Posted on 05/21/2011 12:56:12 PM PDT by traumer
(Reuters) - With no sign his forecast of Judgment Day arriving on Saturday has come true, the 89-year-old California evangelical broadcaster and former civil engineer behind the pronouncement seemed to have gone silent.
Family Radio, the Christian stations network headed by Harold Camping which had spread his message of an approaching doomsday, was on Saturday playing recorded church music and devotional messages unrelated to the apocalypse.
Camping previously made a failed prediction Jesus Christ would return to Earth in 1994.
In his latest pronouncement, he had said doomsday would begin in Asia, but with midnight local time come and gone in Tokyo and Beijing and those cities already in the early hours of May 22, there was no sign of the apocalypse.
The Oakland, California, headquarters of the network of 66 U.S. stations, which has international affiliates and had posted billboards around the country warning of a May 21 Judgment Day, were shuttered with a sign in the door that read "This Office is Closed. Sorry we missed you!"
The headquarters, which appears to be normally closed on Saturday, was also shuttered on Friday.
Camping, whose deep sonorous voice is frequently heard on his radio network expounding the Bible, could not be reached immediately for comment on Saturday.
On Friday, the shades were drawn and no one answered the door at his house in Alameda, California.
Atheists in different parts of the country were planning celebrations and get-togethers to mark the failure of Camping's May 21 prediction to come true.
In Oakland, the same city where Camping's network is based, over 200 people gathered at an atheist convention where speakers jokingly took note of the Judgment Day pronouncement.
In New York, at least one of Camping's followers continued to hold out hope that Judgment Day would come.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
A comforting consolation, the Mayan prediction.
It would be the perfect end to a really good scam. He could then live out the rest of his life retiring in wealth and luxury, while stimulating his base to worship him and give more money. Not something I would ever do, but it is pretty cool.
‘...deep sonorous voice...’
That’s funny. I’ve heard him on shortwave a few times and always thought he sounded like Homer Simpson.
“I’ve heard him on shortwave a few times and always thought he sounded like Homer Simpson.”
When reached for comment, Mr. Camping merely said, “D’oh!”
Mr. Camping seems to have confused the Rapture with Armageddon. These are two separate events.
Where is he? Well he’s out practicing kicking a football with Lucy of course! “This time I’m gonna kick it to the moon!”
The Feds get involved when a public corporation reports false profits. Remember Enron?
It would be nice if they had to be called into account for all the people they swindled into selling all they had to buy stupid billboards and had their pets put to sleep.
Well, there is the millstone punishment for leading people astray (or causing them to sin, can’t remember which).
That’s the spirit!
How is he $80 million richer?
WTF, people had their pets put down? My vet wouldn't put down a pet that wasn't croaking. He'd smack me upside the head for such a suggestion.
It's like that Ray Bradbury story where the people poisoned all their children so they wouldn't suffer through the "end of the World", and then the end of the world didn't happen.
One thing is for certain, it will happen someday and when it does it won’t be a joking matter...
He's probably been raptured already....
It was calculated Camping drew in $80million in donations between 2005 and 2009.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/19/news/economy/may-21-end-of-the-world-finances-harold-camping/index.htm
He got a lot of people to sell all they had to finance his little scam. The end of the world is big business. He is probably enjoying some beach in Mexico right now.
Nah, old guy like him won't want to leave his perch. He wouldn't know what to do anywhere else. Camping is probably putting the finishing touches on his speech explaining why he wasn't really wrong. He will probably say the whole thing got delayed for some reason, or he slightly miscalculated by failing to count all the animals on the arc correctly. Either way, unfortunately, I doubt he is going anywhere. And people will still follow him too. You'd think something like this would be a ministry ender, but it won't be.
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