Where's R.E.M. when you need it?

Remember when they said the world would end in 2012?

That supposedly the Mayan calendar had predicted the end was near. Many shows on television speculated about the apocalypse and it even sparked a hit movie. Most universally laughed at the notion and it's now seen as myth and unreasonable paranoia. 

I don't know when the world will end but I seriously doubt it'll be 2012. Or 2011.

If you've read the headlines lately, it's hard to miss the "world is coming to an end" rhetoric of Harold Camping and the Family Radio broadcasting network. They believe that date is May 21st, 2011.

That's right! The world will end....tomorrow!

Camping says he has "infallible, absolute proof" that Judgment Day is upon us. According to him and his sketchy mathematics, the Bible predicts tomorrow as the Day of the Rapture. So if you planned a trip to the lake tomorrow, don't worry about it. If you had dinner plans or decided to go out, don't even bother. Tomorrow is when God will call believers to heaven.

.....Or maybe not.

I would like to disprove Harold Camping with two simple facts:

1. We've been here, done this before. Christians have claimed the world was going to end for decades and decades. This is nothing new. Remember when Pat Robertson said it would end in the 1980's? It came, it went and nothing happened. To make matters worse for Harold Camping, he's predicted this before. He said the world would end in 1994. My sister was born in '94 and she's 16 years old now. Harold, she's testimony to your credibility on this whole prediction game.

2. Jesus says you're wrong. Who should I trust? Jesus or Harold Camping. "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." - Mark 13:32. When Christ speaks, we listen. If he says no one will know the date than no one will know. I tend to take him at his word. Since, uh, well....you know.

So now that we have that out of the way, let's look at the bigger issue here. Harold Camping has become an excuse for the media to attack Christians. Most Christians aren't flocking to Family Radio's side. In fact, most have distanced themselves from him completely and quoted the same verse I just provided. And yet, many take this opportunity to mock Christianity because of this fringe group. Atheist groups are even organizing "Rapture parties" mocking the pie-in-the-face that will no doubt take place tomorrow for Harold.

This isn't the first time recently that fringe Christian groups have made a mockery of religion in the media. The Supreme Court case victory of Westboro Baptist Church made it possible for fringe churches to preach hateful, vicious things and hide under free speech. Then there's the church in Florida that made headlines for threatening to burn the Quran, causing Muslims to promise violence, fueling worldwide anger. 

I know what you're saying.....these are isolated incidents of fringe religious groups that do not speak for all Christians. Which is true. But that doesn't stop the media from painting Christianity with a broad brush. And we certainly don't help the case when we attack other Christians and label them heretics left and right.

Insert, Rob Bell. I don't agree with Rob Bell. I don't even think Rob Bell is that great of a communicator or leader. But he's influential, he's got a big church and a big megaphone to spark debate. And he's done that. We can disagree with him and argue with him without throwing out labels or becoming hateful. Many Christians labeled him a heretic over his book "Love Wins" without even reading the book. Many reacted hatefully to a book that interestingly enough had the word "love" in the title.

We don't have to let the media play off Christians as fringe, out of touch and crazy. But when we put fuel on the fire, we have no one to blame but ourselves. When I was an atheist, I easily latched onto things like these as ammo against religion. The problem with Christianity today is it's not a loving conversation but a hateful confrontation. We're eager to be the loudest in the room but not eager enough to shut up, listen to others and then give them our own testimony of God.

So that's my take on May 21st, 2011.

That's your cue, R.E.M.