Rapture on May 21st

taiyaki

Apparently this Saturday is judgement day.
If Christ returns on a unicorn and whips us all into shape...

It was nice knowing you folks and praise allah. Jk.

Your thoughts?

Ric

its not!! everyone is getting this wrong! Saturday is the Rapture. Judgment day will be October 21st. So we still have time!

DaltheJigsaw

Nooo! December 26th 2012!!!!!:)

Honden

If it's not, at least some will get a few smirks out of it.

http://gizmodo.com/5803766/rapture-prank

Cloud

We're all going to die. There's no avoiding it. It could even be tomorrow, or a few minutes from now; human life is that fragile. Instead of coming to grips with our own mortality, we're all waiting around for something spectacular and otherworldly to happen during our lifetimes so we don't have to.

SherabDorje

Apparently this Saturday is judgement day.
If Christ returns on a unicorn and whips us all into shape...

It was nice knowing you folks and praise allah. Jk.

Your thoughts?

Praise Allah? I don't get the joke.

taiyaki

well bro you will at 6 pm on saturday. allah will get you.

BuckyG

Ayya Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni's reflection on Buddha's meaning of "the end of the world" may be found at: https://sites.google.com/site/dhammadharini/dhamma-talks-from-the-bhikkhuni-sangha/aranya-bodhi-hermitage/reflections-on-rapture-and-the-end-of-the-world.
wishing you all good-will & loving-kindness

SherabDorje

well bro you will at 6 pm on saturday. allah will get you.

Allah is sacred to Sufis, who have a lot in common with Buddhists. How can you joke about someone else's religion on a Buddhist forum? We're supposed to be above that.

Anyway, it's now 6PM or later in some parts of the world and the massive earthquakes have not begun. So much for that.

taiyaki

=]

person

For those of you not in the US and not sure what all this is about here's a link to a news report.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/21-end-world-judgment-day-doomsday-psychology-christian-broadcaster-harold-camping-international-13651393

vinlyn

How can you joke about someone else's religion on a Buddhist forum? We're supposed to be above that.

Thank you for saying that!!!!!

Cinorjer

I worry about the people caught up in this delusion. What do you do, after your faith has been proved false? If this Preacher Camping has a conscious, how does he deal with knowing he ruined his follower's lives when they quit jobs, sold everything, and followed him? How will the people react when they wake up tomorrow and look at their lives they've messed up, and the lives of their children?

I read some articles about Christian churches already reaching out to help, knowing there is going to be a mess to clean up. I sincerely hope all that it leaves behind is anger and guilt, and we don't hear about people ending their lives over this. Sad enough as it is.

vinlyn

I worry about the people caught up in this delusion. What do you do, after your faith has been proved false? If this Preacher Camping has a conscious, how does he deal with knowing he ruined his follower's lives when they quit jobs, sold everything, and followed him? How will the people react when they wake up tomorrow and look at their lives they've messed up, and the lives of their children?

I read some articles about Christian churches already reaching out to help, knowing there is going to be a mess to clean up. I sincerely hope all that it leaves behind is anger and guilt, and we don't hear about people ending their lives over this. Sad enough as it is.

I have no sympathy for them whatsoever -- he made the same basic prediction once before and, as we know, it didn't happen. Once burned...

Cloud

There's always a new judgment day upon us, created by our own interpretations and fears. If there is going to be something like this, all the people who have come before us have missed it (they were waiting for stuff like that too). Why should we think we're going to be the ones to experience such an event? It's because we want to; it's a craving, a thirst. We're manufacturing hope so that we don't have to face our mortality. The paradox of it is... when we understand our existence, we no longer have such needs and are at peace.

Cinorjer

I have no sympathy for them whatsoever -- he made the same basic prediction once before and, as we know, it didn't happen. Once burned...

You might want to work on that. If we reserve our compassion only for people who don't do stupid things, that doesn't leave many people in the world who deserve it.

vinlyn

Nope. Don't want to work on that at all. One man spent most of his life savings (as I recall the article said about $140,000) for signs all over New York City to advertise the glorious event.

People need to use at least a modicum of wisdom. While I don't wish them anything bad, neither do I have sympathy for them. I'll reserve my compassion for the people who are helpless or in a hopeless state. Not people who squander money on a preacher who makes outlandish claims repeatedly over a period of time.

kataz

It's May 23... what happened?

In all honesty, I'm surprised there are still people in this world who fall for things like this, when none have EVER come true (obviously).

ittybittybat

Yeah, that preacher was trippin'. But there was this story on ABC after the rapture was supposed to happen and I felt bad for this one guy. He wasn't being a douche to anyone, but he was standing outside in New York, waiting for it to happen and telling cameras that he wouldn't talk to them. After it didn't happen, though, he looked genuinely shocked and people started heckling him. I think that the heckling was unnecessary (I probably spelled that word so wrong its not even funny). If someone truly believes something, don't make fun of them, just leave them alone and let them believe what they want.

kayte

Yeah, that preacher was trippin'. But there was this story on ABC after the rapture was supposed to happen and I felt bad for this one guy. He wasn't being a douche to anyone, but he was standing outside in New York, waiting for it to happen and telling cameras that he wouldn't talk to them. After it didn't happen, though, he looked genuinely shocked and people started heckling him. I think that the heckling was unnecessary (I probably spelled that word so wrong its not even funny). If someone truly believes something, don't make fun of them, just leave them alone and let them believe what they want.

