robaus Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Thank Buddha I'll be back in Disneyworld (aka Pattaya) next week... At least I'll go down with my boots off. US preacher warns end of the world is nigh: 21 May, around 6pm, to be precise (But he has been wrong before). Guy Adams reports from California. The end of the world is nigh; 21 May, to be precise. That's the date when Harold Camping, a preacher from Oakland, California, is confidently predicting the Second Coming of the Lord. At about 6pm, he reckons 2 per cent of the world's population will be immediately "raptured" to Heaven; the rest of us will get sent straight to the Other Place. If Mr Camping were speaking from any normal pulpit, it would be easy to dismiss him as just another religious eccentric wrongly calling the apocalypse. But thanks to this elderly man's ubiquity, on America's airwaves and billboards, his unlikely Doomsday message is almost impossible to ignore. Every day Mr Camping, an 89-year-old former civil engineer, speaks to his followers via the Family Radio Network, a religious broadcasting organisation funded entirely by donations from listeners. Such is their generosity (assets total $120m) that his network now owns 66 stations in the US alone. Those deep pockets were raided to allow Family Radio to launch a high-profile advertising campaign, proclaiming the approaching Day of Judgement. More than 2,000 billboards across the US are adorned with its slogans, which include "Blow the trumpet, warn the people!". A fleet of logoed camper vans is touring every state in the nation. "It's getting real close. It's really getting pretty awesome, when you think about it," Mr Camping told The Independent on Sunday. "We're not talking about a ball game, or a marriage, or graduating from college. We're talking about the end of the world, a matter of being eternally dead, or being eternally alive, and it's all coming to a head right now. Mr Camping, who makes programmes in 48 languages, boasts tens of thousands of followers across the globe, with radio stations in South Africa, Russia and Turkey. After 70 years of studying the Bible, he claims to have developed a system that uses mathematics to interpret prophesies hidden in it. He says the world will end on 21 May, because that will be 722,500 days from 1 April AD33, which he believes was the day of the Crucifixion. The figure of 722,500 is important because you get it by multiplying three holy numbers (five, 10 and 17) together twice. "When I found this out, I tell you, it blew my mind," he said. " Read on.. while you still have time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Is that 6 PM Pacific time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozpharlap Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 It is just about the money, but how many crackpots are there in the US that they believe these fruitloops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Any Christian worth his or hers time in Sunday school would know that the bible says NO ONE knows the hour or day, not even Jesus. Only God knows so he is violating a basic tenet of the bible just predicting the time and day. Some theologians believe that the prophesized second coming won't come when the world is mired in war or some great catostrophy. It will come when the world least expects according to the bible ("like a thief in the night) so the theory is that it will come when the world is completely at peace. No Middle East crisis, racism, wars, everyone is getting along, poverty is being wiped out, etc. Others say why would God want to mess that scenario up? Interesting...to some of us at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Hmmm...it comes the day Arsenal plays Fulham. If we lose then....hmmmm, makes sense. Fulham sucks. It would be the end of the world. We'll lose our team captain to Barcelona and our manager may get fired. I see his line of thinking. It may have some merit after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 ...one more thing. You sinners do need to repent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Does one have to pent before one can repent? p.s. Put on your Nikes and ride the comet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Hi, So, what is this guy gonna say if the end does not come? Wouldn't that kinda undermine his reliability. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave32 Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 It is just about the money, but how many crackpots are there in the US that they believe these fruitloops When I was a wee lad, about 14, later 80s, I was in LOVE with this lass -- Noemi. So Noemi was a pentecostal and she brought me into her home one Sunday to meet the family. There were a lot of bibles and a few copies of this book: The Late Great Planet Earth Her mother gave me a copy to take home. So after dinner, we all went to church, in the evening, as a group (which was strange for me). And it was crazy. I mean you would have to see this -- I was literally stunned. About 200 or so people were yelling out gibberish and flailing around en masse. I was at a juncture between being spooked and laughing. After, her family cornered me and asked if I had accepted jesus as my lord and savior. I said no. They asked if I would like to --> and there was definitely some pressure there (to say yes). I just said I was interested but I had to reflect on it and do it my own way. And then I got away. A couple days later I told Noemi I didn't believe in hell and had some reservations with their teachings. She persisted a little bit, but that was it between me and Noemi. A few years later she got knocked up by a married guy from their church -- never found out how that panned out. But I felt bad for her -- would be a frightening thing in that environment. And I forgot why I started even writing this. Oh yeah, to answer your question Oz -- there is quite a formidable contingent that is very serious on 'the rapture' and the end of the world being nigh. Oh yes. For starters, our ex-president was one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Michael Jackson belonged to one of those groups. I remember some years back they all gathered on a mountain in California to await the end. When nothing happened, the preacher said he had to go back and check his figures. Even nutty Michael Jackson had enough sense to drop the guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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