Tomorrow, Saturday, May 21, has been claimed to be the date of the Biblical Day of Judgment by one Harold Camping, president of a shortwave radio station. Refuting Camping's claims is far too easy, and many have already done a better job of that than I could even hope to do--such as my friend Ray on this post on his X-Blog--so I won't bother with that.
I will say this: Conceding for the sake of argument that Camping did get the date correct, what's to stop God from changing His mind? Conceivably the Almighty could undo it, even if it were literally etched in stone.
I will say this: The attention from Camping received from the media must exceed his wildest dreams already, but how bad is everyone going to look if this turns out to be some Jim Jones-esque mass suicide? Admittedly, they may not feel that awful.
I will say this: How much must one's life suck to actively fancy the notion of the literal end of the world? Sure, it makes for an exciting end to a narrative, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a metaphor to inspire one to lead a better life, not viewed as a preferable escape from one's problems.
I will say this: If on Saturday the earth opens and swallows me because I didn't pay lip service to one particular sect's take on how people should live, it may prove that I was believing in the wrong God--mine isn't so narrow-minded nor blithely vengeful--but not convince me that I held the wrong beliefs.
I will say this: If Heaven is full of the sanctimonious (of any particular flavor of faith) it's certainly not the sort of place I'd want to spend eternity.
I will say this: Let's not mention this post to the Big Guy, just in case, you know?
I will say this: Conceding for the sake of argument that Camping did get the date correct, what's to stop God from changing His mind? Conceivably the Almighty could undo it, even if it were literally etched in stone.
I will say this: The attention from Camping received from the media must exceed his wildest dreams already, but how bad is everyone going to look if this turns out to be some Jim Jones-esque mass suicide? Admittedly, they may not feel that awful.
I will say this: How much must one's life suck to actively fancy the notion of the literal end of the world? Sure, it makes for an exciting end to a narrative, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a metaphor to inspire one to lead a better life, not viewed as a preferable escape from one's problems.
I will say this: If on Saturday the earth opens and swallows me because I didn't pay lip service to one particular sect's take on how people should live, it may prove that I was believing in the wrong God--mine isn't so narrow-minded nor blithely vengeful--but not convince me that I held the wrong beliefs.
I will say this: If Heaven is full of the sanctimonious (of any particular flavor of faith) it's certainly not the sort of place I'd want to spend eternity.
I will say this: Let's not mention this post to the Big Guy, just in case, you know?
ThanX for the link.
ReplyDeleteAre you still there? Even though the world didn't end on May 21st, I'm worried that God zapped you with a lightning bolt for your blasphemous post.
And if I may point out something (hey, I'm also lousy at proofreading my own material), did you mean to say in your penultimate paragraph "I will say this: If Heaven IS full of the sanctimonious..."
But I give you credit for knowing when to use either "its" or "it's."
Didn't you realize that my readers are charged with the tacit task of proofing all online content, Ray?
ReplyDeleteThanks for catching that.
Of course, if only the prediction had been correct, none of this would have mattered. I guess I'm not getting off the hook that easily...