I actually feel sorry for this guy, Robert Fitzpatrick, who spent $140,000 of his own savings on a local campaign promoting Harold Camping's prophecy. He found himself made an unofficial spokesperson in Times Square when 6PM, My 21st, came and went without incident.
His signs and posters are everywhere in the subway. There were big vans with loudspeakers emblazoned with "May 21st ! Doom!!!!!!!!!!" all over them roaming around midtown. There were people with signs passing out pamphlets everywhere. Apparently, Mr. Fitzpatrick paid for all of it, and he's not a rich man.
The perils of the literally minded.
Maybe God is trying to tell him something. I wonder if he will listen.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he sould demand his money back from Camping? Or maybe he deserves what he gets!
ReplyDeleteHe probably did deserve it, but I still feel sorry for him.
ReplyDeleteI doubt he or the others would have felt sorry for gays and anyone else "left behind" had their crazy prediction come true! And I am sure all those who thought they were going to be with God will continue to spread hate and lies and hurt people in the name of their "god".
ReplyDeleteProbably so, but I don't believe in paying back people in kind.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but feel sorry for those who were taken in. I hope that they learn something good from the experience, about themselves and about God.
ReplyDeleteCan't say I feel much sympathy for Camping, a scoundrel as far as I'm concerned. And if he really believed his own schtick, then he's a true believing scoundrel.
ReplyDeleteHe seems to be in hiding, I presume with several lawyers and a security detail planning on how to deal with all the civil suits and criminal complaints that will come his way.
Meanwhile, I'm reading about suicide prevention agencies bringing in extra staff today.
In fairness to Mr. Alexander above, I agree. I think this whole Dispensationalism business is ultimately based in spite and hatred. The Elect, and only the Elect, will be saved, and the rest of Creation is doomed to die in torment. Not my idea of a loving God at all.
As I said in a FaceBook post, all of this Apocalyptic Fundamentalism is nothing more than some people's need to please implacable father figures writ large on the cosmos. There are times when I think "Jesus is Lord" is just another way of saying "My Heart Belongs to Daddy."
Whatever troubles Harold Camping faces, he surely brought them upon himself. I'd guess that Camping was a true believer. I continue to be surprised that people are taken in by types like Camping.
ReplyDeletePeople are looking for certainties. They want to feel safe and secure, and there is no safety and security from the vagaries of life. The solution is surely not "to spread hate and lies and hurt people in the name of their 'god'." What a sorry way to live a life.
Amen Mimi.
ReplyDeleteI echo that amen, Doug.
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