Unequally Yoked
Adam, the admin of Daylight Atheism is on vacation for his anniversary this week, and I’m one of the team of guest bloggers. I’ll update here whenever I post over there for the week, and any substantive comments should be left on Daylight Atheism proper. I’m quite looking forward to the opportunity. (And don’t worry, there will still be follow up on the conversation about hatred and negative emotions soon).
So here’s the first post, a take on the widespread interest in the forecasted apocalypse
I’m sure this is just one blog post among many in your feed to reference the Rapture predictions of Harold Camping. His apocalyptic forecast for this weekend is all over the news cycle and even snagged front page coverage in The New York Times. And why is everyone telling this story? Because it’s fun to laugh at stupid people.
No one outside this small group of zealots gives their claims the slightest bit of credence; they don’t receive the “but who can ever know” kind of deferential treatment that more mainstream religions command. This laughable theology deserves no more attention than do the claims of the sedevacantist popes who’ve set up shop in Spain and Kansas. Camping and company get coverage because we all have a sickening urge to watch the rug pulled out from under this delusional sect.
The fascination of the media reminds me of the coverage surrounding Charlie Sheen at the height of his public flameout. Sheen was obviously unstable and addled, but we eagerly kept offering him more platforms to embarrass and endanger himself. For his family, it should have been a private tragedy, but we accepted it as entertainment that we were entitled to enjoy. Every time I hear one of my friends punctuate a conversation with “WINNING!” I flinch a little. The fact that Sheen’s troubles were self-inflicted makes him more pitiable, not more deserving of our contempt.
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