The Dissolution of the Universe: Camping's Projected Fear

The hour has drawn near folks. Again, that is. Friday October 21st, the date set for the destruction and dissolution of the universe. The date is a result of the intensive, Bible investigations of Harold Camping. The first date, May 21st, set by Camping, was to be the Rapture of believing Christians from the planet. The second date, October 21st, was the logical (logical?) conclusion for the destruction of the Universe. The Last Day. Of course, we all know Camping's prediction failed on May 21st in the apparent sense; there were no earthquakes, volcanoes, or other strange events. Yet Camping maintained his calculations were correct and termed May 21st a spiritual Rapture. Not a physical Rapture (didn't know there were categories). Only those special folks (and they are out there) whose lataif are opened as channels to the soul felt any kind of significance on that day. I didn't feel a thing. My lataif are completely closed.

I hope the old wizard is in good spirits.

Yet despite the inactiveness of my lataif, I can still relate to Mr. Camping. I can relate to him through the lens of the postmodern, academic study of religion paradigm (I take refuge in God from the accursed Satan). The Christian Science Monitor relates:

'I would not be surprised to discover that Mr. Camping sees this prediction as his life's work, the culmination of decades of intensive Bible study, filtered through the sieve of faith,' said Lorenzo DiTommaso, a professor of religion at Concordia University in Montreal. 'If this is correct, then perhaps he sees in the world a reflection of his self.'

"The world a reflection of his self." So if a human is farting around on the planet, proclaiming apocalyptic judgments, what kind of self is he carrying?

'It may seem odd that Camping's faith remains strong, but apocalypse experts say that doomsday prophets have often built their entire lives around their end-of-the-world views, and that worldview is hard to shake. For an elderly preacher like Camping, who suffered a stroke in June, apocalypse beliefs may also reflect his struggle with his own mortality.'

A self afraid of death. It's a nice notion. Packaged in a clean, easy to understand way that helps us comprehend why someone would hold to clearly wrong, apocalyptic judgments. The man is afraid of death. He sees destruction on the planet, the death of the planet, and the degradation of its people. I can relate to that. All of it.

Read the rest:
http://deardirtyamerica.blogspot.com/2011/10/rapture-of-hope-and-confusion.html