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Harold Camping , the 89 - year - old leader whose work of the Bible convinced him and his followers that the world would terminate , has been key out by his wife as " boggle " that the apocalypse did n’t start over the weekend . There are some red faces out there . And if that ’s all it had been , then one could argue no gravid trauma had been done .
But whileCamping and his followerstry to work out out what go away untimely ( or right ) — with news Monday nighttime that he now articulate Judgment Day will fare on Oct. 21 — the failed prophecy did more than just damage Camping ’s credibleness : It also appears to have caused death and serious injury to dead on target believers .
A California cleaning lady named Lyn Benedetto was one of millions who heard Camping ’s message , and became concerned that her daughters would suffer terribly in the come Revelation . She allegedly forced her daughters , 11 and 14 , to rest on a seam and then cut their throats with a loge cutter . She then tried to kill herself , though police arrested Benedetto and all three survived .
Others were not so lucky . An elderly piece in Taiwan reportedly drink down himself on May 5 ahead of the Rapture by jumping out of a building . He had heard that Day of Judgment was imminent , and had taken recent earthquakes and tsunamis as early warning star sign .
There were other unconfirmed story of doomsday - tie in suicides around the world as well .
This is of trend not the first time thatfailed doomsday predictionshave led to tragedy . The most far-famed pre - apocalypse self-annihilation in recent times occurred in 1997 when the Heaven ’s Gate Christian UFO group come to think that the comet Hale - Bopp was a sign of the zodiac that Jesus was returning , and the cosmos would terminate soon . Prompted in part by scripture , rumors , and former - night radiocommunication talk show , the mathematical group ’s fanaticism led to most 40 death .
Camping ’s failure carry an authoritative cautionary deterrent example , because doomsday predictions are not going away . Many people , specially those in the New Age community , believe that2012 will bring globose tragedy . It ’s well-heeled to dismiss and poke fun fail prophets as modern - daytime harmless Chicken Littles mislead the green , but apocalyptic visions can have deadly consequences — even when they are wrong .
Benjamin Radford is deputy editor program ofSkeptical Inquirerscience magazine and author of " Scientific Paranormal Investigation : How to work Unexplained Mysteries . " His Web web site isRadfordBooks.com .
