Judgment Day: May 21, 2011?


Photo: Mito Habe-Evans/NPR

The End of the World has been foretold time and time again, but this time it's for real. Well, according to Brian Haubert and a small group of true believers, anyway. They claimed that hidden in the Bible are some clues that the world will end May 21, 2011.

NPR's Weekend Edition takes a peek inside the Judgment Day movement (and the radio show behind the latest J-date):

"I've crunched the numbers, and it's going to happen," he says.

Haubert says the Bible contains coded "proofs" that reveal the timing. For example, he says, from the time of Noah's flood to May 21, 2011, is exactly 7,000 years. Revelations like this have changed his life.

"I no longer think about 401(k)s and retirement," he says. "I'm not stressed about losing my job, which a lot of other people are in this economy. I'm just a lot less stressed, and in a way I'm more carefree."

He's tried to warn his friends and family. They think he's crazy. And that saddens him.

"Oh, it's very hard," he says. "I worry about friends and family and loved ones. But I guess more recently, I'm just really looking forward to it."

Haubert is 33 and single. Brown is married with several young children, and none of them shares his beliefs. It's caused a rift with his wife — but he says that, too, was predicted in the Bible.

"God says, 'Do you love husband or wife over me? Do you love son or daughter over me?' There is a test. There is a trial here that the believers are going through. It's a fiery trial."

As May 21 nears, Brown says he feels as if he's on a "roller coaster." What if he is raptured but his family is left behind?

"I'm crying over my loved ones one minute; I'm elated the next minute," he says. "It's all over the place."

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/07/136053462/is-the-end-nigh-well-know-soon-enough?ft=1&f=100


he says. "I’m not stressed about losing my job..."

If I truely believed May 21 was the end I too would not be worried about losing my job because I would not have one. Why spend these last few weeks working?
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Well the world isn't going to end on 5/21 that is when Jesus is 'going' to return, start the rapture, and then the apocolypse is supposed to be in October if I remember correctly.

They had these banners spread out at the St. Patricks Day Parade so I had to take a look. I for one am going to try to buy Jessus a beer and pick his brain for a bit
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“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

—Matthew 24:36-44
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Matthew 24:36-44 was writen because Matthew was not so good at holding his wine and really just wanted to warn others that being the first to fall asleep with 11 other guys was never good.
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IMHO. The rapture is a parable describing what will happen when truth is honored above all else. When "truth" makes it's return, since it had been crucified. This has nothing to do with physical form, truth is not physical.

The return of the truth means that egoism must go. All the ivory castles constructed in the name of Self will be destroyed and it will be as if the inhabitant had been cast into hellfire. Their lives, resting atop a house of cards, will burn with despair at the loss of their heightened sense of self. Shame! Humiliation!

This will happen eventually because as we press on further and further into self-absorbed delusion, like vortices we consume the surrounding universe which can only continue to a point, before we start consuming ourselves more directly and define our own demise.

The lie has already got us going in circles chasing possession and approval and fighting endless bloody wars. When the truth returns, it will burn more than spilt blood, many will hope to be dead instead. But who can put a fixed date on when that will happen? My estimates suggest a few more decades or perhaps generations before the necessity of truth burrows its way into the collective human conscious, and that will only come about because of death and suffering. Humans just won't care unless they are in enough pain.
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""I’m crying over my loved ones one minute; I’m elated the next minute," he says. "It’s all over the place.""

It sounds like he is manic-depressive and has latched onto one of the more common apocalyptic ideas found in America.
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Alex

You might want to do some more background on this one....It's not Brian's idea, he's just a dupe wana-be.

The "mastermind" behind this is Rev. Harold Camping, and this is his second go at this sort of thing.
Wonder what his story will be on the 22nd?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/04/may-21-2011-judgment-day_n_804166.html
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When it's 21st in one country it is still 20th in America...so...do we all go at once or on our 21st...lol Well my b-day is in July...i guess i wont get a year older...yes!!!! oh wait...that's not good..crap!!!! I'm not ready to go!!!!OMG!!! THE WORLD IS ENDING.
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@Bill - you're right of course. Rev. Harold Camping is actually prominently discussed in the linked article over at NPR (and yes, I did know that this is his second go at the whole Judgment Day thing).

I found that the focus on Brian Haubert, who is a follower (but a very loyal one at that), is actually more interesting.

It's one thing to be crazy, it's another thing completely to follow someone crazy :)
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The only difference between this nutjob and other Christians is that he thinks he knows the specific date of the event. The ridiculous things he imagines are going to happen are believed by 'normal' Christians too, it's just that they don't have an appointment in their diaries. And I do say 'normal' with a generous portion of sarcasm.
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It's very scary man,
it makes me Look Like a Mad man in everyone's eyes, everytime I will inform them about this May 21st, 2011, thing..
"Father, have mercy on Me, I'm very sinful Man since the day I was born"
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Jesus IS coming back, but He said no one would know the exact day. Harold Camping's followers are going to be very unhappy campers when this day comes and goes.

