Another Day, Another False Prophet

It seems that self-proclaimed prophet, Harold Camping, was wrong again in predicting the end of the world.  After a multi-million dollar advertising campaign, his followers for the most part are left speechless, and in many cases, financially destroyed.  I wrote a post about this "apocalypse" two weeks ago, explaining that it is NOT a good idea to follow religion so blindly.  And that is exactly what happened with the Harold Camping Scam of 2011.

I call this a scam, but I'm not going be sympathetic with anything this man did.  He created a state of fear and worry, in which many of his followers threw away their lives this past week, because they truly thought the world was ending.  Families moved out of their homes, men and women quit their jobs and gave away their assets... this entire campaign was funded by donations from Camping's followers!  Peoples lives have been ruined, and of course, Camping is no where to be found.  Why do we allow people like him to do this?  In the name of "god," he took peoples hard earned money, created social unrest, and will never have to own up to what he did.  He will not be required to pay these people back the money they gave him, and because so many of these people have such strong faith, they'll continue to follow him - even when he makes his next WILD prediction years down the road. 


Blind faith.  Like the many other false prophets throughout history, blind faith has led thousands to their doom, physically or emotionally.  Does anybody remember Jonestown?  In 1978, over 900 people ended their lives, by ingesting cyanide, in the name of religion and led by a false prophet.  What about the Manson Family?  In the late 1960's, Charlie Manson led a group of criminals on a killing spree in Hollywood.  They followed him, because he brainwashed them into believing he was a savior.  On top of these, there have been hundreds of "end of days" predictions in the past century, many resulting similarly as yesterday - leaving thousands of followers completely broken, mentally and financially. 

So I would like to explain, once again, that it is OKAY to question your faith.  Religion can be very dangerous, with so many possible consequences in believing blindly.  We saw yesterday, families around the world were left with nothing, when the world did not end.  We've seen throughout history, lives destroyed and in many cases physical death as a result.  So, ask questions about your faith.  There is nothing evil about questioning something as powerful as religion.  The only way to get truth in this life is to ask questions, and to challenge the establishment.