It started right here in a Bay Area neighborhood. Call it Doomsday, the Apocalypse, Judgement Day, or simply 'the Rapture' - May 21 was heralded in 3,000 billboards across the U.S. On May 22, the bizarre Judgement Day prediction that was sweeping the nation fell flat on its face. Thousands of believers who quit their jobs, indulged in prodigal spending, or went on sex binges with near-strangers were stunned to learn their world had not ended. The Family Radio group, based in Oakland, has been maintaining a low profile ever since.
Harold Camping, the elderly anti-hero of this debacle, quickly switched gears, announcing a new prediction that he 'miscalculated' initially -- and the actual date would be October 21. Maybe the stress was too much for him. Camping, 90, suffered a stroke at his Alameda home in June and disappeared from the public eye. He has been recovering in a nursing home ever since. Though he made attempts to resume his recordings on his Family Radio website for awhile, his slurred, labored speech indicated quickly that his days on-air were blessedly over. Camping has had to resort to his media nemesis, the Internet, to get the word out. The WeCanKnow.org website is strangely quiet about actual days of judgement lately.
Anyway, just in time for Halloween -- fortunately there's another website -- WeCan’tKnow.org -- featuring an online countdown clock, ticking off the seconds until October 21, when Camping may either be raptured once and for all, or face the wrath of God and disappointed followers. In his heart, he knows he's right. So, once again 'Jesus is coming so you'd better look busy. '
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