that?s {italic} really {end italic} his name) has a bad case of frotteurism?a fancy name for putting your hands somewhere other than in a patient?s mouth. So, Dr. Graboyes has sued his insurance company, claiming that because of his illness, which he says is incurable, he is disabled. For that disability, he demands $5,000 a month.
If every time newspapers reported a stupid act by a government official, the carriers would need forklifts not bicycles to deliver their newspapers. But, now and then something just has to be reported. In Scott Twp., Columbia County, Pennsylvania, where residents pay one of the highest rates in the state for their new sewer system, the township supervisors are having trouble disposing of some problems?like not knowing where all its records are and for failure to pay its own taxes on time. To save money, the Supervisors asked for volunteers to help staff the telephones. A retired college professor and a retired CPA volunteered. But, the supervisors turned them down. They said the volunteers (and there?s no way I could be making this up!) were ?overqualified.?
In Allentown, an official wrote a former employee, who had charged her employer with discrimination, that he was finally closing her file after more than four years because, ?You died August 10, 1990.? He did advise the woman that she still had a right to bring a private legal action, and that if she wished to do so, she must file a suit within 90 days of receiving the letter.
For the first time in years, there are no members or former members of Congress in prison, a truly cataclysmic occurrence. If we can survive September, maybe we will see balance restored with the impending imprisonments of Reps. Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois and Pennsylvania?s Joseph Dade.
Haitian leaders are now using voodoo to put curses on American policy-makers. While we may think the Haitians may have a few pins short of a full cushion, does {italic} anyone {end italic} believe there has been much intelligence put into whatever it is we think our government?s Haitian policy is?
His Royal Pontificate, Rush Limbaugh, claims there is no evidence that nicotine is addictive. This tells us one of two things. Either it was Satan who convinced thousands of scientists, including the entire U.S. Public Health Service, to fake the data in their gazillion tons of reports that prove nocotine {italic} is {end italic} addictive, or else Satan recently blew smoke past the Mouth That Roared.
Even Rush Limbaugh can cause others to act stupid. The National Education Association has asked its members to stop buying orange juice. The NEA is upset that the Florida Citrus Commission is using Limbaugh, an occasional teacher-basher, as its spokesman.
And speaking of Orange Juice . . . Did anyone else think it a sign of the impending apocalypse when thousands of people stood on freeway overpasses to cheer O.J. Simpson in his 60-mile slo-mo touchdown dash to his arrest? Does anyone doubt there is a wave of stupidity that affects the 15,000-20,000 people a week who take the time and energy to write letters of encouragement to O.J., while no one seems to be writing letters to the families of Nicole Simpson or Ron Goldman?
Finally, there?s a better than average possibility the news media will miss the apocalypse since they would still be covering the O.J. case. While the networks devoted hours of prime time television to follow the chase, cleared time for every news magazine to do one-hour features and analyses about O.J. and his life, ran 5- and 10-minute O.J. news blocks in their evening news, and updates almost every hour, and while CNN aired all-day live coverage of the preliminary hearing, there were major floods in Georgia (which received all of 20 seconds on one night?s network newscast), continued massacres in Rwanda and Bosnia, and at least a thousand other murders in the U.S.
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
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.
comment section:
"Posted by: nelc | May 21, 2011 4:39 PM
At a panel at a science fiction convention I went to a few years ago, the panel members were asked about new crimes for the 21st Century, and one of them mentioned 'emotional assault by cult'. This kind of thing always makes me think of that."
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Some folks believe that the world will end today. (If so, it?s been nice sharing real estate thoughts with you!)
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Others don?t believe the Harold Camping?s "rapture" forecast that Judgment Day begins May 21.
Since we at this blog love to share projections, we asked our flock of industry insiders in advance to ponder a world-altering rapture ? knowing they might be otherwise busy on a Saturday, or dealing with their own Armageddon-related issues. (If you happen to take the prediction seriously, we mean no offense ? and hope that none is taken.)
