Jesus did tell us that we will not know the day nor the hour, but many people seem to have skipped this part of the Gospels...
That said, the US has a long tradition of flaky Protestants climbing onto their rooftops and awaiting the end of the world. Actually, I think I’m insulting Protestants in saying this - most of these people need another name, like “Self-Proclaimed Churches,” since they really come out of no authentic Protestant tradition and are just out there doing their purely individual thing - and collecting bucks for it.
To be fair, Protestant scholars are also debunking this latest absurdity from Mr. Camping. There is no Protestant church that will own him.
Actually Mr. Camping proudly does not belong to any church, and teaches his followers not to, either, so please don’t brand him as “Protestant.” He is no more a Protestant than the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are Catholic.
“That said, the US has a long tradition of flaky Protestants climbing onto their rooftops and awaiting the end of the world.”
Oh, we’ve had plenty of Catholic sects do the same, so no stones will be thrown here.
Year 1000 was particularly bad for it.