Harold Camping's Money Making Con Scheme

Well, on the bright side, all the advertising his church did would have probably helped the economy in the past few months by pumping millions of dollar into local businesses.  On the down side, it's amazing how many stupid and gullible people there are in this small world.

The Mayans were convinced without human sacrifice, the sun will not rise, and Harold's followers are convinced that the rapture is coming.  The sad part about human nature is, instead of admitting fault, and moving on to make something of their lives, psychologically many cannot live with the fact they were wrong and become only more fanatical and devoted.  Pride and human nature will not allow most people to admit fault and learn from their mistakes.  This personality doesn't just occur with the most fanatical churchgoers; they are also very common in the workplace.  Why do you think Enron got run into the ground?

Then again, many of these followers were generally marginalized in some way to begin with: poor, jobless, and in a life they do not want.  If you were happy in this world, with the life you want, the job you deserve, and spending time with the people you love, why would you look so forward to the next life?  What Harold offers was very attractive; Harold allows these individuals to feel important and that there is a better future waiting for them (in the afterlife).  He gives them hope. False hope, but hope nevertheless.

The one that made out like a bandit would be Harold himself.  His "non-profit" radio show has assets over $100M in a down economy; all through donations.  In addition, his declaration that god no longer supports the common church was not just another prediction, but it is an amazingly smart ploy to disconnect his followers from any remaining ties they have to reality.  This disconnect only works to build a more rabid following.  

Now the question is, how do I go about convincing a bunch of dumb gullible "sheeple" to join my cult and donate a shit load of money to me?  There are several Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and islands I would like to buy.  I mean, we need to spread the world about the next rapture that is coming...

This is my favorite quote from a NPR article:

"It's very hard for us to say, 'Boy, was I stupid!' " says Elliot Aronson, a prominent psychologist 


"The more committed a person is to their prophecy," he says, "the more likely they are to justify that action, and to try to convince people that their belief was in some way right or good."