Harold Camping is the 89 year old fundamentalist radio preacher who predicted that the world would end on May 21, 2011. Apparently, the wannabe “Almighty” Camping got trumped by a higher power, because the world didn’t end on the day he said it would. There was no fire and brimstone rainstorm and no Rapture, just business as usual – hardships, escalating crime, immorality, war, man-made and natural disasters. The only things raised to high Heaven on Camping’s predicted Judgment Day were the prices of food, gas, and housing; leading many to believe that we are already living in hell on earth. As far as the knuckleheads who quit their jobs, sold their homes, and gave away all of their savings in anticipation of the May 21st Doomsday, well, what can I tell you? Lawyer up or seek counseling.
The octogenarian founder of the Family Radio station, whose nonprofit organization benefits from numerous donations from supporters, is the leader of a nondenominational Christian ministry that broadcasts out of Oakland, California. Many of his followers emptied their bank accounts to print huge Judgment Day ads predicting the end of the world on May 21st. Others gave Camping their entire estate. Such was the case of 79 year old Doris Schmitt, who died on May 2nd in her Queens, New York home. Schmitt left $250,000 out of her $300,000 inheritance to Camping’s ministry. “Holy hell!” was probably her family’s immediate reaction when they learned about that. Needless to say, they were not pleased.
It is no laughing matter that other tragic events surrounded Camping’s prediction of The End. His false prophecy had deadly consequences for Nastya Zachinova. The parents of the 14 year old girl blame Camping’s apocalyptic fear factor as the reason their daughter committed suicide on May 21st.
When Camping and his followers awakened on the 22nd to discover no change in the status quo, he admitted (ahem!) that he had – yet again – miscalculated The End. Knowing that people knew he had flubbed previous predictions about when the world would end, he gallantly refused to shift the blame for his latest blunder on Alzheimer or brain freeze. Instead he merely admitted to being “flabbergasted.” Oh, snap!
Trying to understand the mentality of people who commit blind loyalty to any individual or organization that leads them over a cliff is as mind-blowing as Sarah Palin’s convoluted explanation of Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride.
Camping is not the only one who has miscalculated Judgment Day. For centuries, there have been Doomsday prophets — from astrologers to religious leaders to soothsayers — prophesying the end of the world. In the meantime, Camping’s latest blotched prediction made him infamous on YouTube. Many of the videos are humorous, some are just plain silly, but a few had me laughing out loud. Check out YouTube.
Okay folks, this is . . . The End.