Doomsday Preacher Harold Camping has Died

[happy atheist]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/doomsday ... ng-dead-92

Remember the Rapture that didn't happen? Twice?

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Ah I was just coming to post it. I saw tons of stickers and pamphlets herein southern CA leading up to that may 11, 2011 date. And then it went viral and it was all over my fb feed, people counting down.

Lots of people believed him and gave him all of their lifetime savings. He made millions.

[crazyforkate]

You know he must be pretty pissed in the afterlife.

[E Street Fan]

Harold Camping's last failed rapture was what helped me admit to myself that I'm an atheist. I wonder how all the people he snookered feel now.

[curlytoes79]

They say only the good die young. And so it was with Harold Camping. He was 92.

[snarkyjan]

Good. Now he can't fleece more people of their life savings.

[Curious]

AD's parents must be really bummed out right now.

Hopefully his followers will find their way out of their beliefs now that he is gone and he was so very wrong while he was alive.

[Mela99]

I can't place this guy - by chance was he part of a documentary about this?

[FJSharkJump]

Harold Camping's last failed rapture was what helped me admit to myself that I'm an atheist. I wonder how all the people he snookered feel now.

I am so curious about this. Do you mind sharing? Were you a follower of his or know people that were? If it was less personal than that, do you know why it was this particular man's doomsday failure that pushed you into atheistville?

[FloraKitty35]

I was disappointed that the rapture didn't go down in 2011, the evening rush hour traffic on I-95 would have been lighter.

[MrsYoungie]

Wait. What? His followers gave him money believing that the end of the world was at hand? Why? He wouldn't be able to use it any more than they would. If I really believed the end was at hand, why not buy some happiness for someone who wouldn't otherwise ever have any? Not some sleezy creep of a preacher.

[GodHatesFigs]

Wait. What? His followers gave him money believing that the end of the world was at hand? Why? He wouldn't be able to use it any more than they would. If I really believed the end was at hand, why not buy some happiness for someone who wouldn't otherwise ever have any? Not some sleezy creep of a preacher.

The money reportedly went toward a pre-rapture advertising campaign to tell the sinners to get right with God before it's too late.

[E Street Fan]

I am so curious about this. Do you mind sharing? Were you a follower of his or know people that were? If it was less personal than that, do you know why it was this particular man's doomsday failure that pushed you into atheistville?

I don't mind sharing. I was baptized ELCA Lutheran, and we went to church occasionally. (We moved frequently, including between states.) I knew from the age of four or five that I didn't believe, but I attributed that to a defect in my personality. It's easy for an abused child to believe she's defective. My dad has a major superiority complex--on the rare occasions I tried to talk to him about faith, he'd tell me I just needed to try harder.

Later, when we lived in Kansas, the people who I thought had what I wanted most--a stable home--were Christians (Assembly of God). I thought if I tried really hard, I could make myself believe in god. So I tried for a long time. I even explored different denominations and religions--I went to Easter Mass when I lived in South Carolina and shocked my relatives. :) Nothing helped me believe.

Another thing is that I was pretty much always taught, or given the impression, that atheists were lowlifes who weren't smart enough to believe, had no class, were probably freaks, and likely didn't take baths. Who wants to be associated with that? I was usually an outcast or at least a weirdo in school, because we were always the new kids and my family was messed up. I didn't need anything else to set me apart.

Six or eight years ago, I read a book about adoption called Two Little Girls. The author has a doctorate, and her husband is a physician. So they're obviously bright people. And they are agnostics. That book helped me take the leap from "trying to believe" to agnostic. Yet it still didn't feel right.

When Harold Camping made his failed prophecy in 2011, I read lots of news coverage about it, and I thought to myself that the concept was absurd. Then I realized that I wasn't on the fence, so to speak. The concept of any god made as much sense to me as the tooth fairy did. I never believed that, either. So I realized I'm an atheist. I think I told my sister first, and saying it felt right.

So really, Harold Camping's BS prophecy helped me admit something I had always known but couldn't admit. If he knew, he'd probably spin in his grave.

[nokidsmom]

Hearing this reminds me of a sign at the local bar before the May 2011: "The end is coming, get raptured with us".

I couldn't believe all the stories of people chucking all in preparation for the end. The one story that really bugged me was of the couple who spent / give away all their kid's college savings because the kids weren't going to need it. Only the parents believed this rapture nonsense, the kids didn't. Always wondered what became of the at family after that. You could tell the kids thought the parents were nuts.

[Minerva]

You know he must be pretty pissed in the afterlife.

Yeah, somehow I can't see God falling for "no, see I conned them for Jesus, so it's ok!"

[anjulibai]

A bunch of those folks stopped by my university in a big bus.

There was a profile of one family in the local paper, 40-something parents with 3 tweens/teens. The kids were not believers and thought their parents were nuts. The parents openly admitted their kids would not be saved and would go to hell, but they hoped they could convince the kids before the set day.

I felt really bad for those kids. Reading the article, it sounded like the kids just rolled their eyes at the parents, but deep down you know it had to hurt to hear their parents say that crap. I always wondered what happened afterward, and what the parents did.

[nokidsmom]

A bunch of those folks stopped by my university in a big bus.

There was a profile of one family in the local paper, 40-something parents with 3 tweens/teens. The kids were not believers and thought their parents were nuts. The parents openly admitted their kids would not be saved and would go to hell, but they hoped they could convince the kids before the set day.

I felt really bad for those kids. Reading the article, it sounded like the kids just rolled their eyes at the parents, but deep down you know it had to hurt to hear their parents say that crap. I always wondered what happened afterward, and what the parents did.

This sounds like the family I mentioned upthread. I now remember that the parents were hoping that the kids would be saved before the day but I remember something about spending college savings as well. I can only imagine the hurt that those kids were going through on several levels. If my parents said stuff like that about me and my siblings, plus blew my college funding away because I wouldn't need it, you can bet your bottom dollar I would be pretty pissed off. Wonder if any of those kids are 18 or over and are still around with mom and dad.

[anjulibai]

This sounds like the family I mentioned upthread. I now remember that the parents were hoping that the kids would be saved before the day but I remember something about spending college savings as well. I can only imagine the hurt that those kids were going through on several levels. If my parents said stuff like that about me and my siblings, plus blew my college funding away because I wouldn't need it, you can bet your bottom dollar I would be pretty pissed off. Wonder if any of those kids are 18 or over and are still around with mom and dad.

As I remember, it did say the parents blew the college savings. Maybe we read about the same family.

If I was one of those kids, I'd be out of there the moment I turned 18, and I'm not sure I'd look back. I can't imagine the crazy that would have emerged after the Rapture didn't happen.

[nokidsmom]

As I remember, it did say the parents blew the college savings. Maybe we read about the same family.

If I was one of those kids, I'd be out of there the moment I turned 18, and I'm not sure I'd look back. I can't imagine the crazy that would have emerged after the Rapture didn't happen.

Yep, this definitely sounds like the same family.

I would be out the very second I turned 18 if I were in that family. I would rather take the chance of going on my own then staying with parents that crazy.

[kelseyjhale]

my sis was watching the nbc nightly news about campings death and brian williams said "and now his world is coming to an end" lets just say she had a face palm "i'm down with this shit" moment