It's the end of the world as they knew it

Well, May 21st has come and gone. No earthquakes, a small volcano in Iceland, a 6.1 earthquake in New Zealand, beautiful weather in Marquette (and some sunburn on the arms)- and no Rapture. No judgment day. Life as we know it for now goes on- at least for most of us.

Right now, I'm feeling simultaneously sorry for and pissed off at the people that bought into this whole 'May 21st Judgment Day Rapture Apocalypse' crap. I imagine that most of them were probably well meaning people trying to live lives pleasing to the Lord. They probably caught wind of Señor Camping's teachings, saw him throw some sweet Bible verses together with some phat numerology, figured that this guy knew what he was talking about, and decided to go all out and follow the May 21st movement.

But the reckless abandon that these people exhibited in their pursuit of this thing is a little disconcerting. After having failed on a previous end of the world prediction...why would they believe this guy? He's been wrong before! Fool me once, shame on Harold Camping, fool me twice? Fancy numbers and exact dates and self confidence- that don't impress me much. Look, there's two things you need to know about numbers:

1) Numbers never lie

2) Numbers can always be made to lie

What I mean is that numbers by themselves are as objective of a data source as we can hope to find on this planet. People experience most things in different ways, but if I have three apples, it doesn't matter whether you like them or not. I have three apples (boo-yah). But numbers can also be manipulated. Any good statistician can take survey/poll results and spin them to make you think exactly what they want you to think. And if you allow symbolic numbers to enter into the equation? Then you're basically cutting out the middleman and humming the Pied Piper's tune to yourself.

That's what Camping did. Basically he took some Bible stuff, mixed with his own Colonel Sanders concoction and POOF- instant Judgment day! Just add naivety, 'dumb' sheep mentality, and sincere hearts and you have a movement that got way more followers and press than it really should have. Most people knew this was ridiculous. Even most Christians were able to point to Matthew 24:36 and say 'Hey, I don't think this is correct'.

And now it's May 22nd, and those people are being forced to answer the question that merely two days ago seemed so preposterous to them that most of them wouldn't even dare to venture there with their thoughts.

So how do they bounce back? I mean, getting laughed at and scorned and mocked is probably the least of the worries. After all, that's part of the Christian tradition- you join up and just brace yourself for the persecution. So if anything, that would seem to be a minor thing. Shoot, this could be a way to seriously amp up those persecution points. Maybe I should have jumped on the bandwagon... Although it could be argued that they don't really get persecution points because they did this to themselves. If a damsel knocks on the ogre's door and jumps into his arms, can she really claim to be distressed?

But seriously- I read about a guy who spent $140,000 on advertising for this thing out of his own savings. A family stopped saving for their kids college because they figured 'what's the point?'. Another young family quit their jobs, spent their savings, and budgeted all their money up until May 21st. It'd all be fricking hilarious- if it wasn't people's lives (especially children) at stake.

That's just it though. This thing did have serious ramifications on those lives. People will wake up on May 22 with no means of financially supporting themselves. Their children will want food that just isn't there. Seeds of doubt will no doubt begin to creep into the minds of some, while others will forever shut that door in their minds because of this experience. Yes, there's the whole free will/personal choice angle- people are responsible for what they do with their own lives. Unfortunately, a religious system that can foster a culture of dependence does deserve at least a little bit of the blame. If our churches taught us to look at things critically- maybe someone like Camping fades quickly from the spotlight. Maybe Jim Jones doesn't coin the phrase "drink the kool-aid".

We all like to think that we are somehow immune to being deceived- that we have to be in the know because of x or y, and there is really no way that Satan is slipping one past our goalie. But do you really think that the Squad 5-21 woke up one morning and thought 'Hey, you know what? I really feel like being deceived this morning. I think I'm gonna turn on the radio and give up everything to follow the first crackpot I find'. Sure, there is wisdom in the Bible. Yes, there are pastors and speakers that can share messages that impact our lives. But at some level, we have to be able to think for ourselves. Maybe God doesn't want you to quit your job and move to another state- maybe you just feel homesick. It's highly possible that you weren't called to Ezio that abortion doctor- does it really make sense to kill in the name of pro-life? It could be that some wires got crossed and you were supposed to give that $140,000 to a more worthy cause- like me.

I hope the best for the May 21ers- especially the ones with young children. But I also hope that their tales will remain as cautionary reminders that if we merely listen to persuasive peddlers that we could very well end up on the other side of judgment day.