“The End is Near!”
So sayeth Harold Camping of American Family Radio, Mr. Camping’s broadcast ministry based in Oakland, California.
Mr. Camping has been crunching biblical numbers since his 1994 end-of-the-world miscalculation and has definitely determined that he now has “absolute (biblical) proof that the year 2011 is the end of the world during the Day of Judgment, which will come on the last day of the Day of Judgment,” according to his website. His calculations predict the date of the Rapture as May 21, 2011 – just 9 short days from now – and five months late, on October 21st, God will completely destroy the Earth and the universe.
Basically, 89 year-old Mr. Camping and his followers believe that on the May 21 Rapture, they will be transported up to heaven to be with Christ along with about 200,000,000 (2 hundred million) other faithful Christians while the rest of us (including church-goers) are left to endure unspeakable horrors until the final destruction of the entire universe.
This is just the latest in a long string of doomsday predictions from as far back as 1260 A.D. In the 1840s, an Adventist group predicted the Second Coming – without success. As mentioned, Camping himself wrongly predicted the apocalypse for 1994. And according to calculations based on the Mayan calendar doomsday won’t occur until 2012.
These miscalculations have not deterred the faithful who consider themselves Rapture ready. Some have quit their jobs to travel the country as a Family Radio caravan spreading the word of the impending catastrophe. One woman dropped out of medical school to spread the word. Another couple budgeted their savings so it would be totally gone on May 21. The Boston Harold newspaper has estimated that Camping’s ministry has spent at least $3 million on advertising costs for billboards, pamphlets, and subway ads in an effort to get the word out.
What To Do If You Are a Non-Believer?
Have a party!
If you’re going to hell in a hand-basket anyway, you might as well enjoy yourself while you can. At least that’s the attitude of the American Atheists group. They’re throwing several Rapture Party bashes in various locations throughout the country including Houston, Fort Lauderdale and Oakland. And they have their own billboard advertising their events.
And/or . . . volunteer to rescue their pets.
If all those millions of people are suddenly whisked off to heaven to be with Jesus, what’s going to happen to all those dogs, cats, ferrets, guinea pigs, etc. that won’t have anybody to take care of them?
Well, according to Karen Datko at msn.com, two entrepreneurial companies have stepped up:
1 – Bart Center’s Eternal Earth-Bound Pets guarantees pick-up and adoption with 24 hours of the Rapture. And if the Rapture doesn’t happen as scheduled on May 21, his contract is good for at least 10 years from that date. Apparently, at least 250 people, mainly from the Bible Belt, have already signed up at $135 minimum plus $20 for each additional pet.
2 – A Christian and a non-believer teamed up to offer After The Rapture Pet Care. They have a team of volunteers to provide similar services for a $10 fee.
References
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/05/10/rapture_may_21/
http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/120167/may_21_2011_doomsday_what
http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post.aspx?post=56c49c8f-8509-40ba-b035-26c2e5093b9b
