Harold Camping's End of the World Passes in Sydney, No Rapture In Sight
The end of the world, doomsday, apocalypse, rapture 2011 – whatever people are calling it, the May 21, 6 p.m. prediction by Harold Camping didn’t happen in parts of the world that already passed the deadline.
In Australia, where it is early morning Sunday now, people are tweeting that nothing happened Saturday night and mocking Camping’s rapture claim, reported The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Rapture time here in Melbourne. A rather quiet sort of rapture if you ask me,” tweeted Melbourne resident Jon Gall.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Meanwhile, Brisbane resident KillaJeules, tweeted mockingly, “No earthquakes. No beaming up of Christians. No zombie apocalypse. No surprises haha.”
Theologian Ian Packer of the Australian Evangelical Alliance told Agence France-Presse ahead of the deadline that the doomsday prediction wasn’t being “taken serious at all” in his country.
“Aside from hearing about Harold Camping in the media, we would not have known about his existence,” said Packer.
Nearby in New Zealand, residents were also tweeting that the time passed without the predicted earthquake that would sweep across the planet as believers were raptured up to safety in heaven.
“I’m from New Zealand, it is 6:06PM, the world has NOT ended. No earthquakes here, all waiting for the rapture can relax for now. #Rapture,” tweeted Daniel Boerman.
Camping, who is president of California-based Family Radio, predicted that on May 21, 2011, Christians would rapture by time zones at 6 p.m. Although the overwhelming majority of Christians dismissed and ignored his claims, some of his followers have emptied their bank accounts to fund an ad campaign warning about judgment day on May 21.
Over a decade ago, Camping made a similar prediction that the world would end in 1994. Responding to his wrong prediction, Camping said he wasn’t sure about the 1994 claim but he is certain that the 2011 rapture date is correct, without a doubt.
Now with the deadline passing and nothing happening, people are mocking Camping as well as Christianity.
"Well we have had the #Rapture going for 50 minutes now. So far it hasn't interrupted my fish & chips and glass of stout,” tweeted Gall of Melbourne.
Pastor Glenn Lee Hill, retired pastor from Rocky Mount, N.C., foresaw that Camping’s false prophecy would be mocked and all Christians would be painted with a broad stroke.
“Because when it fails, all of us who believe in Jesus will become fodder for the comics, the late-night talk show hosts, and others who are always looking for a new excuse to mock our faith,” said Hill. “Christianity, the name of Jesus, and all of us who love Him will bear the embarrassment of this false prophecy.”
The 89-year-old Camping who incited the global suspension over May 21 lives in one of the last time zones to hit the deadline. All eyes are on Camping, who is expected to have to explain again why his calculations were wrong.
