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May 18th, 2011
05:00 AM ET
Tick tock goes the doomsday clockBy Jessica Ravitz, CNN (CNN) - For months they’ve been spreading the word, answering the biblical call of Ezekiel 33 to sound the alarm and warn the people. Their message, which they say the Bible guarantees, is simple: The end of the world is near. And now, it’s suddenly really near - so near that if these folks are right, you should probably pass on buying green bananas. Perhaps you’ve already noticed, what with the billboards and signs dotting the landscape, the pamphlets blowing in the wind and the RVs plastered with Judgment Day warnings weaving through cities. Or maybe, as the birds chirped outside and you sipped your morning coffee, a full-page newspaper ad for the upcoming mass destruction caught your eye. May 21, 2011, according to loyal listeners of Family Radio, a Christian broadcasting network based in Oakland, California, will mark the Day of Rapture and the start of Judgment Day (which, they say, will last five months). Those who are saved will be taken up to heaven, and those who aren’t will endure unspeakable suffering. Dead bodies will be strewn about as earthquakes ravage the Earth, they say. And come October 21, they’ll tell you, the entire world will be kaput. It’s the kind of belief that riles up churchgoers who insist no one can know when Judgment Day will come, and the sort that many say does a disservice to Christianity. And it’s the kind of message that delights the types who are planning tongue-in-cheek End of the World parties and are responding to a Facebook invitation to attend a post-rapture looting. Rapture events, including one at a tiki bar in Fort Lauderdale, are being hosted by American Atheists. News outlets, comedians and even Doonesbury can’t seem to resist a good end-of-the-world prophecy. Billboard battle over Judgment Day Earlier this year, CNN traveled with a team of believers - all of whom had walked away from friends, families and jobs - as they set out to share this serious message aboard a caravan of Judgment Day RVs. These ambassadors or co-laborers in God’s work, as they see themselves, let us into their world. Along the way we met other supporters, as well as a sea of skeptics, many of them drunken pirates gathered for an annual festival in Florida. Read about that journey and the roots of this doomsday message With only days to go, we wanted to know how the ambassadors are feeling now. Are they making special plans and saying goodbyes? Have their convictions stayed strong, or have doubts crept in? Are they at peace, excited or maybe afraid? “We’ve been a little busy, as you can imagine,” said Fred Store, the team leader on our journey. Reached at a motor home park in Providence, Rhode Island, Store spoke of the surge of support he’s seen in recent months – the 60 like-minded people (including someone who works for Homeland Security, he boasted) who joined his small crew on the Mall in Washington, and the hundreds who gathered in Times Square in New York. But at the same time he said resistance from those who don’t believe has grown, too. The more people heard about the May 21 warning, the more they discussed it with their pastors and came prepared to argue. Learn about doomsdays throughout time And the media, while they’ve helped spread the message, will be turned away in the coming days. CNN hoped to be with Store and his team on doomsday, but the members said they needed that time to focus on their relationship with God. Perhaps that’s just as well, as an official at Family Radio headquarters pointed out: “What makes you think you’ll be able to get to them? The roads will be a mess," he said, referring to the expected earthquakes. Plus, Store said, even if we got there, there would be no time to edit and publish, so what's the point? Store’s faith remains unwavering. Come Saturday, he and his team will be in Boston, standing in a spot with heavy foot traffic, passing out their pamphlets – which they call tracts – and doing what they believe God called them to do until the very end. No longer with the team is Darryl Keitt, who ditched his caravan on May 6. He said his time on the RV was a “gift from God,” but he decided he needed to spend the last couple of weeks focusing on his non-believing family and friends in New Jersey. It was a decision he prayed about for several weeks. His Elizabeth, New Jersey, apartment is pretty sparse, seeing as he gave away most everything before hitting the road. “I was able to get my old place back,” he said. “But we only have four days to go, so I don’t need much.” He’s reaching out to old friends and hoping his family will come around and believe what he says he knows to be true. “I have not seen any signs that they are believing the message,” he said. “But I can’t read anybody’s heart; only God can. And I’m still praying for them. All I can do is continue to share my convictions.” Tisan Dawud may not share his older