May 21, 2011: The Harm That ‘Doomsday’ Will Do

By now, we’ve no doubt heard that the “Judgment Day” is coming on May 21. The date was calculated by Harold Camping, the leader of an independent Christian ministry called Family Radio Worldwide, which is based in Oakland, Calif. Camping’s date is based on his interpretation of the Bible.

That’s right; according to Mr. Camping, we’re just days away from the Second Coming of Jesus. May 21 is on a Saturday this year, so he encourages everyone to find Jesus before then. He tells us to go to church, talk to our friends, confide in a priest – do whatever we need to do in order to be saved in the Rapture rather than be left behind by Jesus.

After Judgment Day 2011, Jesus will stay on the Earth until October 21, 2011. The Second coming of Jesus will be glorious for some, and unfortunate for others. The initial loss of loved ones in the Rapture will devastate families, cause destruction, and mass chaos. The Times of The End will make the last 7 years of tribulation that recently culminated with the killing of terrorist Osama Bin Laden, look like paradise. End Times will bring trials and tribulations never before imagined by man.

And on May 22, while those of us who think that the May 21 Christians are crazy will probably be laughing or poking fun or explaining what we believe to be biblical reasons why they shouldn’t have put a date on God’s Judgment, the May 21st kids will be facing their “day of reckoning,” waking up to realize that their parents, pastors, and theologies were wrong. Many of those kids will lose something that day. The questions that many of them will ask will get answered with lies and excuses and bad biblical reasoning. Some of them will be angry with God for not bringing about Judgment Day. Some of them will lose their faith and yet be unable to escape it. And some of them will go on like nothing happened and probably end up setting and believing in another “date.”

And there’s nothing funny about that.

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