That's what I want to know. People have been sent to jail for claiming things as truth that weren't so - so, what about the 89 year old idiot who claimed that today was going to be the end of the world - the great RAPTURE (not scriptual, by the way) was going to happen and the beginning of the end was to start today and finish over the next five months. Yeah, right. Cough cough. Gee, Harold Camping's websites May-212011.com and familyradio.com aren't working right now. Wonder why? Where they the ONLY ones to be raptured? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
It never ceases to amaze me how people can get away with crap like this. The Jehovah's Witnesses pulled a big boner in 1975 when their entire membership pretty much believed that the end of the world was coming per the Watchtower, and that is what they preached to anyone who would listen. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society leadership, tongue in cheek, never came right out and said that the END WAS NIGH, but it was in all other ways implied. When 1975 came and went and the world did not end, more than a million JWs left the fold, never to return. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society learned it lesson and since then, the leadership have been much more obscure in hinting at THE END. I think 1978 was pointed to, then 1984, and 1996. And they're still selling the same old coolaid and at least some of their members are still drinking it too. With no notice or fanfare, after 1996 came and went without the world ending, the JWs erased from their "for public consumption" magazine The Watchtower (now comes out in two versions, one for the ignorant general public and one for the insiders who are JWs) the old byline that went something like those who witnessed the events of 1914 will still be alive to see THE END. The 1914 date was calculated by the first leader of the JWs, Russell, based upon numbers embodied in the Great Pyramid at Giza. I'm not kidding. Russell's successor, Rutherford, made millions off the byline "millions now living today will NEVER die" based on the same disproven time line using 1914 as the "beginning of the end." With a few tweaks, it lasted until 1975, when THE END was supposed to come - and didn't. Oh oh.
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is running into far worse issues today. Yes, the "faithful" are whispering amongst themselves - okay, those who were BORN in 1914 will soon be 100 years old. How many 100 year old people do you know? Exactly -- despite its best efforts, the Watchtower Bible and Trace Society has not been able to erase from the minds of the older and oldest faithful members the point it stressed for so many years, that 1914 marked the end of "this system of things" and that people alive back then would be alive to see THE END. Well, folks, it ain't happening. But WT has other things to deal with, as I said - like millions and millions of dollars being shelled out in payment of judgments for sexual abuse by their male ministers - "elders" and males who assisted in the congregations - "servants." The pot calling the kettle black - the JWs used to poke fun at the Catholic Church for their "pedophile problem." Guess what - WT has the same problem, and had the same policies in place to squelch victims reporting the abuse to police, designed to protect the perpetrators of horrific sexual crimes. Check out Silent Lambs.
There was also a big scandal surrounding the End Times and the founder of the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, also pointing to 1975 (COPYCAT?) as the date the world would end. He was another dude who thought he had a pipeline to God. Har! In reality, he was just another (accused of incest with his own daughter) rip-off artist who thought he could get away with crap (and he did, didn't he), raking in millions and millions during his lifetime, living the high life while preaching austerity and "the END IS NEAR" to his followers.
People, please educate yourselves. Learn the Bible, and you will be armed to fight off the false teachings of all mainstream (and not-so-mainstream) religions and cults. The Bible clearly says - and I quote -
Matthew 24:36 (King James Version) But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Matthew 24:36 (Living Bible, Tyndale Publishers) But no one knows the date and hour when the end will be - not even the angels. No, not even God's Son. Only the father knows.
Matthew 24:36 (New World Translation, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society publishers - yes I have one!) Concerning that day and hour, nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.
As for these false prophets - LIKE HAROLD CAMPING of Family Worldwide Radio (who raked in how many millions during this latest campaign???), why should they be protected from fraud charges just because they cloak themselves in the name of religion? This sucks and is NOT justice. Esther Reed, who never tried to persuade anyone to donate money to a cuckoo church or spend "what time was left" preaching to unrepentant strangers about "the end is nigh," she got sent to jail for fraud, and she never claimed to know the day and the hour that the world was going to end. Geez. Get real, people! Who's really guilty of the bigger fraud here?
