Judgment Day is just less than a month away – that is, if billboards that have popped up recently around the Bay Area are to be believed.
The billboards, placed around the region by Oakland-based Family Radio Worldwide, claim that May 21, 2011 is the date that God will destroy the world because of the sins of mankind.
Harold Camping is the founder of the nonprofit Christian radio network, which includes KEAR 610 AM in the Bay Area.
Camping says on the network’s website, www.familyradio.com, that evidence in the Bible shows that May 21 is “the date Christ will return for His people and begin a period of the final destruction of the world” that will end on Oct. 21.
Critics of Camping’s theory point out that he previously predicted that the world would end in 1994.
On his website, Camping acknowledges making the prior prediction, but said that was due to a misunderstanding he had about a verse in the Bible.
The network paid for billboards, which have been seen in San Francisco and in the East Bay. Family Radio’s website says the network has placed billboards throughout the U.S., and has also sent out volunteers across the country to spread their message.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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