End of the world prediction had deadly consequences

Many followed Camping's prediction blindly. Photo credit: AP

While millions around the globe literally laughed at Harold Camping’s prediction that the world was going to end last Saturday there were millions of others who believed him.

This blind belief had deadly consequences.

A California woman named Lyn Benedetto was one of millions who heard Camping’s message, and became concerned that her daughters would suffer terribly in the coming apocalypse. She allegedly forced her daughters, 11 and 14, to lie on a bed and then cut their throats with a box cutter. She then tried to kill herself, though police arrested Benedetto and all three survived.

Others were not so lucky. An elderly man in Taiwan reportedly killed himself on May 5 ahead of the Rapture by jumping out of a building. He had heard that doomsday was imminent, and had taken recent earthquakes and tsunamis as early warning signs.

There were other unconfirmed reports of doomsday-related suicides around the world as well.

This is of course not the first time that failed doomsday predictions have led to tragedy. The most famous pre-apocalypse suicides in recent times occurred in 1997 when the Heaven’s Gate Christian UFO group came to believe that the comet Hale-Bopp was a sign that Jesus was returning, and the world would end soon. Prompted in part by scripture, rumors, and late-night radio talk shows, the group’s fanaticism led to nearly 40 deaths.

Camping’s failure holds an important cautionary lesson, because doomsday predictions are not going away. Many people, especially those in the New Age community, believe that 2012 will bring global cataclysm. It’s easy to dismiss and ridicule failed prophets as modern-day harmless Chicken Littles misleading the gullible, but apocalyptic visions can have deadly consequences —even when they are wrong.

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39 Comments

  1. giggles
    May 27, 2011

    not me mister fooling an elderly man well bible say it must have false prfet well i sorry those who kill they self all you do no the bilble

    • sorry man
      May 27, 2011

      that i checking

  2. De unexpected
    May 27, 2011

    that man deserves to be in jail…….

  3. MAY
    May 26, 2011

    PEOPLE WHO TRIED TO KILLED THEMSLVES OF WHAT CAMPING SAID ARE COWARD.
    PEOPLE THAT ARE LACK OF FAITH WILL BELIEVE AND DO ANY THING.

  4. Truth, Justice, Love, Peace and Unity
    May 26, 2011

    Our Lord Jesus Christ said, Matthew 15:14 “…If a blind person leads a blind person both will fall into a pit…” Beware of false prophets.
    Camping’s turn is coming. He is not giving up. He is depicting another imminent one, as he feels, on October 21st.
    Hey! This is close to my birthday which I plan to celebrate! :lol:
    It goes to show what unbelievers, skeptics and deniers will believe. The US Media and others will broadcast the news of doomsday and discuss it at length but they will not deny it, also leading the vulnerable and the gullible to believe it. There are some people who believe everything they hear and read.
    I am not referring to DNO :lol:
    They never give it a thought, is this really true?
    I heard that some people bought vehicles and racked up debts. Now they want to return them and sue Camping. Camping will do well to go into hiding and remain there. :twisted: There is a price to pay for deceiving people. He got a lot of money from some of them.
    A similar situation occurred in the year 1850 in Ireland (if I am not mistaken), when the Great Famine took place. It was predicted that the end of the world would take place. The people did not grow one bit of Irish potatoes. Well, you know what occurred. That time came and went and they had nothing to eat which led to the demise of many. A movie was made about the Great Famine.
    St. Paul has told us. “Remain in the status where God has placed you.”
    They who are not religious people chose to believe what Our Lord Jesus Christ and St. Paul did not teach us. There is a price to pay for that.
    Our Lord said if any one comes to you and told you that He (Our Lord) is here and there, do not go.”
    We have Holy Scriptures as our directive. Therefore, we Christians and practicing ones at that should know better.

  5. Anonymous
    May 26, 2011

    boy somebody needs to hang mister.

  6. DE CARIBBEAN CHANGE, BBA, MBA, CPA
    May 26, 2011

    Next time he needs to take a graduate course in college in Business Forecasting. He will do much better there.

