I am a theoretical physicist and currently Director of 
May 17, 2011
The dark side of the Rapture
I have heard reports that a caravan of vehicles with billboards announcing the end of the world on May 21 passed through Cleveland a couple of weeks ago. When May 22 dawns and no Rapture has occurred, there will be a lot of disappointed people. This will not be the first time that such hopes have been dashed. There was a major event actually called The Great Disappointment that occurred on October 22, 1844 [date corrected thanks to commenter Robert] when a widely believed end times prophesy failed to materialize.
While Christianity has always had its end-times fanatics, it was the creation of the state of Israel that spawned a huge amount of end-times theorizing because these people believe that Jesus will only return to Earth after the Jews returned to Israel. This is also why there is such a weird symbiotic relationship between Christian and Jewish extremist groups. The expansionist policies of Israel that have ruined the lives of so many Palestinians is supported by the Christian end-timers because they think it is a sign that Jesus has packed his bags and is about to make the return trip to Earth.
I have been having some fun with the whole Rapture thing, because the idea is so absurd. But there is a dark side to it, in that many of the people who take it seriously are making foolish decisions and could ruin their lives. NPR ran a story on some of the people who are waiting to be raptured. One couple with an infant daughter and another baby due in June have abandoned plans for the mother to go to medical school and are spending all their money down so that they will be left with nothing on May 21, arguing that there is no point since it will all come to an end. In another story, NPR described a person who sold off his house and gave up his job to await the event. A colleague of mine described how her former sister-in-law believed in an earlier rapture prediction of 1994 and ran up huge credit card bills that then took a long time to pay off. These people refuse to consider that they might be wrong because to do so would be a sign of lack of faith and cause god to not select them for heaven.
If no Rapture occurs, the people responsible for the predictions will use the standard excuse that the calculations were faulty and go back to the drawing board. This is what current Rapture predictor Harold Camping said in 1994 when his earlier prediction did not pan out. He said it was because he had not read the book of Jeremiah that contained some important clues. That seems a little irresponsible to me. If you are basing a major prediction such as the end of the world on the Bible, and people are taking you seriously, you should at least have had the decency to do your homework and read the whole thing.
In a comment to a previous post, Scott jokingly suggested that it might be fun on May 21 to leave little piles of clothes around because that would be a sign to the believers that people have been suddenly raptured up to heaven. That would be funny except that we have to remember that we are dealing with seriously deluded people who do not think rationally. If these people think that the Rapture had actually occurred and they were not selected and were headed for hell, there is no saying what they will do and it is quite possible that they will go berserk.
Richard Dawkins was asked by the Washington Post to comment on the latest Rapture frenzy and said: "Why is a serious newspaper like the Washington Post giving space to a raving loon?" He then has a good discussion of how the word 'tradition' used as in 'religious tradition' tends to bestow respectability on a set of nonsensical myths that have no foundation.
I disagree with Dawkins. We should publicize as widely as possible the crazy and evil things that religions cause people to do. Mainstream religions provide the soil in which the crazies can take root and flourish. We need more and more people to realize that these deluded people are deeply misguided because they are connected organically to mainstream religion, not separate from it. Having a public relations fiasco like the Rapture can only help the cause of skepticism.
Comments
With regard to unwise decision-making here on earth, this problem is not confined solely to the current crop of gullible morons waiting for May 21. Kevin Phillips, in his excellent analysis of the dangerous influence of the Christian right, American Theocracy, noted the lamentable policy implications of the evangelicals' obsession with reaching heaven.
Particularly in the environmental arena, these folks have no interest in safeguarding the ecosystem for future generations, as they think all problems will be magically solved by God at the end of days. Who cares what's happening down here when all that matters is getting your ticket stamped up there? Apparently, these tickets are not handed out on the basis of rewarding good stewardship of God's creation; rather, it's all a question of believing in Him.
To add insult to injury, these people have more children than the planet can support, and oppose all forms of population control, in order to maximize the number of souls that can make it to the celestial kingdom.
I would laugh if I didn't feel like crying. Our planet has no chance unless these childish fantasies can be replaced with a clear-minded understanding of cause and effect.
I wonder what percentage of 521ers will stop believing in God on 5/22?
Will they even change churches?
"One couple with an infant daughter and another baby due in June have abandoned plans for the mother to go to medical school"
This isn't all bad; frankly I wouldn't want a doctor who would fall for such nonsense.
Here's the part I don't get - this is the same Rapture that mainstream Christianity has believed in for ~1,600 years, right? End times, dead rising from the grave, dogs & cats living together, mass hysteria... why is it only being played as funny & ridiculous because someone put a definite date on it? The only difference between "this absurd thing will happen Saturday" and "this absurd thing will happen eventually" is that "eventually" isn't necessarily coming soon, whereas Saturday will be here in 48 hours. But whether it's "eventually" or Saturday, it's still the exact same absurd prediction.
I get that "Rapture + Saturday = ridiculous." I just don't think "Saturday" is an essential element of this formula.
Eric
Eric,
You are right that it doesn't make sense. The whole Rapture idea is deeply crazy. But putting a definite date on it makes it a testable and falsifiable proposition and such things are inherently more interesting.
Just one minor correction: the "Great Disappointment" was on October 22 of 1844, not 1842 as stated.
Good comments!
I agree - let's have a rapture day parade
I have asked several online bleivers to sign over their property to me to prove their rapture beleif
unsurprisingly, they disappear from the forums as rapidly as they appeared
not only should we not give religions any respect just for being religions, but we should actively expose the hypocrisy and corruption as proof that even those who claim to beleive can't possibily beleive when they abusing children, embezzling funds - clearly the religious framework is an inadequate moral guide and there can't be a hell when the churches cover up scandals or their preists engage in scandalous conduct
the extremists are the true beleivers, not the moderates
You can pigeon hole christianity or the rapture just because of a whack job...Darby did not event the rapture. Elisha and Enoch were raptured. Read your bible...in the twinkling of an eye we will be caught up no one knows the time or hour..like a thief in the night but it will hardly be a secret...