Watch from 4.43 for clearer interview with Robert Fitzpatrick
For the past week, or more for some, we have been very aware through various news reports, YouTube proclamations and mocking articles, of what was being called the Rapture. The belief of some was that at 6pm New York Time (appx. 11pm British time) 21st May 2011, believers and followers of God would be taken up to heaven whilst the rest endured 5 months of “hell on earth” until 21st October when the world would come to an end.
I would like to say before I go on that I am not a religious person, and try to be more ethically and morally lead as opposed to religiously lead. However saying that I have an awful lot of respect for people with faith. Whether it’s a gay teenage boy who believes despite his peers both atheist and religious, or a Nun who gives up her entire life to prayer and humility, I think to believe in something so strongly and purely is nothing short of amazing. And for the people who believed in the Rapture, I can only imagine what kind of a blow this must have been for them.
The man in the video links above is Robert Fitzpatrick, a man who famously gave his life savings ($140,000) towards the campaign to make people aware of the Rapture. The video shows him surrounded by people looking very, very confused and trying to answer accusatory questions put to him by various news teams. People can be heard laughing at him and openly mocking his confusion at why nothing appears to have happened. Whilst I didn’t believe in the Rapture any more than they did, I still this it was hateful and wrong to cajole him in such a way. He hadn’t done anything wrong; simply try to spread the word about what was perceived to be the impending Judgment Day and urge people to turn to God. This is no more than what most churches and religious groups do anyway, just this time they had a deadline.
For some logical and religious minds (I by no means mean all, as many Christians were non-believers of the Rapture being May 21st), it seems understandable that they could have calculated a date to be the Rapture. When asked if he was embarrassed about the non-Rapture, Mr. Fitzpatrick simply says “I did what I had to do. That’s all I can say.”
So this short post is just my way of saying, I will no longer be mocking the believers, and making fun of their precise accuracy about the date and time of Judgment. I have always had respect for (peaceful) religious believers, and will continue to do.
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