ABSTRACT
In May of 2011, Christian radio broadcaster Harold Camping prophesied “without any shadow of doubt” that a massive earthquake would hit the Earth on 21 May. True believers would be swept up to heaven and the rest of humanity destroyed.1 On 22 May, headlines read: “Apocalypse not right now: ‘Rapture’ end of world fails to materialize.”2 No doubt some took the prophecy seriously, though it provided amusement for a few, among them, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. As one newspaper reported,
Bloomberg – who is Jewish and, according to Camping’s prophecy, therefore unlikely to be beamed up to sit alongside Jesus in heaven – said on his weekly radio show yesterday that he would partially suspend parking restrictions in New York if the world ended today.
