Some people think I created the EotW Fund as a way to expose the nonsense in the predictions that say the Rapture will occur on May 21 and how gullible people can be. That’s part of it to be sure, but honestly, I’m really just doing this to have fun and see what happens. I don’t need to expose anything. The end of the world nutters are doing a fine job showing the world how crazy they all are. They don’t need my help.
My interest in Harold Camping and the May 21 predictions stems from my personal experiences. I mentioned before that I used to listen to Camping’s “Open Forum” radio show in the evenings when I’d drive home from work. I didn’t listen as a faithful follower of Harold Camping, but as a curious spectator, tuning in to the broadcast to listen the way drivers crane their necks to see the aftermath of a car accident.
My interest in all this is also due to an experience I had when I was in college. As regular readers of my blog may know, I attended Lincoln Christian College (now Lincoln Christian University). I had aspirations of one day becoming an ordained minister, preaching the Bible and changing the world for Jesus. I had always been fascinated – and scared out of my mind – by the book of Revelation. Now, I was never one of those who would try to figure out dates and times, and I never talked about the “signs of the times.” I always understood that Christians of every generation have believed that their generation is the generation that will see Christ coming in the clouds. History has a long list of individuals who qualify as potential antichrist candidates. I think I had a fairly level head about it.
Still, I was a Christian, and while I couldn’t tell you when Christ was returning and I wasn’t big on looking at wars and earthquakes as warning signs of the apocalypse, I believed Christ would one day return. I believed – as fervently as the May 21 nutters – that one day every person would stand before the judgment seat of god. This belief was as much a source of worry as comfort.
I woke up from a dream. I don’t remember the dream, but I remember the booming crash of thunder that shook my dorm room. Disoriented from waking up suddenly from a deep sleep, my heart began to race. Wind and rain pounded against the window. The thunder seemed exceptionally loud that night. I could swear I felt my body begin to rise up out of bed. Afraid that my body would soon be flung into the sky to meet Jesus in the air, I sat up and began to pray.
I can’t explain exactly what I felt that night. Eventually I realized that the Rapture wasn’t happening, and soon after I went back to sleep. But what I felt in those moments was so intense. Part of me expected to see Jesus face-to-face that night. And this makes me think: how will these people who are looking forward to May 21 feel on May 22? Many of these folks have sold their homes, quit their jobs, donated their savings to Harold Camping and Family Radio – and maybe some of them will even give money to a smart-ass atheist before it’s all over – because they just know they are right.
I’d like to think the morning of May 22 will lead many of them to understand how misguided they are. More likely, most of them will continue on, learning nothing, looking for the next “end of the world” to happen.
Dead-Logic.com
