Wyoming Bill Prepares for Doomsday

It's an outdated, offensive term, says proposed legislation

(NEWSER) - Two senators have introduced a bill to erase the word "lunatic" from the federal code because the term is considered outdated and offensive, reports the Los Angeles Times . "Federal law should reflect the 21st century understanding of mental illness and disease," says Kent Conrad of North Dakota, who co-sponsored the bill with Mike Crapo of Idaho. Mental health advocates are voicing their support for the proposed legislation. More»

Turns out thou shalt not know the day nor the hour after all

(NEWSER) - America's favorite doomsday prophet issued a belated apology letter yesterday, admitting he was wrong about the rapture coming on May 21 . (No specific mention of his subsequent prediction that the world would end on October 21 , but we assume he was wrong then, too.) "We now realize that those people who were calling our attention to the Bible's statement that 'of that day and hour knoweth no man,' were right … and Family Radio was wrong," Harold Camping wrote on his Family Radio website . More»

But it's OK, God is in charge

(NEWSER) - "When it comes to trying to recognize the truth of prophecy, we're finding that it is very, very difficult," says Harold Camping in an audio message recently posted on his Family Radio website. Well, that’s one way of putting it: Camping has now twice predicted a rapture that has twice failed to arrive . (It's actually his third prediction : Doomsday was first supposed to occur on Sept. 6, 1994.) "Why didn't Christ return on Oct. 21? It seems embarrassing for Family Radio," Camping continues . "But God was in charge of everything. We came to that conclusion after quite a careful study of the Bible." More»

May 21 rapture was just misunderstood, he insists

(NEWSER) - The end is nigh—no, really this time!—but don’t bother repenting. That’s what Harold Camping, America’s favorite doomsday prophet , is preaching these days. In a message on his website spotted by USA Today , Camping says that Oct. 21, “at this point, looks like it will be the final end of everything.” See, as he explains in this post , the rapture really did happen on May 21—that day marked “the completion of God’s salvation program.” More»

Confusion, acceptance from those who thought world would end

(NEWSER) - So, how do rapture believers feel today, considering the fact that they’re still firmly on earth? A sampling of reactions from the Huffington Post , Reuters , the AP , and the Los Angeles Times :

• John Ramsey, 25, quit his job, donated thousands of dollars to Camping’s Family Radio, and took to the streets of Manhattan with his family to spread word of the coming end of days. Now, he and his mother must find new jobs and his 19-year-old brother, who quit high school, might re-enroll. The good news is, Ramsey’s wife will get to have her baby. “Life goes on,” he says. “I get to be a dad.”
• Peter Lombardi, 44, who took an “indefinite break” from his job last year, acknowledges that perhaps “no man knows the day or the hour” the world will end. He spent yesterday peeling Judgment Day stickers off his minivan, but says he’s “not disappointed.” He does want an explanation from Camping, to whom he donated money: “I don’t think they were scamming me, but I am definitely waiting to see what they say … on the radio show.”