It is now May 22nd here in New Zealand. The deadline of the rapture has long passed. Harold Camping had “prophesised” that it would take place on the 21st of May 2011, starting here in New Zealand at around 6pm. He foretold that it would begin with a series of earthquakes that would move around the earth, ravaging all those in its path. Well Mr Camping, the world is still standing strong, and by last count no one has been raptured. I’m very keen at this point to hear from Camping and his followers. I wish to hear what possibly could have gone wrong with their predictions. I would like to state here and now that I am in no way mocking the Christian faith. I myself was raised in a Christian home and as such have a belief system that is based upon Christian theology. I am not a “practicing” Christian, but I am a believer who also feels we can learn something from every religious belief system, and take something from them in order to live a good life. What I do mock is this man who claimed to prophesise the beginning of the end, and it would seem had many followers fooled.
The ironic thing about this entire debacle is that the bible does warn us of false prophets. That means that in his attempt to warn us of the coming end of days, he has in fact revealed himself as the very thing the bible scorns. I cant begin to tell you how much that very thought makes me chuckle. It says in Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. There is also Matt 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. I think those two pieces of scripture describe Harold Camping very well. He came in the guise of a God fearing Christian and deceived many people who followed him and his ramblings. It also states that false prophets should be rebuked and attacked. So rebuke and attack I shall do!
Now many will say that he was just preaching what he wholeheartedly believed in. That is fair conjecture, however no one knows what his true motivation was for spreading the “good” word. The problem I have with this entire fiasco is the world wild fallout that has ensued. There are whispers that Camping’s followers were encouraged to leave their jobs in preparation for the rapture. Also there are stories circulating that the flock were advised to do the kind thing and put their animals down so that they weren’t caught up in the fallout of Christ’s return. If this is the case then Camping is directly responsible for the now unemployment and grief his followers will be experiencing now. In fact psychologist's are worried about how people are going to react after this non event. Even Christian pastors and counsellors are gathering to offer their support and counselling to those directly effected.
The other massive point of contention for me personally is that Camping stated that New Zealand would be the first place to experience the rapture, with the onset of world shattering earthquakes. Did you fall and bump your head, you insidious parasite? My home town of Christchurch, New Zealand has been plagued by earthquakes since September last year, beginning with a 7.1. On February 22nd my city was once again rocked by a 6.3, killing 188 people and destroying the majority of our inner city. Was your head inserted so far up your own rectum that you couldn’t stop to think what sort of terror such false predictions could cause to an already shaken and terrified city? How dare you! These earthquakes around the world are NOT a sign of the return of Christ, they are normal yearly occurrences. In fact on average there are 15 major earthquakes around the world that cause death and devastation, it is not an act of God, it is an act of nature, it is what the earth does.
One of the first concerns that initially crossed my mind was how many people are going to either contemplate or attempt suicide because they are sucked in and terrorised by the thought of the world ending? This is indeed a great possibility, considering people have committed suicide or contemplated it in the build up to the predicted 2012 end of the world. You Mr Camping have caused world wide panic and as such should be held accountable for any damage and harm you may have done. You also need to go back and read Revelations a few more times before you decide to toss around unfounded predictions. No man knows when Christ will return, not even Christ himself. As a man professing to be a God fearing Christian, do you not think that you should make sure you have all the facts correct and are preaching based on what is in the written word.
Should there ever be an actual judgement day, I take great delight in knowing you will be judged on your false prophecies.
As a final observation, I tried to access the Family Radio site several times today. What a great coincidence that the website seems to be experiencing a lot of technical problems. Suddenly he has become very quiet on the subject. Its the first sensible thing you’ve done Harold Camping!
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