We asked our panel how the end of the world as we know it might impact Orange County real estate. Even with this extreme theoretical query, there was great debate about the housing?s future post-Doomsday ?
Cary Hairabedian of Remax College Park Realty: Unfortunately ? or fortunately if you are a home seller ? there won?t be that many people leaving Orange County on Saturday. So, demand will be impacted little by the rapture. More significant will be the major earthquake on Saturday followed by 23 other earthquakes around the world throughout the day. Depending on the damage that occurs, real estate purchases will slow temporarily ? then pickup quickly again as most people today have only short term memory. We know this because Californians keep electing the same people to government office. Within a week or two, a new event; probably something to do with a celebrity doing something outrageous or embarrassing will take precedence in the news again; and the rapture will become a forgotten footnote in the news. Shortly after that, the government will provide rebuilding funds by printing more money to give away to the earthquake damage area. Property values will shoot up as demand increases greatly to get in on the free government money to purchase in this area. Also, inflation will greatly increase due to the devalued dollar created by printing more money. Buyers will gravitate toward real estate as the most comfortable hedge against inflation causing demand to outstrip supply and prices to rise.
Economist Esmael Adibi, Chapman U.: ?(Rapture) could be a solution to our housing market and speed up our economic recovery. Inventory of unsold housing units will disappear. There will be even shortage of shelters. Government will print huge sum of money. Mortgage rates will drop to 0.5 percent. And all of the unemployed will find a job in the construction sector. ?
Economist Mark Schneipp, California Forecast: ?No change (for Orange County real estate.) The world ended in 2008 with the housing bubble exploding and 25,000 jobs lost in mortgage lending. That is worse than Armageddon. It has not come back much to date. So if it happened again, then no change. Armageddon would be better than what happened previously.?
Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin.com: ?It will have no impact. The armies of the Beast already attacked in 2008.?
Glenn Hellyer, 2011 president of Pacific West Association of Realtors: ?We will all finally be able to agree that we have reached the bottom of the real estate market.?
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
No Judgment! But a whole lot of joking as Judgment Day, aka the Rapture, aka the Apocalypse, has gone off without a world-ending disaster (little quakes in Iceland don't seem to count).
The joke appears to be on Harold Camping and his earnest followers. After all, if you're reading this, you're still standing squarely on earth, not off with the angels where the true believers were supposed to be flown in a flash at 6 p.m.
Still, we should enjoy the last hurrah of the prophet's fizzled forecast. So here's some of the Saturday night, post "Apocalypse No" hilarity:
On Twitter, Star Trekker George Takei posts:
Today's Rapture postponed as Jesus awaits announcement of surprise guest on final Oprah. Savior "hopeful" but "okay with it" if not.
The Borowitz Report attends a press confab with God...
Dressed in His trademark flowing white robe and carrying a thunderbolt, God seemed visibly irked by the predictions calling for the world to end this Saturday.
"I'll end the world when I'm good and ready, Me damn it," He snapped in response to a question from a USA Today reporter. (Alas, not me. I was resupplying at Costco, supermarket to survivalists, knowing I would be going nowhere today.)
...Elsewhere, Harold Camping, the preacher who predicted that the world would end on May 21, issued the following brief statement: ""The world doesn't end this week. Oprah does. My bad, sry."
Less funny: The International Business Times speculates that Harold Camping may be in hiding. The self-proclaimed prophet...
... is now maintaining a stoic silence. Meanwhile, the Family Radio headquarter in Oakland, CA display a cryptic message in large letters: "This Office is Closed. Sorry we missed you!" pasted on its front door.
According to a Reuters report, Camping's house in Alameda, CA is covered with shades and no one was available. Camping has previously said that he would be watching TV and listening to the radio in his home at the appointed time.
Is this silly? Or really, for folks who changed their lives meet their judgment, kind of sad?
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Linear Mode
