The Month of Maybe

May 25, 2011

This must be Harold Camping‘s calendar for any future Rapture-related predictions:

He won’t admit he was wrong, though. That’d be downright unChristian of him. David Hayward understands this:

… the mental and spiritual gymnastics [Christians] go through to desperately try to make it make sense is breathtaking.

Why? Because if they admit they were wrong about hearing from God, then they’ve opened up a huge theological and spiritual problem.

And they just can’t go there.

Eventually, it’ll hit them that god was never speaking to them in the first place. Maybe if Christians were willing to point that out more often, it wouldn’t happen as much. But since they treat those delusions far too delicately — they wouldn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings, especially when god is involved — predictions like Camping’s will continue.

(via nakedpastor)

May 25, 2011

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What Are Your Thoughts?leave a comment

Leila

I was fine until I got to “Maybe”, then I cracked up XD
vltava

>Eventually, it’ll hit them that god was never speaking to them in the first place.

But that alive-and-well denomination of Christianity, the Seventh Day Adventists, was born out of just such a series of failed predictions of the Rapture.
MH

Harold Camping strikes me as a typical televangelist con-man and not a nutty true believer with a sandwich board. He’s the president of Family Radio and possibly worth $122 million. But Family Radio was accepting donations last week. Now if you had that much money and really believed the world was ending, why bother accepting money?
Richard Wade

Eventually, it’ll hit them that god was never speaking to them in the first place.

I don’t think so. That would require them to give up their specialness, and they’re hooked on that. A special message from the Almighty especially to them makes them very special. The idea of being ordinary is painful to them.

Even if they’re only the secondary recipient of the special message from the Almighty via the very special person, there’s so much specialness to rub off on them that they feel special too.

It’s sad. So much effort, money and time put into being special, when all they have to do to really be special is to be helpful and encouraging to someone else.

It’s very, very easy to be actually special. We’re surrounded by opportunities.
Marguerite

But that alive-and-well denomination of Christianity, the Seventh Day Adventists, was born out of just such a series of failed predictions of the Rapture.

The New Testament itself is a series of failed predictions of the second coming. Jesus says pretty clearly that the world is ending within a generation. Christians have been doing those “mental gymnastics” to get around this plain fact ever since. It’s not surprising that some Christian groups can manage to remain unfazed by a failed prediction or two– such things are virtually a pillar of the religion.
Eric Keyte

This is absolutely hilarious. I was thinking about this earlier today, wondering if he would call on December of 2012 the final doomsday if [when] October 21st fails. 🙂
hoverfrog

I know the date. It is the 32nd of Jolembuary. Or is it the eleventifirst of Ocvember? Definitely one of the two.
bloomc

I am a Christian, but I thought Camping’s predictions were completely ridiculous, especially since nothing in the Bible even hints at that date. Religion aside, I really love learning about what people outside my religion have to say. So on that note, can anybody give me a completely honest answer? Do you believe that just because one Christian gets unnecessary publicity for some ridiculous idea or accusation, than all other Christians believe the same thing? I’m trying to learn more about how other people truly view differing people when forced to think in depth. Please don’t mistake my question for sarcasm. Thanks.