half-brother's beliefs, but he supports the positive nature of what Keitt's doing and is awestruck by his dedication. "He's trying to spread what he believes is the word of God, and I can't knock him for that," Dawud said Tuesday evening. "I became Muslim when I was very young, and he remained Christian. But I've always had respect for his beliefs, and he always had respect for my beliefs." And rather than criticize or ridicule his brother, who he said isn't hurting anyone, Dawud wishes people would focus on those who deserve examination and condemnation - those selling drugs, molesting children, raping women or embezzling money, for example. Keitt spends his days in prayer, reaching out to people on Facebook, listening to Family Radio and walking around his neighborhood in his Judgment Day cap and T-shirt. He ran out of tracts some time ago, and at this point it’s too late to order any more, he said. As for where he’ll be on Saturday: “It’s a good question," and one he's still considering. He doesn’t like goodbyes, he said, and only told two people in his caravan team of 10 that he was leaving. He gave those two men, one of them Store, a quick hug and that was it. “Preferably we’ll meet each other again,” Keitt said, “in heaven.” Dennis Morrell was driving through Jacksonville, Florida, pulling his Judgment Day billboard trailer, when we reached him on his cell phone. He wasn’t part of the caravan of RVs but was among the Floridians who joined in to help Store’s team when they were in the city. Morell and his wife quit their jobs to focus on warning others, a move that’s left their four kids – ages 17 to 24 – thinking “Mom and Dad are crazy,” he said. He still hopes God will “open their spiritual eyes,” he said. “But they’re at an age where they love their lives. They don’t want this world to come to an end.” His faith, though, is as firm as ever, and he wishes others would open their minds and hearts to this possibility. “Why would you wait to see if this is actually going to happen? You have that option to cry out for mercy,” he said. “I don’t want to die and go to hell. Do you?” He plans to spend the last days praying, up until the early hours of Saturday - when he’ll both pray and wait for 16 hours. Why 16 hours? Morrell explained that the massive doomsday earthquake will start at the International Date Line before moving west. New Zealand, he said, will get hit first – at 6 p.m. local time. And then that wave of destruction will roll around the world, wreaking havoc at 6 p.m. in each time zone. While Morrell expects he’ll reserve Saturday for private time, Benjamin Ramrajie of Ocala, Florida, doesn’t have any special plans. We met Ramrajie in Tampa after his 7-year-old daughter issued a doomsday warning about how the sun would “turn red like blood.” He stood by and nodded his approval as she spoke about dead bodies and her fears of dying. “Most of my family doesn’t agree 100 percent, and I don’t blame them because it is far-fetched,” he said. “I strongly believe it’s going to happen. But I just figure I’ll relax, maybe watch TV. If that’s the day we get raptured, great. If not, we’ll move on.” soundoff (6,292 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 Next » |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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I guess I don't have to make any plans for next week.
If it is going to happen on the said date, Australia will get hit first and then people here in the US have 18 hours to prepare because its not May 21, 2011 yet.
Very good point!
The world won't end this Sat., and they'll just come up with another date, not to close not too far. Let them have fun.
Those nuts are saying that it will lasts for five months starting from that date, well, if it doesn't happen they'll come back with a "it'll start from now and will lasts a thousand years".
Everyone knows that supernatural months are different than human months.
"I know we've only known each other four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days. The first day seemed like a week and the second day seemed like five days. And the third day seemed like a week again and the fourth day seemed like eight days. And the fifth day you went to see your mother and that seemed just like a day, and then you came back and later on the sixth day, in the evening, when we saw each other, that started seeming like two days, so in the evening it seemed like two days spilling over into the next day and that started seeming like four days, so at the end of the sixth day on into the seventh day, it seemed like a total of five days. And the sixth day seemed like a week and a half. I have it written down, but I can show it to you tomorrow if you want to see it."
Mike, I will gladly give you what I have. All 10". Bend over
Your gay! Don't you know God hates gays? He wishes he wasn't so dumb when he made them.
RAPTURE WILL HAPPEN GUYS!!! BEWARE!!! .... hi hi hi.... btw thanks for your house and cars and jobs.
