Prayer...
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Cognitive dissonance. The state where humans, against all logic, try to rationalize that any puncture in their logic is simply an add-on to their original belief. They hide the flaws of their ideals by saying that, in reality, some higher power caused that flaw to actually be part of the 'plan' that they cling to with everything they've got. In the end, it only leads to more and more grief and self-illusion.
Harold Camping, "Rapture Man", is almost a carbon-copy of every doomsayer before him. He doesn't read the Bible for words, he reads it for magical math clues. In all reality, the numeric system used today doesn't have to have anything to do with God. He has his own agenda, and as an omniscient being, it's impossible to guess what his agenda is. Yet Harold Camping practically claims he knows God's objectives down to a 'T'. This is unforgivable, in my book. He has caused a global scare, and should be punished accordingly. It's like shouting 'bomb' on an airplane.
As for the believers of Harold Camping, they have followed him for up to decades, since he's started his program on Family Radio. They believe everything he says, as well as "Jesus died twice" "The Retribution began in 1944" "Satan rules the churches" and other radical claims. Why? The answer is several.
1) They believe Harold Camping is a prophet, and that God chose him to interpret the Bible.
---I believe this answer is the most important to a Harold Camping follower. They truly feel they are going with Christ's intentions. They follow the interpretations of the Bible laid out in front of them, no matter how ridiculous.
2) They would, subconsciously, rather have Harold Camping find an interpretation of the Bible, than do it themselves. Why? They want a shortcut to a relationship with God. Call it laziness, fear, or the need to feel detached from it in case the belief is wrong, but in the end, they choose to have a civil engineer determine their faith.
---I believe that this is horrible. Each individual must build a relationship with God, not quite on their own, but have a 1-on-1 relationship with God so that they can feel that the Lord truly did endow them with their humanity and life. True, humans gather to strengthen their relationship (why else would we go to Church), and they rely on the pastor, elder, rabbi, and other leaders of the Church to tell them what direction they should go, but in the end, trying to wait for someone to tell you the level of importance God put on you is practically denying your own potential to find your spiritual alignment with God.
3) This is actually the reason I feel is the most dominant: They feel the need to have something special happen in their generation. How often do you hear Harold Camping talk about important spiritual events from the 1800s? None at all. Why? He doesn't feel anything important happened after the Bible was finished. Every event, every SINGLE ONE, since the finishing of the writing of the Bible, to the present day, has all occurred in the late 1900s. Oh wait, isn't that around when Harold Camping lived? Coincidence? Nope.
---I believe that Harold Camping has made so many predictions, because he wants his generation to be superior to others. "I exist in this time, therefore so much is going to happen, including Rapture, Retribution, and Doomsday." This is what he probably thinks. He's made 11 doomsday predictions already (2 public), has declared the Church age over, Retribution begun, and Rapture in motion, all in just 20 years. He's so obsessed with having events that make his own generation exciting, he neglects to realize that all he's doing is over-inflating the world in his life-span. He claims so much has happened, yet he ignores every generation before him. What makes his generation so important, that he gets to see all these events when countless lives before him have made the same predictions, and failed? I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Harold Camping wants his life to be the most exciting. He's done everything in his power to claim that God chose his lifetime to exact many things, and has chosen him to interpret is. He's a self-important brat who decided he's gonna live an exciting life, at others' expense. Most of his followers feel this way, too.
Any arguments?
Harold Camping, "Rapture Man", is almost a carbon-copy of every doomsayer before him. He doesn't read the Bible for words, he reads it for magical math clues. In all reality, the numeric system used today doesn't have to have anything to do with God. He has his own agenda, and as an omniscient being, it's impossible to guess what his agenda is. Yet Harold Camping practically claims he knows God's objectives down to a 'T'. This is unforgivable, in my book. He has caused a global scare, and should be punished accordingly. It's like shouting 'bomb' on an airplane.
As for the believers of Harold Camping, they have followed him for up to decades, since he's started his program on Family Radio. They believe everything he says, as well as "Jesus died twice" "The Retribution began in 1944" "Satan rules the churches" and other radical claims. Why? The answer is several.
1) They believe Harold Camping is a prophet, and that God chose him to interpret the Bible.
---I believe this answer is the most important to a Harold Camping follower. They truly feel they are going with Christ's intentions. They follow the interpretations of the Bible laid out in front of them, no matter how ridiculous.
2) They would, subconsciously, rather have Harold Camping find an interpretation of the Bible, than do it themselves. Why? They want a shortcut to a relationship with God. Call it laziness, fear, or the need to feel detached from it in case the belief is wrong, but in the end, they choose to have a civil engineer determine their faith.
---I believe that this is horrible. Each individual must build a relationship with God, not quite on their own, but have a 1-on-1 relationship with God so that they can feel that the Lord truly did endow them with their humanity and life. True, humans gather to strengthen their relationship (why else would we go to Church), and they rely on the pastor, elder, rabbi, and other leaders of the Church to tell them what direction they should go, but in the end, trying to wait for someone to tell you the level of importance God put on you is practically denying your own potential to find your spiritual alignment with God.
3) This is actually the reason I feel is the most dominant: They feel the need to have something special happen in their generation. How often do you hear Harold Camping talk about important spiritual events from the 1800s? None at all. Why? He doesn't feel anything important happened after the Bible was finished. Every event, every SINGLE ONE, since the finishing of the writing of the Bible, to the present day, has all occurred in the late 1900s. Oh wait, isn't that around when Harold Camping lived? Coincidence? Nope.
---I believe that Harold Camping has made so many predictions, because he wants his generation to be superior to others. "I exist in this time, therefore so much is going to happen, including Rapture, Retribution, and Doomsday." This is what he probably thinks. He's made 11 doomsday predictions already (2 public), has declared the Church age over, Retribution begun, and Rapture in motion, all in just 20 years. He's so obsessed with having events that make his own generation exciting, he neglects to realize that all he's doing is over-inflating the world in his life-span. He claims so much has happened, yet he ignores every generation before him. What makes his generation so important, that he gets to see all these events when countless lives before him have made the same predictions, and failed? I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Harold Camping wants his life to be the most exciting. He's done everything in his power to claim that God chose his lifetime to exact many things, and has chosen him to interpret is. He's a self-important brat who decided he's gonna live an exciting life, at others' expense. Most of his followers feel this way, too.
Any arguments?
Excuse the double-post.
Jehovah's Witnesses have been making Doomsday predictions, it seems, at intervals of ever 15-30 years. They continue to pry and pry at people's patience, but they stumble blindly forward, trying to say that God will meet their claims. It's ridiculous that they continue, but they also feel the need to place their generation on a pedestal above all others, and say that in their lifetime, all important things will happen.
Jehovah's Witnesses have been making Doomsday predictions, it seems, at intervals of ever 15-30 years. They continue to pry and pry at people's patience, but they stumble blindly forward, trying to say that God will meet their claims. It's ridiculous that they continue, but they also feel the need to place their generation on a pedestal above all others, and say that in their lifetime, all important things will happen.
5
Good point IC , All your points hold true and its sad. God's word told us to test the spirits and see if they hold true and people still fall into this trap of unbelief or scriptural ignorance, either way now they are the butt end of jokes and the unsaved just laugh and makes or job as soul winners all the harder.