It never ceases to amaze me how people can get away with crap like this. The Jehovah's Witnesses pulled a big boner in 1975 when their entire membership pretty much believed that the end of the world was coming per the Watchtower, and that is what they preached to anyone who would listen. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society leadership, tongue in cheek, never came right out and said that the END WAS NIGH, but it was in all other ways implied. When 1975 came and went and the world did not end, more than a million JWs left the fold, never to return. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society learned it lesson and since then, the leadership have been much more obscure in hinting at THE END. I think 1978 was pointed to, then 1984, and 1996. And they're still selling the same old coolaid and at least some of their members are still drinking it too. With no notice or fanfare, after 1996 came and went without the world ending, the JWs erased from their "for public consumption" magazine The Watchtower (now comes out in two versions, one for the ignorant general public and one for the insiders who are JWs) the old byline that went something like those who witnessed the events of 1914 will still be alive to see THE END. The 1914 date was calculated by the first leader of the JWs, Russell, based upon numbers embodied in the Great Pyramid at Giza. I'm not kidding. Russell's successor, Rutherford, made millions off the byline "millions now living today will NEVER die" based on the same disproven time line using 1914 as the "beginning of the end." With a few tweaks, it lasted until 1975, when THE END was supposed to come - and didn't. Oh oh.
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is running into far worse issues today. Yes, the "faithful" are whispering amongst themselves - okay, those who were BORN in 1914 will soon be 100 years old. How many 100 year old people do you know? Exactly -- despite its best efforts, the Watchtower Bible and Trace Society has not been able to erase from the minds of the older and oldest faithful members the point it stressed for so many years, that 1914 marked the end of "this system of things" and that people alive back then would be alive to see THE END. Well, folks, it ain't happening. But WT has other things to deal with, as I said - like millions and millions of dollars being shelled out in payment of judgments for sexual abuse by their male ministers - "elders" and males who assisted in the congregations - "servants." The pot calling the kettle black - the JWs used to poke fun at the Catholic Church for their "pedophile problem." Guess what - WT has the same problem, and had the same policies in place to squelch victims reporting the abuse to police, designed to protect the perpetrators of horrific sexual crimes. Check out Silent Lambs.
There was also a big scandal surrounding the End Times and the founder of the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, also pointing to 1975 (COPYCAT?) as the date the world would end. He was another dude who thought he had a pipeline to God. Har! In reality, he was just another (accused of incest with his own daughter) rip-off artist who thought he could get away with crap (and he did, didn't he), raking in millions and millions during his lifetime, living the high life while preaching austerity and "the END IS NEAR" to his followers.
People, please educate yourselves. Learn the Bible, and you will be armed to fight off the false teachings of all mainstream (and not-so-mainstream) religions and cults. The Bible clearly says - and I quote -
Matthew 24:36 (King James Version) But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Matthew 24:36 (Living Bible, Tyndale Publishers) But no one knows the date and hour when the end will be - not even the angels. No, not even God's Son. Only the father knows.
Matthew 24:36 (New World Translation, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society publishers - yes I have one!) Concerning that day and hour, nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.
As for these false prophets - LIKE HAROLD CAMPING of Family Worldwide Radio (who raked in how many millions during this latest campaign???), why should they be protected from fraud charges just because they cloak themselves in the name of religion? This sucks and is NOT justice. Esther Reed, who never tried to persuade anyone to donate money to a cuckoo church or spend "what time was left" preaching to unrepentant strangers about "the end is nigh," she got sent to jail for fraud, and she never claimed to know the day and the hour that the world was going to end. Geez. Get real, people! Who's really guilty of the bigger fraud here?
Yes, I think he should be prosecuted, and some of the people who were involved with him who caused problems for their kids should be visited by Childrens services.
ReplyDeleteHi Robur, yes I agree with you to a point that people who took any of these predictions of "The End" seriously were seriously fools! But the fact that so many people do fall for this kind of thing points to the epic failure of organized religions today to provide spiritual sustenance and heart-felt succor to those who are searching for those things. The crackpots always come out in droves when there are stressful times at hand - like now - and like back in the early 70's when we had stagflation, mile-long lines at the gasoline pumps, cultural changes (the sexual revolution, women's liberation), the horrific ending of the Vietnam War, etc. etc. It sickens me the way the opportunists come worming their way to the surface. I shouldn't use worms as a bad example - worms fulfill a worthy purpose in life. Those opportunists who prey on people's yearning for a better world and a better life - they are just VILE. And I totally agree with Anonymous about Children's Protective Services being called in regarding some of these parents! If we can send a parent to jail for refusing to accept medical care for a child due to "religious beliefs" (that happened recently in Wisconsin) - what should we as a society do with parents who remove their children from school, force them to "preach" on the streets and beg for money and give away all their earthly belongings because, after all, they won't need them? And why is it that we prosecute/persecute some of these parents (Janet Reno, anyone?) for their actions and beliefs while ignoring others who are just as aggregious in the treatment of their children (honor killings, anyone?)
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope the IRS takes a good long look at this so-called religious group/church and pulls their tax-exempt status!