For those of us outside one particular extremist Christian circle, May 21st is expected to be just another Saturday. There are errands to be run and friends to see, sleep to catch up on and bills to be tackled. (And for Washington D.C. residents so inclined, the first strategic summit of the Secular Coalition for America is being held.) But in preparation for May 21, some Americans have quit their jobs, settled their affairs, and arranged for their care of their earth-bound pets, for they believe this Saturday is the Rapture.
The Rapture refers to a passage in the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, describing what is also referred to as End Times, when God calls all good Christians home to Heaven, leaving the non-believers to an Armageddon plagued planet.
... and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord
This doomsday calculation has been most loudly touted by Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio Worldwide, who also predicted the Rapture to fall up on the earth in 1994. He was wrong then and he's wrong now, but followers continue to line up behind his word, preparing for the final countdown. Why?
History is wrought with false prophets, men and women offering to lead the way and claiming to know the "truth." These misguided movements aren't always steeped in religion, either. From the large scale atrocity of the Holocaust to the cult-oriented tragedy at Waco, humanity is frequently wounded by such belief-based fanaticism. Actions taken without reason or rationality pose a danger, not only to the individual, but to society as well.
Expert analysis isn't required to confirm that Camping's theories, just like other religious zealot rantings, are without a scientific basis. The clash of science and religious belief is a frequent narrative and old tale. In 1633, Galileo was tried for heresy in Rome, namely due to his support for heliocentrism, the since-confirmed theory that the earth revolves around the sun. Leaders within the Catholic Church were outraged by his assertions, referring to the scriptural claims of the earth's position within the universe. Galileo, who refused to withdraw his theory, was sentenced to a life under house arrest.
Galileo's discoveries, so vehemently opposed by the religious powers of the time, set the groundwork for modern science. This begs the question, how much of our earthly life could be improved and revolutionized without the cries and protests from the religious fundamentalists, who continue to look for meaning in dogmatic outdated texts, instead of seeking meaning in the only world they will ever know.
Many humanists and atheists are finding great opportunity in May 21st. Not only has this proven to be a business prospect (some have started a pet care service for families who believe they will be taken to heaven without their cats and dogs), but other humanists and atheists are taking time to celebrate the event, throwing "after rapture parties" across the country. With the devout either gone or (much more likely) rationalizing another failed faith prediction, nontheists will have reason to celebrate reason. It certainly frames those who don't believe in any gods in a favorable light when we are seen having a good time instead of preparing for an eternal exit or mourning our continued existence on Earth.
Unfortunately for some of Camping's followers, the repercussions of May 22nd will be considerable. The thousands of bus, billboard, and radio ads weren't free, but were funded by many people who didn't expect to need the money much longer. There will be no divine safety net for those who have just spent their life savings. Will they turn to each other for support? Or will they turn away from the dogmatic teachings that sadly lead them astray in the first place? I suppose we'll find out on May 22.
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You know what would put you in a better light?? -- instead of being smug and enjoying yourself, maybe think of contributing some money or effort to help out the poor souls taken in by this crap.
Also, I'm not defending the church here, but please consult a recent history book before speaking about your own mythology....
"In 1633, Galileo was tried for heresy in Rome, namely due to his support for heliocentrism, the since-confirmed theory that the earth revolves around the sun." Note "since-confirmed" -- if you crack open a history book, you'll realize that the reason Galileo was tried and placed under house arrest was because he insisted that the Copernican theory was TRUE, even though there was NO empirical evidence that could adequately distinguish between, say, the Tyconic model and the Copernican at the time.
While the Catholic church was in error, and its actions were heavy-handed, the fact is that Galileo was claiming a very UNSCIENTIFIC, IRRATIONAL thing -- that something was TRUE even though he couldn't prove it and had no evidence to support it... and it flew in the face of contemporary philosophy and understanding of physics, not just religion. Not exactly a stellar example for your point about how scientific he was.
Hindsight is 20/20 -- perhaps a moral to keep in mind about the current situation.
PLUS, with better observations--that is, better measurement of planetary positions, etc., such as those of Copernicus--it became more clear that the Ptolemaic system was not an adequate description of the observations.
I think you need to brush up your knowledge with a good history of science.
Umm, first of all, the Ptolemaic model wasn't really the one the Catholic Church was supporting in Galileo's trial -- they had moved on to the Tyconic model, derived from Tycho Brahe, Kepler's mentor, who actually collected the huge amount of observations that both the Keplerian ellipse model and the Tyconic model were based on.
"However, it is clumsy, so a simpler system is to be preferred (Ockham's razor)."
Not true. The Copernican model was just as complicated as the Ptolemaic one, because it still assumed circles -- and so did Galileo, despite the fact that Kepler had proposed the accurate ellipse model decades earlier. The circular orbit Copernican model still required lots of epicycles to work things out.
"I think you need to brush up your knowledge with a good history of science."
No, you need to read a real history book and not some 19th-century fanfic version of the history of science.
Of course, by that time most astronomers outside of Catholic circles had been converted to heliocentrism because of the success of Kepler's ellipse model (and the ease with which it fit into the new Newtonian models of physics), not the circular Copernican model that Galileo supported.
Bunch of nonsense.
Attention please, are there any sinners onboard that have commercial jet flight experience, our pilot and copilot have apparently been raptured.
That really doesn't matter to those who "have quit their jobs, settled their affairs, and arranged for their care of their earth-bound pets", does it?
A "scientific basis" doesn't take into consideration what one "believes" in spite of ANY evidence to the contrary. There is ample 'evidence' that fire will burn skin, yet you can witness almost any day of the week "firewalkers" in India who have a different system of beliefs than 'evidential' beliefs and are not burned when they do in fact walk through fire.
So, perhaps like the Jim Jones sect, if they believe in it strongly enough, May 21 may be the day of rapture for them.
May the force be with you all.
I wonder the same thing too. :-)
And yes, they manage to miss most of what Jesus actually talked about in the process. Even Jesus' themes of taking care of the poor are represented in the Old Testament, yet somehow, you don't hear much about anything except the Rapture and gays.
However, it is important how we act while we are here.