After May 21st came and went, Harold Camping spoke on his radio station and claimed that the Rapture had occurred, but in a spiritual sense. We have been spared the predicted 5 months of earthquakes and horrors, but salvation is now closed (I think he said that) and the world will end as predicted on October 21st. Camping also denied responsibility for any actions taken by his followers and dismissed out of hand the proposal that he give any money back to them.I listened to this address, and he sounded sincere. It was rather scary. As best I can tell, the man is completely convinced that his crazy ideas are correct. It is easy to write off someone like this. But I wonder: what if I fall prey to a similar problem? What if I become convinced of something ludicrous but cannot see it, no matter how much others call me out? I used to be kind of like that, and I am still working on improving myself. I am sometimes guilty of clinging tightly to something I am convinced of, even if I turn out to be wrong. I find it difficult to admit mistakes.
But I am working on this. I try to remind myself to be humble in my beliefs, and cautious in my assertions. If someone adamantly disagrees with me, I will typically stop and check my information before continuing. And if I am shown to be wrong, I try to accept it gracefully. For those of you who know me, you'll realize what I mean when I say that I'm still working on it.
As difficult as that is for me, it pales in comparison to what I am really writing about here. It's fairly easy to correct a simple factual error. But what of those fundamental beliefs by which we determine the very course of our lives? Camping's life seems defined by his fervent belief in a particular - and peculiar - interpretation of the Bible. From a certain point of view, so are the lives and eternal fates of all Christians. And yet, many of these Christians seem convinced that others' view of the Bible is drastically wrong and that theirs is unassailable. Some adherents of other religions claim that the Biblical position is entirely false and the foundation of their religion is unassailable. And atheists claim that all religions are untrue, and some claim that there can be no evidence that would prove the existence of God. Democrats and Republicans demonize the other, while adamantly defending their own position. It would seem that somebody has to be wrong, and yet nobody appears to admit any possibility that "hey, maybe I'm the wrong one."
I think Harold Camping gives us an opportunity to examine our own beliefs and avoid making his mistakes. We should all - Christian and non-theist, Humanist and Objectivist, Idealist and Empiricist, Democrat and Republican, and anyone who holds anything to be true - examine our beliefs. Especially the most deeply held ones, the ones on which we base our lives. We need to understand why it is we believe what we do. What is the basis for such a belief? Camping held fast to a particular interpretation of a particular book. Should he have held to that interpretation? Did it mesh with the rest of the book? With reality? Is the book itself a worthy basis? Do not take for granted the answers to any of these questions, for not everyone believes the same as you.
Try to look at yourself from the eye of an outsider. Do my beliefs make sense from another perspective? This, I feel, is critical and difficult. We live our lives through the unique window of our own perceptions. We can never truly see through the eyes of another, but we can try. In a very famous movie (trying not to spoil it), Russell Crowe finally recognized the truth of his mental disorder when he realizes how crazy he seems to everyone around him. Perhaps if Camping had done the same, he would not have shown himself to the world as a crazy failed prophet. Perhaps if all humans did this, the world would not be in such turmoil over seemingly insurmountable differences in politics, religion, and ideology.
And what of me? I try not to dogmatically hold to any belief. I constantly question and revise my own ideals. The only long-held beliefs that I would say I base my life upon are that I will never hold onto something simply because I always have, and that I should always try to be good to others. The former, because I would hate to stand adamantly wrong as Harold Camping did, and the latter because... well that's another story for another time. But I examine it and ask why I try to be good. I don't see either of those beliefs changing. I feel that they are solid foundations for my life. What about yours?
Speak up and let me know what you think.
