If you're reading this column after 6 p.m. Saturday and the ground is not shaking beneath your feet, then Harold Camping was wrong. Again.
In case you haven't heard, Camping is the leader of a California-based Christian ministry called Family Radio Worldwide that has spent months proclaiming _ with highway billboards, bus stop benches, websites, emails and ads _ that May 21, 2011, is Judgment Day. To spread the word, believers have been traveling the country in RV caravans, handing out religious tracts on street corners and at parades to warn people that the End of the World As We Know It is near.
Based on a mathematical system he devised to interpret clues and prophecies in the Bible, the 89-year-old radio evangelist has predicted that today will be the Rapture _ the day when true Christian believers will ascend into heaven _ and the beginning of the end for everyone else.
Camping predicts that the biggest earthquake the world has ever seen will strike at 6 p.m., graves will be thrown open and the remains of the faithful will be transformed for eternal life. This will be followed, he says, by a five-month apocalyptic period of death and chaos, ending with a fire that will consume the Earth on Oct. 21, 2011.
It's not the first end-of-the-world prediction, and it surely won't be the last. Camping himself predicted that Judgment Day would occur in 1994, but now says he did not have enough data to make an accurate prediction.
This time, however, he is sure that there is "no possibility that it will not happen." Among the telltale signs that the end is nigh, he claims, are the recent string of severe earthquakes and crop losses, the rise of the "gay pride movement" and the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Leaders of respected mainstream religions, of course, dismiss Camping's "findings" and are saddened by this distraction from their meaningful work. It's important to remember that, at its best, organized religion teaches lessons of peace, love and compassion; provides a sense of community and purpose; and betters society by ministering to the poor and the sick.
We hear a lot about the dangers of religious extremism. Fringe groups like Camping's, while apparently not violent, may be harmful in the sense that they promote irrational decisions by gullible people. It's a bit frightening to see folks who, on the surface, don't look or sound like crackpots dropping everything to attend conventions and abandoning their jobs to spread the word about Judgment Day.
Why are we so fascinated with doomsday scenarios? Fueled by fringe religious groups, survivalists and more than a few Hollywood movies, the apocalyptic worldview may be gaining traction.
Do people perceive the world as an increasingly scary place? We've always known that really bad things can happen. Humankind has always had a terrible capacity to kill and destroy; nature has always had the power to wipe out entire villages in a matter of minutes.
There's no question _ it's a scary world out there, and we've got big problems. Dwindling natural resources, along with climate-change-induced crop shortages and natural disasters, pose new challenges for our survival on this planet.
The young people getting diplomas from SUNY Oneonta this weekend may one day become the scientists, engineers, leaders and entrepreneurs who will help to solve these problems. They, and the generations to follow, are the hope for the world. They are the ones who should be in the news today, not some religious fanatic and his kooky predictions.
It's ironic that on this day, while college students in Oneonta and across the country are looking eagerly toward new beginnings, survivalists are stockpiling water for the end times.
As for me, I plan to mark this May 21 just as I've spent the past 18 _ and the same way I hope to spend many, many more May 21sts _ with a birthday celebration for my husband.
Lisa Miller is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Oneonta. She can be reached at lisamiller44@hotmail.com.
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Coinciding with our websites redesign, we launched our new story comments feature through Disqus.
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May 21, 2011
End of the world as we know it? I feel fine
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
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Upstate theme parks offered affordable thrills
I saw in the news last week that Disney theme parks are raising admission prices to almost $100 a person. Children (who Uncle Walt considers 10 and under) are now $86 a day.
Continued ... - Getting creative with gifts for grads
- Safety Patrol D.C. visits never get old
- My pal Brucie, savior of Sidney's hospital
- Catching a whiff of 'Vermont Vapor'
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Upstate theme parks offered affordable thrills
- Cary Brunswick
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Book-banning has a tendency to backfire
So what does the 1960s game show ``What's My Line'' got to do with the Bloomsday festivities occurring in Dublin, Ireland, this week? Surprisingly, there is a link.
Continued ... - Envisioning a world without terror
- We've become our own worst enemies
- Plenty of blame to go around for Bangladesh horror
- Obama is going against his word on Social Security
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Book-banning has a tendency to backfire
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
- Lisa Miller
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A view from above
Fire towers in the Catskill Mountains have always been destination points, built to capture some of the region’s best views. These sentinel stations served an important role for the earliest possible sightings of forest fires in the remote mountain ranges. But the fire towers and those who manned them fulfilled a multitude of other roles as well.
Continued ... - Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
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- Mark Simonson
- Rick Brockway
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Don't play around with snappers
The other day, I was driving along Route 205 between Mount Vision and Hartwick. Suddenly, I had to swerve out of my lane to miss a huge snapping turtle. It was crossing from a large swamp on the left to some higher ground on the other side of the road.
- Emmons Pond Bog is pretty easy to enjoy
- Fishing has gotten a lot more complex
- Waterfalls are even better when you keep them to yourself
- Kids have sparkle in their eyes
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Don't play around with snappers
- Sam Pollak
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Justice Dept., IRS abuses worth screaming about
"If this had happened while a Republican was president, the liberal media would be screaming."
Continued ... - THIS WEEK'S POLL
- Using time off in the worst way possible
- Terror lives on, and there's no end in sight
- Remembering the glory of their times
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Justice Dept., IRS abuses worth screaming about
- William Masters
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Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
As the time to vote draws near, we need to remember how money can run politics more than we can. Raising funds is a prominent (if not the dominant) task of getting elected. Raising issues is also crucial, but those efforts are subject to distortion and fear-mongering.
- Republicans feelentitled to allthey can garner An entitlement is a legal benefit available from the government to individuals who are within a defined category of recipients, such as needing insurance for unemployment or health services.
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Romney focuses on self; Obama emphasizes unity
Mitt Romney criticizes President Obama for saying a person's success is rooted in his community, and is not all his alone. Romney belittles this with his belief in individual initiative. He is better at the put-down than the push-up.
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Romney shows little regard for common man
The Republicans in Congress have voted over and over, 33 times, redundantly and uselessly, to rescind what they call Obamacare.
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Scouts' gay ban creates problem where none exists
The Boy Scouts of America's "emphatic reaffirmation" of its vow to exclude any and all homosexuals from its hallowed ranks is ill-considered and pathetic, especially in view of its having reviewed the matter for two years.
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Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
