Baalam’s ass continues to speak

Doomsday preacher Harold Camping was left a laughing stock when his prediction that the world would end on May 21 failed to materialise.

Harold Camping has, almost single-handedly, made the subject of the Rapture and of the return of Jesus a laughingstock the world over.

But the 90-year-old Californian may well have the last laugh after revealing that date was in fact Judgment Day – a spiritual moment when the righteous would be chosen – and simply a warm-up for the Rapture which happens exactly five months later.

This means that Friday, October 21, will mark the start of the Apocalypse – when believers will be whisked away into heaven and hell will be unleashed on earth.

And cynics should be warned, as the Rapture Index – a monitor of current affairs for the frequency and intensity of end-time signs mentioned in the Bible – is at an almost all-time high.

Bed-ridden Camping, who suffered a stroke soon after ‘Judgment Day’, said: ‘We can be sure that the whole world [will be annihilated] on 21 October 2011.’ And since he said that the day of judgment had already passed, there was nothing the non-righteous could do to save their souls.

Camping, a radio evangelist and president of a network of radio stations known as Family Radio, spent up to $100 million over seven years predicting the Rapture.

His followers put up billboards, with many spending thousands of their own money in passing his message on.

He was openly mocked by talk show hosts and comedians, and religious leaders blasted him as a false prophet.

Non-believers and Christians alike made fun of his message and protests and demonstrations were held against his prediction – many of which turned into parties as the date approached. He is not alone in his predictions as, over the past 2,000 years there have been at least 200 publicized prophecies that the world would end on a specific date. source – Daily Mail UK