It's easy enough for "run of the mill" Christians, those who've adapted their beliefs to what's currently acceptable ("believe in a mythological god, but don't necessarily condemn such things as the mingling of the ethnicities or homosexuality, because the numbers don't skew so positively to that anymore...") to join in the mocking of the mass that predicted the world would end on May 21st, 2011.
The May 21 prediction came from the Biblical numerology of Harold Camping, an 89-year-old televangelist who owns the Oakland, Calif.-based Christian Family Radio network. Camping had previously predicted a similar end-times scenario in 1994.
This isn't the first time this has happened, or the second, or the fifth or the fortieth...people have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years. No one has ever come within a million years.
Despite that most of those in this video aren't that devoted to the idea, it's interesting to watch people explain that, although they were previously confident, that they may have miscalculated.
"I guess no man knows the day or the hour," said Peter Lombardi, a 44-year-old from Jersey City, N.J. who had had taken an "indefinite break" from his job in April to preach about May 21.
Mark their words though, the end will come. And, of course, it will. The earth is doomed, on a grand scale. It will happen long after we're all gone, billions of years from now, when our sun will, in fact, destroy itself, obliterating our planet, just as scientists have predicted. Unfortunately for those capitalizing on theology, it will have nothing to do with religion or faith.
Of course, after the barbecue, no one will be around to tell the ashes that they never understood anything .
Lombardi had donated $1,100 to Family Radio in recent months to help the organization purchase thousands of billboards and other ads throughout the country, but said he doesn't expect any of his money back.
"What can you do?" he said. "I don't think they were scamming me, but I am definitely waiting to see what they say Monday on the radio show."
"It's not [Camping's] fault," said Ramsey, who added he also won't ask for his money back. "Nobody held a gun to my head. I read the Bible. The math added up. I don't think anybody would do something like this without meaning it."
This is fun stuff to watch. It's so easy and they're so wrong, but we shouldn't lose sight of where this all comes from and how poisonous mythological belief is. Faith, as I've stated a dozen times before, is "the belief in something for which there is no proof". Ask yourself, if you're a Christian, and particularly an LGBT Christian, trying to gain civil rights in a country where those of faith and those who feed off those of faith (politicians) are the only ones standing in your way, why a "belief in something for which there is no proof" is something you've decided to be proud of.
Or just watch the video. Then tell me that "Oh, those Christians are crazy, that's not real Christianity".
Really? Have you read the bible lately? But then, Progressive Christians, or whatever they're calling themselves these days, have decided, as millions have decided before them, in varying degrees, that the bible, and Christianity, is up for interpretation. Interpretations which allow "those of faith" to hold onto ludicrous and self destructive premises just because they give them a warm, comfortable feeling inside.
Although, so does sitting by a stream and enjoying the quiet. So do any number of anti-psychotics or anti-depressants. So does a belief in a pretty fairy tale that almost anyone will pat you on the back for, without debate.
We all make our choices.
Highlighted Content Courtesy Huffington Post
