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Rapture: the end was not nigh, after all
Daily Telegraph ^ | May 21st 2011 | Laura Donnelly, Bonnie Malkin and David Barrett

Posted on 05/22/2011 4:19:46 AM PDT by Cardhu

Given that the end of the world was supposed to be nigh, it perhaps wasn’t surprising that Christian doomsday prophet Harold Camping had shown some reluctance to take advance bookings.

The 89-year-old Californian preacher and radio host had prophesied that the Rapture would begin at 6pm May 21st in each of the world’s time zones, with non-believers wiped out by rolling earthquakers, as the saved ascended into heaven.

His refusal to schedule a media interview for the following day - “It is absolutely going to happen. There is no way that I can schedule an interview because I won’t be here.” - was being replayed by media as the world firmly stayed standing.

On the microsite Twitter, groups of atheists and sceptics were last night swapping tales of After Rapture parties, with one group, in Tacoma, Washington, branding their celebration “Countdown to Back-Pedalling”.

Mr Camping’s doomsday prediction wasn’t his first. He blamed an earlier apocalyptic prediction which passed quietly in 1994 on a mathematical error, last month saying: “I’m not embarrassed about it. It was just the fact that it was premature.”

This time would be different, with “no possibility” it would not happen. While across the United States, some devotees reportedly sold all their possessions and took to the streets to warn of the second coming of Jesus, in Britain, sceptical voices were louder.

After 6pm passed without incident in New Zealand and Australia, Stephen Fry tweeted: “Marvellous news! Rapture doesnt mean end of world; apparently all the planet’s imbeciles disappear in one go.”

Amid the sound of ruffled feathers he later added: “Calm down. Never said all Christians are imbeciles. Just those who think they’ll be raised up today. They do the faith a grave disservice.”

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: General Discusssion; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: haroldcamping; rapture
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1 posted on 05/22/2011 4:19:48 AM PDT by Cardhu
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To: Cardhu

Sadly, preacher Camping could not forecast his own death. At 89 it should have been a slam dunk. No prophet he.


2 posted on 05/22/2011 4:40:27 AM PDT by Louis Foxwell (For love of Sarah, our country and the American Way of Life.)
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To: Cardhu

Has anybody SEEN Camping, yet?

Hmmmmmm?


3 posted on 05/22/2011 4:49:32 AM PDT by hattend (Obama is better than OJ... He found a killer while on the golf course.)
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To: Cardhu

I keep telling everyone it happened on schedule.

No one was good enough to go.


4 posted on 05/22/2011 4:50:02 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (osama gets 72 virgins. We get 72 versions...)
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To: freedumb2003
"good enough to go" will NOT be the criteria for the real Rapture!
5 posted on 05/22/2011 4:59:47 AM PDT by Apple Pan Dowdy (... as American as Apple Pie mmm mmm mmm)
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To: Cardhu

Chances are that YOUR pastor has not been teaching you what the Bible actually says about eschatology either. Part of the problem is that the King James Version mistranslated certain key passages, which fortunately have been corrected in modern Bibles. But the KJV has misled English speaking readers for 400 years. See

http://prophecyquestions.wordpress.com/.


6 posted on 05/22/2011 5:01:55 AM PDT by grumpa (VP)
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To: hattend
Has anybody SEEN Camping, yet?

America's Most Wanted?

7 posted on 05/22/2011 5:23:42 AM PDT by don-o (He will not share His glory; and He will NOT be mocked! Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.)
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To: Cardhu

Missed it by that much!

8 posted on 05/22/2011 5:23:42 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: Cardhu

SF Chronicle has a pic (can’t repro) of Santa passing out Kool Aid at Family Radio HQ in Oakland, one of many mockers and protestors. At Jonestown, Flavor-Aid (similar to Kool-Aid) laced with cyanide was passed out to followers of the Oakland-based church Jim Jones started (to this day the expression “drinking the kool-aid” means falling for propaganda, lies, etc.)


