Skip to main content

The Rapture May 21

The Rapture May 21 - One evangelist's doomsday prediction has the world ending on Saturday, May 21. His followers and his radio network are running hundreds of billboards across the country, extolling that the apocalypse is nigh.

If it doesn't happen, though, there's an Oakland-based atheist's group ready to help disappointed/unfulfilled believers with a party on Sunday. They've also raised their own counter-billboards to point at what they see as "nonsense."

The American Atheists' 68-foot billboard near the Bay Bridge in San Francisco reads: The Rapture: You Know It's Nonsense: 2000 Years of "Any Day Now!" Similar signs are in Houston, Wichita, Kan., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The party goes down May 21-22 -- dates chosen specifically to highlight the "insanity" of this event, according to Larry Hicock, California Director of American Atheists.

There's also societal danger involved when people sell their belongings or liquidate their assets to support apocalyptic crusades, like Howard Camping's at Family Radio Network -- not to mention being the world's ultimate downer.

"We feel that Camping's well-intentioned rapture campaign is indicative of the problems with religion," Larry Hicock, California Director of American Atheists, told NBC Bay Area in an email.

"Instead of focusing on how to solve the many social, political, economic and environmental problems we face today, he appeals to fear and a sense of defeatism. Life is about living, not about having an eternity of bliss in an imaginary afterlife for which there is no evidence."

Should things go like they always do, Mr Hicock's group will have another media blitz to counter on Dec. 21, 2012, too.

The Rapture May 21

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Farm dogs maul Irish Tourist

Farm dogs maul Irish Tourist - An Irish tourist who was mauled to death by two dogs while visiting an organic farm in Penang yesterday morning had more than 50 bite wounds and lacerations all over his body. Penang Hospital Forensic Department head Datuk Dr Bhupinder Singh, who performed the post-mortem on Maurice Sullivan (pix), 50, today, said he found the wounds on the victim's head, neck, hands and legs. "The victim had died as a result of severe haemorrhage due to multiple injuries from the dogs' bites," he said, adding that there were no signs that Sullivan suffered any ailment at the time of death. Farm dogs maul Irish Tourist Bhupinder also said both Sullivan's ears and the left side of his face were gnawed off in the incident. One of the ears was recovered from the scene. Bhupinder told reporters this after carrying out the post-mortem which began at 10am. Sullivan was attacked by two mongrels at the farm while taking photographs of the gr...

Man Hits Teen on Plane Over iPhone

Man Hits Teen on Plane Over iPhone - Police say a man on a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas punched a teenager who refused to turn off his iPhone as the plane approached the Boise airport. Officers arrested 68-year-old Russell E. Miller, of Boise, on suspicion of misdemeanor battery Tuesday. He has been released from jail on bond. Witnesses told police the 15-year-old was playing games and listening to music on his cell phone when flight attendants instructed passengers to turn off their electronic devices because the plane was landing. Witnesses told police that when the teen didn't respond, Miller got angry and punched the boy in the arm. Miller says he "tapped" the teen on the shoulder after he refused to turn off the phone. He told the Idaho Statesman that he may have "overreacted," but that he did not punch the teen. Man Hits Teen on Plane Over iPhone

Contactless Debit Cards

Contactless Debit Cards - Contactless debit cards will make their formal debut in Canada next year with the launch of Interac Flash from Acxsys Corp.’s Interac Association, Canada’s national debit network. Interac’s first two Flash issuers are Scotiabank and RBC Royal Bank, which will roll out their first contactless cards next summer. The first acquirer is TD Merchant Services, a unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank. More issuers and acquirers are on the way, an Interac spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News, though no announcements have been made yet. Interac and the banks tested Flash this summer at some high-volume, small-ticket merchants in downtown Toronto. The spokesperson expects national merchants will be making formal announcements about acceptance. “There’s a lot of excitement in the merchant community,” she says. “Merchants are looking for that faster throughput.” In a statement, the Retail Council of Canada endorsed the new card. “Interac Flash is a welcome and needed ...