AIBU to feel sorry for them?

[sephrenia]

I've taken the mickey out of Harold Camping's followers as much as anyone but I have to admit that I feel really sorry for them. Some of them have spent life savings, given up homes, degrees and more all to spread his message about the supposed Rapture tomorrow.

When it doesn't happen, there's going to be a lot of confused and upset people and I feel sorry for them. Is that unreasonable?

I have lots of sympathy for those who suffer from mental health problems. One in 3 will suffer.

yanbu

Yanbu. I imagine that these people are vulnerable and/or suffering from mental illness of some sort. I wonder how they will rationalise absolutely fuck all happening?

YANBU. Some of them will have nothing on Sunday and some families will be torn apart

I think that Harold Camping will just declare that he got it wrong again and people will carry on believing it. Sometimes it's easier to carry on with a lie than to admit that you believed in one

brainwashed

Have we been given a time for the end of the world?

Just so I can get my last gin and tonic in and go out playing mario karts on the wii

Oh, it's actually 2am Sunday morning for us.

And will there be any world left so it can end again for the 2012 end of world prediction?

2 am is when the believers ascend. The rest of us have 5 months of Earthquakes, famine and war before the world actually ends

I think I heard on this morning's news that a company was offering Rapture Petsitting - with a 10 year guarantee in case of Apocalypse failure.

Of course if he's right we are all going to look fucking silly . . .

Good point Andrew

Think it's too late to repent, just in case?

Whats supposed to be happening tomorrow? Whats a rapture?

Bloody thing < Lives in a cave and doesn't read the papers>

Thats better :)

Rapture

Sooooo, it's apparantly the return of christ?

They won't be confused and upset - they will find a way to adapt their beliefs to explain the non-event in acceptable terms and will probably end up believing even more fervently than before. The drive to resolve cognitive dissonance is a powerful force in lots of religious contexts, this one is no different.

I saw a mention of Cognitive Dissonance on AboveTopSecret. I'm going to look up exactly what it means.

It's when stuff doesn't fit with out pre-conceived ideas or beliefs we find an explanation to make it fit (well it's possibly a little more complex than that but that's the edited version).

I've just been looking at some source links from the Wikipedia entry. It's kind of sad that people do that so that they don't feel all weirded out. It certainly explains why people still follow preachers who have got the end date wrong though.

My baby isn't due for another 2 weeks so I am keeping fingers crossed that it's all as mental as it seems

Ooooh same here! whats your due date? mines 7th June :o