I hope they only lose faith in Harold and not in Christ.
'Also hope this guy didn't give all his money to a guy who thinks he's the final arbitrator of Scripture.
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Corellia, as a former uninterested agnostic who despised Christians for their hypocrisy, I welcome your comment - for my sake.
However, for YOUR sake: you can't see a perfect God by looking at imperfect people.
He IS real! I know that fact, not by reading it in the Bible or by being convinced by an evangelist, but by His Spirit. Until your eyes are opened, it will just seem as foolishness to you, but if you REALLY want to know the truth, He will show you too.
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Once again, the post elicits so much hate...people talking about despising others for their beliefs...what is the deal, folks? Are we not free to believe what we want (or not) without being despised?
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When all of Harold Camping's expectations go down the tubes later this month, his humiliation and 'fall' will be well deserved. But the big loser is less apparent. That will be Biblical interpretation, called theology. Whether theology is a valid human intellectual endeavour is questionable. Does theology only exist because nothing has been revealed? At the end of the day, all 'God Discussion' is provisional. Whether set in dogma or doctrine two thousand years ago or the product of contemporary systematic process. And scripture is full of warnings about getting it wrong. And that has yet to be sorted. Natural reason has provide no insight into that ultimate reality called God or ourselves. What we learned from the recent Japanese Tsunami, is that when faith and fate look so much alike, the problem is probably with faith! I have every expectation that God can do better than that! http://www.energon.org.uk
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There’s a new billboard up near the Bay Bridge which challenges Camping about the date of Judgement Day. They say it is going to happen on a different date. I wrote down their website:

http://www.merkaba.org

Has anyone heard of them?
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Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but nobody is entitled to their own facts. The self as a subsistent entity is an illusion and therefor false. That which is true is singularity, the finite beings that we are, are a manifestation of the one reality. This reality some call Nature and others call God and some are too ignorant to see the relationship at all.

This is why Christianity warns against self-idolatry and ascribes the characterization of Lucifer to this aspect of human nature. The self is not a separate entity, more like a fraction of the totality. All our light is owing to God in other words. Or without the cosmos we would be nothing. But, the lie of self-hood blinds us to the realization and keeps us chasing after thrills and status.

Those wise to this underlying nature can see the unfolding of its dynamics and peer vaguely into the future of humanity. While there are many methods and doctrines including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Prayer, Meditation and Self-flagellation (to name a few). There is only one way to God and that is through Truth; understanding with absolute certainty. The intricate nature of the implicit and explicit orders and a submission of the ego unto it's rightful owner; the singularity (God). Everything else is mere confusion, a play on words and ritual. Most of which appeal to the self and further delude it.

The ego either takes the stories from the Bible as fantastical and true or fantastical and false. Both ways of seeing are incorrect, the only thing fantastical about it is that the underlying truth is more mundane and superficial than the stories which describe it. Yet it is within this superficiality and mundacity that we find awe and wonder at the life we are already living.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz2LTIkWIB0
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Urgh. Thanks so much, Haubert, Camping, et al- for giving Christian-bashers something else at which they can point and say, "Yeah! They're all like that, see?"

Forgive the Family Radio 'army', Lord, they know not what they do....
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"I’m just really looking forward to it..."
If a serial killer or dictator said this- we'd lock him up.
So many good Christians out there, taking the lessons of the bible as they should; as lessons, yet so many loons like this guy.
Must be fun to live with this sad clown....
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There is a another group which has put up a big billboard near Family Radio's headquarters which challenges them about May 21 with a completely different point of view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y14YxNhj40

Anyone heard of this group?
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Alex

Sorry I didn't read the NPR article.

Looks like your blog entry has gotten lots of responses, and that is good for you.

I am a "recovering" fundamentalist christian, and it is hard for me to figure out why so many people are duped by supernatural myths...(i.e. "Religion").
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the apostle Peter, in his letter, warns of the final destruction of the earth on the last day:

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

"Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?" II Peter 3:10-13.
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The world is in pretty bad shape. The future looks bleek. If we have to trust politicans we are lost. The weather has gone nuts. It seems like the earth iyself is wearing out. If God is coming back he better hurry before the earth is gone!
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wtf is it termintor time or something, for 7,000 years there hasnt been a flood, wtf makes u think any of the bulshit u read in the bible is correct?, if thats the f*cking case then biggy smalls predicted the twin towers blowing up, if its written its bulshit,, but take a bunch of wackos like this guy and they will find away to destroy a dam and say it was pedicted
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