Mat 21st Update

Well time is marching on. I've seen a few things online about the May 21st deadline for the beginning of the end of the world. Not much else. Just an article from a Bible scholar, who said that about half of the New Testament was forged. Maybe not made up, but written by people other than who they said they were. Interesting timing on that.

I was writing this as an update thing, keeping track of what was going on with the rapture story. But, I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with it, and now it is a day after the "fact".

Well, the "fact" never happened. No rapture or anything. And as with all before who have said the world was going to end on a certain day, nothing happened. Followers were and still are confused. Nothing has been heard from the man who made the prediction; Harold Camping. He made a similar prediction back in 1994 and then too, nothing happened.

Following the comments on the articles, most of the people made fun of him and his followers. It's an easy thing to do, he looks silly. His followers look silly for making a spectacle of themselves. I feel sorry for them and wonder how they could let themselves get taken in. I mean, these people seem intelligent, they have jobs and families, that really puzzles me. Are they really so committed to following one man and his crazy ramblings that they check in their brains and common sense?

For some people, I think religion can be a dangerous thing. For example; the Jonestown folks who drank the Kool-aide, the Branch Davidians in Waco Texas, and the followers of the guy who wanted to be a Mormon prophet. Can't think of his name now. But they all lost something really important, their lives. All for religion, to belong to something. Then, as now, I still don't get it.

Bin Laden & May 21st

So, we finally got Bin Laden? Good for us. Funny thing is that Obama actually got him. Bush set 'em up and Obama knocked 'em down. For all the talk about ending the wars and pulling troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq, in some ways Obama is just like Bush, or at least walking in his footsteps. Then he goes and does his more expected un-Bush things like talk about raising taxes, or spending another trillion on something or another. I'm persuaded he's a true liberal at heart, so for him to do these conservative things, like exerting our military muscle overseas, must grate him to some degree. Talk about conflicted.

I found out recently that another Christian sect has supposedly figured out that May 21st is going to be the end of the world. At a glance of the group it seems the person in charge has done this before, back in 1994. I haven't read the details of the theory yet, but it involves some sort of calculations based on dates and quirks thereof. Hmmm, a week from today. The day after payday. Religion can do some strange things to people, like aggravate the idea of their own self-impotence. It happens in cults a lot, the leader thinks only he can hear from God...or the he is God. Unfortunately there will easily persuaded people eager to follow him/her. It's sad because I think it makes the genuine believers harder to take seriously.
I will try and keep up on this one through the week, and after...