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Harold Camping says the end is nigh... again!

Home again after recovering from a stroke in June, Harold Camping, California's own prophet of doom, is back and issuing new pronouncements about the end of the world on October 21. Undeterred by the non-appearance of the Rapture that he predicted for May 21 (He still insists that May 21 was Judgment Day, but that it happened in Heaven and not here on Earth), the 90-year old Camping is convinced that the true end is only two weeks away.
 
Here's what he says on his Family Radio website:

Thus we can be sure that the whole world, with the exception of those who are presently saved (the elect), are under the judgment of God, and will be annihilated together with the whole physical world on October 21, 2011, on the last day of the present five months period. On that day the true believers (the elect) will be raptured. We must remember that only God knows who His elect are that He saved prior to May 21.

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That's right. If you weren't saved prior to May 21, don't bother repenting now. According to Camping, God is returning all new applications with a divine rejection stamp on them.

But don't despair entirely...

Originally, California's own prophet of doom was predicting 5 months of fire, brimstone and the wailing and gnashing of teeth of the unsaved after May 21... followed by the violent and cataclysmic end of the world on Oct. 21. Thanks to the dearth of fire and brimstone though, Camping believes God plans a quieter, gentler death for everyone and everything.

Here's part of the latest recorded message he's left on the Family Radio website (you can hear it in its entirety here):

It (study of the bible) encourages us to believe that all of our unsaved loved ones will not receive special vengeance of God at all...  We must believe that probably there will be no pain suffered by anyone because of their rebellion against God. We know that they'll quietly die... and that will be the end of their story.
 
So... no Hell. No eternal punishment and wailing and weeping of the damned either. Some fundamentalist Christians will be deeply disappointed if Camping's right.
 
There's no telling how many people are still buying the California prophet's predictions but if the End of Everything on Oct. 21 turns out to be just as unnoticeable as the May 21 Rapture was, their numbers will dwindle even further.
 
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, LA Atheism Examiner

Hugh is a former stamp and coin dealer who is now active in humanist causes in the Los Angeles area.

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