Repent! The End is Nigh! (?)

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/07/136053462/is-the-end-nigh-well-know-soon-enough
I listened to this excellent piece by NPR yesterday out of sheer curiosity. It was unsettling, to say the least.

The crux of the argument of this story is that Family Radio, a Christian broadcasting network, posits the belief that May 21st, 2011 is Judgment Day. Harold Camping, the network's founder, believes that by counting precisely the number of years mentioned in the Bible and reading the prophecies contained therein correctly, one can plainly see that eight days from now the Rapture will occur, when all true believers ascend into heaven and non-believers are stranded on Earth, doomed to face the 153-day Apocalypse and, later, eternal damnation.

Let me be upfront about something: I'm an agnostic. I don't believe in a god or a deity because I see little proof of one, but at the same time I concede that in the vastness of the universe, anything is possible. However, I live my life based on the my own logical assumption that there is no God. I don't say this to foist my beliefs on anyone else, just to be completely truthful. In all honesty, I don't care about religion that much. I'm not promoting atheism or agnosticism, but religion just doesn't figure into my life.

That being said, I wanted to tear my hair out and scream at some of the people interviewed in this story, particularly the couple living in Florida who are rapidly draining their bank accounts in order to have no money left by the time May 21st comes around. For goodness sake! They have a two year-old daughter! Even if you believed that the Rapture is nigh, wouldn't it be prudent to save your money anyway, just in case you're wrong? Didn't God himself say that He is perfect and mankind is imperfect? What is this family going to do if (I say "when") May 21st comes and goes without incident? They will be destitute. They will have nothing left for themselves, their daughter and the second child they are expecting.

I don't feel sorry for people who do stupid things. If you don't think things through before doing something important or even life-changing, then shame on you. You got yourself into this quagmire, so you can dig yourself out. However, I feel sorry for this family solely because of their children. What will they do? Survive on the charity of their fellow Christians? If the recent pseudo-Christian Tea Party popularity surge has taught me anything, it's that most of these self-professed "Christians" don't look too kindly upon those who ask for charity. Very un-Christlike, if you ask me.