9 posted on 05/22/2011 5:30:10 AM PDT by raccoonradio (..)
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To: Cardhu

I promise you he won’t be sending back the money that old people sent him for whatever reason.


10 posted on 05/22/2011 5:34:56 AM PDT by albie
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To: don-o

Could his broadcast licenses—a major part of his empire—be challenged or taken away? A radio expert on my Facebook quotes the following (what if this leads to suicides, etc.?):

>47 CFR 73.1217

No licensee or permittee of any broadcast station shall broadcast false information concerning a crime or a catastrophe if:

(a) The licensee knows this information is false;

(b) It is forseeable that broadcast of the information will cause
substantial public harm, and

(c) Broadcast of the information does in fact directly cause
substantial public harm.


It was noted that actually the licenses are controlled by a board and Camping is 25 per cent of it, not the sole owner; also his stations in MD, VA, WV, and DC have the licenses up for renewal very soon.


11 posted on 05/22/2011 5:36:45 AM PDT by raccoonradio (..)
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To: hattend

Looks like the Rapture worked for Camping, anyway.

And what about all those millions of believers’ hard earned bucks?

Who says you can’t take it with you?

;^)


12 posted on 05/22/2011 5:37:40 AM PDT by elcid1970 (Deport all Muslims. Nuke Mecca. Death to Islam.)
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To: Cardhu

My wife didn’t buy the story that only the beer got raptured after she went to sleep.


13 posted on 05/22/2011 6:00:11 AM PDT by DCBryan1 (FORGET the lawyers...first kill the "journalists". (Die Ritter der Kokosnuss))
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To: Cardhu

14 posted on 05/22/2011 6:46:12 AM PDT by reagan_fanatic (A communist is just a liberal in a hurry)
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To: Cardhu

I cringe when somebody comes out and puts a day and time for the end of the world. The Bible clearly states that no one but God knows the time.

I also cringe when non-believers ridicule one who has made the prediction because they are also mocking God. There will come a time when God will bring judgment to the Earth.

I hope there is a good side to it: that people ponder the consequences of their unbelief.


15 posted on 05/22/2011 6:50:45 AM PDT by RatRipper (I'll ride a turtle to work every day before I buy anything from Government Motors.)
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To: elcid1970
And what about all those millions of believers’ hard earned bucks?

I heard "Pastor" Camping has a net worth of $72 million.

Seems like this story is best filed under "Beware of the false profit"......

16 posted on 05/22/2011 6:52:49 AM PDT by Thermalseeker (The theft being perpetrated by Congress and the Fed makes Bernie Maddoff look like a pickpocket.)
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To: Cardhu

I wonder how many believers also believed in 1994. Two strikes on them. Now if Camping makes another silly prediction, will many of the same idiots believe again? And shouldn’t other citizens have the right to claim their material goods as punishment for their terminal stupidity? My car is showing a little rust above the rear wheel well, and I could use a replacement.


17 posted on 05/22/2011 7:08:56 AM PDT by driftless2
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To: Cardhu

This personal interpretation end times left behind nonsense only feeds the liberal stereotype that Christians are simpletons, buffoons, and morons.

What makes it difficult for the rest of Christianity is the fact that those who subscribe to personal interpretation end times left behind nonsense are.


18 posted on 05/22/2011 9:17:23 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Just once I'd like someone to call me 'Sir' without adding 'You're making a scene.' - Homer Simpson)
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To: hattend
Has anybody SEEN Camping, yet?

After his followers quit their jobs, drained their savings accounts, maxed out their credit cards and put their pets to sleep, I wouldn't blame Camping for wanting to keep a low profile.

19 posted on 05/22/2011 9:52:43 AM PDT by Gena Bukin
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To: Jeff Chandler; driftless2; Thermalseeker; RatRipper; reagan_fanatic; DCBryan1; Louis Foxwell; ...
This is a more upto date take on the Rapture:

I was hoping for heaven

20 posted on 05/22/2011 10:02:37 AM PDT by Cardhu
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