There are always people who never pass up a chance to kick a person when they're down. It's a shameful way to behave. Unfortunately, it's become common in society. It will continue until enough people decide that it's no longer acceptable.

Ric

I saw that video too. The guy in times square was the one who spent 140k. He kept saying "I dont understand" which made me feel pretty bad. Its funny how feeling bad for him turns to hate for Camping...

but yea that guy seemed like a nice guy and then you get all the assholes around him trying to be funny by making fun of the guy who 1 min ago just had his whole world concept blown up in his face. I was glad though he didnt seem to care about the people around him.

Bodha8

I have no sympathy for them whatsoever -- he made the same basic prediction once before and, as we know, it didn't happen. Once burned...

You might want to work on that. If we reserve our compassion only for people who don't do stupid things, that doesn't leave many people in the world who deserve it.

That is a great comment Cinorjer! Others need to understand that there is enough compassion to go around!

Namaste

vinlyn

That is a great comment Cinorjer! Others need to understand that there is enough compassion to go around!

Namaste

Sort of depends on how you define compassion.

What specifically are you doing for any of the followers of that preacher?

kayte

That is a great comment Cinorjer! Others need to understand that there is enough compassion to go around!

Namaste

Sort of depends on how you define compassion.

What specifically are you doing for any of the followers of that preacher?

I don't think expression of compassion is limited to specific actions that people can measure and directly experience. I am not invalidating generous, helpful activities like donations and volunteering. Sometimes, just expressing compassion in words can help others. People can be harsh and judgmental which affects how others view/treat a situation and the people involved. If we can present a situation in a compassionate manner- can't that help other people avoid being harsh and judgmental? Wouldn't this help the injured people as well? Wouldn't this change the energy in a positive way, benefiting all- those involved and the observers?

Cinorjer

That is a great comment Cinorjer! Others need to understand that there is enough compassion to go around!

Namaste

Sort of depends on how you define compassion.

What specifically are you doing for any of the followers of that preacher?

Trying to get people to stop making fun of them and thinking they're just stupid and deserve contempt. In reality, they're just like us, only caught up in a fantasy world where the hero rides off into the sunset and the wicked gets their just punishment. These people have been taught that faith--belief in the impossible, when the Devil tries to convince you otherwise--is the highest form of spirituality. These people not only "talk the talk, they walk the walk" and in spite of their family and friends telling them that they're crazy. Faith. Misapplied, but faith nonetheless.

So it's a simple human desire to see yourself as doing good. They only want to be judged as a good and faithful servant when they stand before God. Of course I feel compassion for them. I see them as fellow travelers on the path who have wandered off into a dead end and stand before a cliff.

One of the Christian people who has tried to help after the date came and went was asked something like, "Why don't you just tell these people how stupid they are?" His response was, "I could also kick a puppy, but why would I want to do that?"

It's not that they did something stupid that stands in our way, if we're honest. It's that they're not one of us. They're Christians. One of "them". The enemy, in many cases. So this one Christian sees them as suffering human beings worthy of compassion, not judgement. Can we Buddhists not do the same?

vinlyn

Sort of depends on how you define compassion.

What specifically are you doing for any of the followers of that preacher?

Trying to get people to stop making fun of them and thinking they're just stupid and deserve contempt. In reality, they're just like us, only caught up in a fantasy world where the hero rides off into the sunset and the wicked gets their just punishment. These people have been taught that faith--belief in the impossible, when the Devil tries to convince you otherwise--is the highest form of spirituality. These people not only "talk the talk, they walk the walk" and in spite of their family and friends telling them that they're crazy. Faith. Misapplied, but faith nonetheless.

So it's a simple human desire to see yourself as doing good. They only want to be judged as a good and faithful servant when they stand before God. Of course I feel compassion for them. I see them as fellow travelers on the path who have wandered off into a dead end and stand before a cliff.

One of the Christian people who has tried to help after the date came and went was asked something like, "Why don't you just tell these people how stupid they are?" His response was, "I could also kick a puppy, but why would I want to do that?"

It's not that they did something stupid that stands in our way, if we're honest. It's that they're not one of us. They're Christians. One of "them". The enemy, in many cases. So this one Christian sees them as suffering human beings worthy of compassion, not judgement. Can we Buddhists not do the same?

Fair enough. You are attempting to get people on this forum to be more sympathetic. I agree, that is a degree of compassion.

Of course, you then sort of unintentionally put them down a bit when you say, "In reality, they're just like us, only caught up in a fantasy world...", as compared to us who I guess are all in the real world about our faith.

And, at least in regard to myself, when you say, "It's not that they did something stupid that stands in our way, if we're honest. It's that they're not one of us. They're Christians. One of "them"." A good point in general, but in my case, I'm sort of half Buddhist in my thinking and half Christian. I can see great wisdom in the teachings of Buddha and the teachings of Christ. And, my friends here in Colorado are all Christians and mostly churchgoers, and they think these guys are nuts.

But still, you make good points and I see where you are coming from. You're nicer than me!