It only happens when you are sleeping or watching a movie. It's called either a dream or make-believe.
Im so happy that these people spent their life savings on this nasty propoganda. At least they will be broke and homeless on May 22.
Don't worry, you'll pay their unemployment
Doh!
If Jesus was here today, he would turn the tables at your temples.
What makes atheist people? I'll tell you. Atheist people don't convert others into Atheism. HYPOCRITES that claim to be Christians create Atheist people. So go figure. So how will you all go? poison? Please don't do that.
Why does the media insist on calling these people Christian? Absolutely nowhere in any Christian holy text is the Rapture mentioned. It's a ploy by the prideful who consider Christianity a badge to be shown off rather than a gift from God to be shared with the world.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooo! We have to wait at least until the Canucks take home the Stanley Cup!!
It will never happen.
Amen brother. Testify!
Don't listen to Joe Donny. He is a heathen who will be smitten in the playoffs.
Nay. Nay I say. The AVS will rise on the 3rd day and once again, kick some puck 😉
Can we move it to the 20th?
It's my Mom's birthday and that would just be a great present for her!
He is a false prohet:
Matthew 24:11 (New International Version)
11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
I mean the people that say it can't or won't happen are the false prophets. Judgement day is upon us. PTL!
Man, Saturday is my birthday. Hope it's not my last one. That will suck.
If nothing happens, this is my face
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It looks like a dick, Dick Cheney I meant.
hahhaha
I have seen pic before on here... maybe it doesn't show up right on my browser, but all I see is the outline of a head and a hand ???
Great art! That's my face now.
If that's what you see then you will be passed over on Saturday.
Does this mean I can tell my manager to f-u-c-k off?
I highly recommend you do so...before you leave the office TODAY!
Who's got time to read this when we only have a few precious days left?
Everyone with a white tee-shirt and a Sharpie pen make a May 22 shirt to wear on Sunday.
You should also mention that for all women, the shirts must be soaked in water and do not wear a bra. (exceptions can be made for butt ugly women)
i personally think this is fake because how can "the bible" decide the exact day that the worl was going to end. This makes no sense whats so ever.>:o -.-
Because it is magical and Disney is involved.
God does tell us when the world will end – not only because God knows it, but because it is important to us. A date given is reality, an appointment. Of course the date is coded to come out at the correct time. It really does not matter what the date is because as far as we are concerned the world will end when we die, and the date that the world ends is actually quite a while after that. But those who do not believe that they will ever be held accountable, will object to the date and be exposed.
Anyone can throw a date but because God knows there have been a lot of false predictions, God first does the following,
1. Give us scientific proof of God's existence
2. A proven scripture from God
3. That every word in the scripture is a proven fact and from God
4. A perfectly unambiguous date. Because God knows that there are two solar systems, people will fight over which calendar (solar or lunar years).
'[18:25] They stayed in their cave three hundred years, increased by nine.*.
Indeed 300 solars years are 309 lunar years.
But 300 years from when?
[18:8] Inevitably, we will wipe out everything on it, leaving it completely barren.*
Footnote
The Dwellers of the Cave (Seven sleepers of Ephesus)
[18:9] Why else do you think we are telling you about the people of the cave, and the numbers connected with them? They are among our wondrous signs.
[18:21] We caused them to be discovered, to let everyone know that GOD's promise is true, and to remove all doubt concerning the end of the world.* The people then disputed among themselves regarding them. Some said, "Let us build a building around them." Their Lord is the best knower about them. Those who prevailed said, "We will build a place of worship around them."
'[18:25] They stayed in their cave three hundred years, increased by nine.*.
Figure it out. All you need to know is it is not too long, but definitely not in your lifetime.
Basically it's going to be war with Asia, not because of religion, but because of debate against a calendar.
I have listened to every word of the Bible on tape (I can't read)
And it clearly says Saturday is the day.
I'm willing to go but would rather stay.
Dear Village Idiots,
Thank you for letting us know when the world will end. Please give me all of your money and assets as you won't need any of those things where you are going. Tell God hi for me. Mike
Dear Mike, I will gladly give you what I have. All 10". Bend over