Are you scared … or laughing?
If you’ve been paying any attention to Doomsday prophesiers, you probably already know the world is supposed to end on Saturday. Around 6 p.m., to be exact.
In an interview with New York magazine last week, Harold Camping, founder of the Christian station Family Radio, also known as the man who sounded the May 21 Doomsday alarm, warned the world will start falling apart as each time zone reaches the hour.
“[W]hen the clock says about 6 p.m., there’s going to be this tremendous earthquake that’s going to make the last earthquake in Japan seem like nothing in comparison. And the whole world will be alerted that Judgment Day has begun,” he said.
Mr. Camping has been wrong before. He had previously predicted the world might end in 1994. We’re all still here. Thank goodness.
It’s perhaps no wonder, then, why skeptics are getting such a kick out of poking fun at gloomy Judgment Day believers.
Jokesters have been leaving cheeky messages on Craigslist, like this one, which reads: “Are you attending the rapture on May 21st, 2011? I expect to be left behind when it happens, so if you aren’t going to need your worldly possessions; be they money, cars, canned food, durable goods, etc; I would gladly take them off your hands… And remember, time is short!”
And there’s also this Facebook event for “Post rapture looting.”
“When everyone is gone and god’s not looking, we need to pick up some sweet stereo equipment and maybe some new furniture for the mansion we’re going to squat in,” the event description reads.
But even if the world isn’t actually coming to an end, some may feel like it is. According to ABC News, Doomsday believer Robert Fitzpatrick, a New York retiree, has spent his entire $140,000 life savings to put up posters in the city’s transit system to warn people the end is near. Whatever happens on Saturday, it’s a safe bet his world will never be the same.
There’s also the potential embarrassment factor for teens whose parents are spreading the word about Judgment Day.
“My mom has told me directly that I’m not going to get into heaven,” 16-year-old Grace Haddad, told The New York Times. “At first it was really upsetting, but it’s what she honestly believes.”
There is, however a bright side to having a Doomsday parent, Ms. Haddad says: “She’ll say, ‘You need to clean up your room.’ And I’ll say, ‘Mom, it doesn’t matter, if the world’s going to end!’ “
What will you be doing at 6 p.m. on rapture Saturday?
