Harold Camping and the End of the World

It would probably be better to simply ignore this, but the following commentary makes a lot of sense, and characterizes what a lot of us have been thinking and discussing.

End of the World

The bottom line on these folks who selected a date for the rapture - is the fact that they hurt our prophetic "witness" tremendously. Ridicule is often the choice of those attempting to put down things that they don't understand or don't have the desire to probe deeply for truthful answers. By using ridicule, it allows the critic a way to oppose what they don't understand.

It also allows the critic an easy way to lump all Christians together and make mockery. This process is even worse for those of us who take a systematic, literal approach to prophecy. Now the skeptics can simply point to Harold Camping and his group and say "See, you're all a bunch of nuts, and you're all the same." Case closed, no need for further discussion.

I have already encountered this several times, and I bet you have too.

Here are some quotes from this interesting commentary:

The media has been having a prolonged belly laugh at a group that had the temerity to suggest that the world would end today.

Of course it’s ridiculous when Harold Camping predicted that the world will be over today, but not when Al Gore predicted that the North Pole would melt in five years. True believers in Gore would say that’s the difference between science and eschatology. But when bogus science warns us of an apocalypse if we don’t follow the tenets of their ideology, then how much difference is there anyway?

That is an interesting and germane parallel - one that I hadn't considered before.

Of course no one expects MSNBC to do sneering reports of global warming activists freezing at a protest or Al Gore being forced to watch a count down of a solidly frozen North Pole.

Such mockery is only directed at people who believe in more unpopular forms of apocalypses. At least unpopular at the broadcasting studios of Manhattan. Camping is ridiculous, but Al Gore is right on the money.

The only real difference between Harold Camping and Al Gore, is that Harold Camping believes what he’s saying, while Al Gore preaches one thing to his followers, but lives a lifestyle in direct contraction of it.

The Vice President turned Prophet of Gaia lectures on watching our carbon footprint and then flies on jet fueled carbon wings to another concert on behalf of the planet. Other aspiring prophets like Prince Charles, who admires poverty, but lives in privilege, are no better.

Good points. How can anyone disagree with this observation?

This is another excellent commentary; below is the conclusion:

Environmentalism is the religion of the comfortable, and the theology of the convenient. It injects a false spirituality into the materialism of the faithless. There is nothing to it but greed. From the false prophets spinning tales of the end, to scientists doing a more elevated version of the same for grant money to scribes envisioning the end for a lucrative book or movie deal. It’s not the end of the world they’re waiting for, but a commercial break.