A Christian group led by a California radio evangelist is leading a widespread Doomsday awareness campaign. Watch video
In this Dec. 17, 2010 photo in Raleigh, N.C., Allison Warden poses with her car showing a message about the rapture. Warden, of Raleigh, has been helping organize a campaign using billboards, post cards and other media in cities across the U.S. through a website, We Can Know.If Judgment Day is arriving 10 days from now, should you still get your car's oil changed? And who will take care of the puppies?
NJ.com's Ledger Live answers the first question and more as they explore a growing campaign claiming that Doomsday will arrive on Saturday, May 21, 2011. [Watch the video below right.]
The campaign is being promoted by an assorted collection of Christians led by California radio preacher Harold Camping and his group Family Radio Worldwide. But the idea has gained traction across the US and beyond, and in fact there are many who believe that the end is near — very near.
The Washington Post points out that this is not Camping's first Armageddon prediction.
Nevertheless, billboards in support of the prediction have popped up in Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, across Canada, as well as various countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.
It's important to note, as Ledger Live's Brian Donohue explains, that "Camping's predictions have been universally dismissed by organized churches."
What exactly is being predicted in Camping's Doomsday scenario? NPR quotes a believer:
On May 21, "starting in the Pacific Rim at around the 6 p.m. local time hour, in each time zone, there will be a great earthquake, such as has never been in the history of the Earth," he says. The true Christian believers — he hopes he's one of them — will be "raptured": They'll fly upward to heaven. And for the rest?
"It's just the horror of horror stories," he says, "and on top of all that, there's no more salvation at that point. And then the Bible says it will be 153 days later that the entire universe and planet Earth will be destroyed forever."
For the non-believers, it seems that there's little to be done. MyFoxPhoenix.com quotes someone calling Doomsday "a come as you are kind of thing." So if you're thinking of hedging your bets with a last-minute conversion, it's probably too little, too late.
But for the believers worried about loose ends left behind on Earth, MLive.com's Troy Remink reports on a company called Eternal Earth-Bound Pets USA that will care for your pet should you be taken away in the Rapture.
The $135 price tag may seem steep, but keep in mind: you can't take it with you.