So, what have we learned?

And now, for a moment of seriousness. For a (hopefully small) number of people, today was supposed to be the day that they’d be instantly whisked away to a place of eternal peace and joy.

Instead, today is the day that they learn the hard truth so may other doomsday cults have learned: Placing your faith in the fantastic (and incredibly dubious) claims made by charismatic preachers who say that they’re going to save the world is a mistake.

But rather than criticize them, this gives us all an opportunity to glimpse the flaws in human thinking and learn important lessons about ourselves.

Weekend Ruminations #3: Prepare ye, O my people, for disappointment!

In about an hour, it’ll be May 21, 2011 (locally), and yet another doomsayer prophet will have failed to make good.

Some Facebook groups about the rapture are surprisingly still alive, though the owners are studiously deleting many comments made by detractors.

But take heart, believers: it’s supposedly going to happen at 6PM local time! Jesus still has 19 hours to get around to this time zone. And just in case he does come back, I’m prepared for the post-apocalyptic hellscape that the world is sure to become…

Golf club: nice reach; good for zombies. I think there will be zombies…

It’s already 6PM in some parts of the world, but there’s nothing on the news yet about the promised “great earthquake unlike any the world has ever seen before.” Typical liberal media.

EDIT: http://www.familyradio.com/ is down. SURPRIIIIIISE.

EDIT 2: Apparently it’s being DDoS’d. Guess that makes sense.

EDIT 3: That Facebook group is now completely gone. No surprise there – can’t leave any pesky evidence of the false prophecy laying around!

For-Profit Prophets

There’s a trend I’ve noticed, and I’m surely not the first: So often when a preacher makes some great declaration about the future, he seems to be in it for the money. Oh, he’ll put on a good show of being earnest, declaring that God has spoken to him and given him a message that the big guy needs to get across to his True Believers.

Two recent examples come to mind.