The Writing Desk of Jakebe Rabbit

So no doubt most of you already know about the rapture that was supposed to happen today. But in case you didn't, here's the prediction in a nutshell: Harold Camping of The Family Radio Christian Network has been saying for a while now that the world will end at 6 PM local time (every local time) on Saturday, May 21st...which is today, as luck would have it. The big earthquake signalling the end times was to occur about two hours ago, and it hasn't yet. As far as I know, no one's been stolen up to heavenly glory. It's a normal night in late spring -- gorgeous, temperate, not a cloud in the sky.

I've made my fair share of rapture jokes this week, but instead of feeling smug about the fact that this man's obnoxious prediction failed ("The Bible guarantees it!"), I feel sorry for all of his followers. These were people who believed they were doing the right thing, and in some cases gave up all of their money, their homes and jobs to preach the gospel of this false prophet. I can only imagine them, sitting in front of their televisions or clustered together in prayer groups, looking around and wondering what the hell happened.

They've literally made no preparation for this moment. A lot of them have nothing now -- they've spent everything to get as many people saved as possible and now it turns out no one needed saving. They're not going on to a heavenly reward. The sun is setting, and it will rise tomorrow, and the world will go on.

Of course, I might be romanticizing this a bit much. I might be giving all of Camping's followers more altruistic motives than they deserve. Aren't a lot of evangelicals some of the snottiest people ever? Don't they have this superiority complex that just makes you want to scream? How can someone look down their noses at you while they profess to be saving your soul?

It's really tempting to throw this latest failure back into the faces of the believers. I totally get it. And it's even more tempting to use this as a springboard to talk about how silly the idea of Rapture is in the first place, and maybe even the entire Christian religion. Here, here is incontrovertible proof that what Camping and his followers have been saying for months now is wrong, and they've been wasting their time and breath and money for nothing.

Not to sound sanctimonious and self-righteous, but while it's really tempting, it's also wrong. I think the best thing that can come out of this is a nudge towards skepticism, logical thinking, and reasoning. You're not going to do that by being antagonistic. No one's ever won an opponent over to their side by saying "You're stupid, and here are the 112 reasons why."

I think more than anything it's important to sympathize with someone you see as absolutely wrong. One of the reasons Christians have such a horrible reputation because they don't do this, and us heathenous masses don't have much luck with them because we react so poorly (but understandably so!) to that. Now's a chance, while they're not shouting, to speak in a measured tone. Through words and actions.

I don't personally know one of Camping's followers. Despite the fact that he's based nearby in Oakland, the presence of his congregation has been confined to his billboards. But I've been reading that there are some Christian groups out there waiting by the headquarters of Family Christian Radio ready to counsel those people who've given up so much for this thing, who are at risk of depression because of this faith-shattering event. It's really touching, actually. It's caring. It's compassionate. It's Christ-like.

A lot of us have been saying all along that we're better than most Christians. Well, think of this as a chance to prove it. Instead of kicking someone while they're down, help them back up, pick up the pieces and maybe help teach them how not to be in this position again.

That's what I'd want someone to do for me.