  7. getitstraight
    May 26, 2011

    haters of estate try to help them drug man instead of critizing them.smh

  8. D/CAN living abroad
    May 26, 2011

    Ppl please read the bible, if we follow the scriptures we just cant go wrong because all it has there is truth. Killing oneself before dooms day makes no sense because we all have to rise again to face the Most High and according to the way we lived determiines our consequences. We all have sin and fallen short so that makes us imperfect but we can try hard to be on the good side and don’t get fooled by those false prophets, not even the angels in heaven knows what time He is going to return muchless for man.

  9. shatta.
    May 26, 2011

    my boy only people from bath estate u can fool because they are on cocaine ,why not jim jones them they are of no use to the country,young people do some research on jim jones ,not the rapper ,

    • Trouble intended
      May 26, 2011

      But Shatta, what Bath Estate people do you like that nor?

    • Anonymous
      May 26, 2011

      But I really cannot understand you and what you have with Bath Estate…not all Estate ppl are invovled in drugs…we do have professionals there as well so get your damn facts straight…bon

    • Bath Estate Resident
      May 26, 2011

      I take offense to that satement and i just goes to show how IGNORANT some people are and the stupidity that come out of someone once they get an avenue to release…
      If you have a grudge, this place is no way to express and I think you should take your vindictive comments elsewhere!

      • Family Guy!!
        May 26, 2011

        Grand bay people alone that can be fooled my boi,leave Estate alone!

        • PROUD GRANDBARIAN
          May 27, 2011

          You mean to tell me you that stupid! to say that Grandbarians are the only ones that can be fooled. Alas poor you. Please find a book too read! Am not even going to waste much time on you…………..its not worth it…..we Grandbarians have work to do.

    • me a d real girl
      May 26, 2011

      still to the point fool

    • Truth, Justice, Love, Peace and Unity
      May 27, 2011

      @ Shatta:

      Why do you make such a statement about people from Bath Estate? Your very own fellow people! That is not nice of you. Your comments should have been disallowed.
      Everywhere else in Dominica and elsewhere in the world, there are good and bad people who are law-abiding ones and those who are not. There are some who utilize cocaine or other illegal drugs who appear to be law abiding people and nice ones at that. The saying: “A thief is never a thief until he/she is caught.”
      Give Bath Estate people a break. I am certain that they are no worst than some others in other parts of Dominica.
      In any case your comments are out-of-place. Be broadminded.

  10. dreadlocks
    May 26, 2011

    what u mean i posting comments too quickly

    Admin: this is a problem we are trying to sort out. When this message pop up, simply refresh the page without going back to original page, click on resend and your comments will go through.

  11. observant
    May 26, 2011

    the media should not take notice of this freak….let him go to hell

    • thinkinman
      May 26, 2011

      y hell? wouldnt u urself rather go to “heaven”? why wud u condemn the guy to hell. smh…do unto others…

  12. caribbean genius
    May 26, 2011

    Thats a lesson for all those religious freaks that believe in this fear driven fairy tale about heaven, hell and doomday. Its amazing the thing people will believe, and we never seems to learn from this incidents…

  13. READER
    May 26, 2011

    OH MY GOODNESS SEE WHAT THESE FALSE PROPHETS CAN DO. SELLING, HOMES, USING UP COLLEGE FUNDS, CUTTING THROATS. I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR NATURE BOY CONDEM THAT EVIL ACT

    • Expected it's biblical prophecy being fulfilled
      May 26, 2011

      Friend jehovahs witnesses failed in prediction about five times 1844,1883,1944 and 1975 they all thought the world would end . Ellen G white who is the owner of the SDA movement said she saw christ going into inner sanctuary , that why he didn’t come again . Jehovah’s witnesses were russelites because people refused them and called them liars so they called emselves jehovah witnesses because jehovah is sovereign you can’t say he lying indirectly that’s what they meant lie is lie one lie is twice too many . They’re no different .

  14. sxm resident
    May 26, 2011

    An eleven year old boy commited suicide that day in SXM … Hope it had nothing to do with this!

    • Anonymous
      May 26, 2011

      only now i realize it was on that day lorddd …but they say he maybe he was playing around

  15. D-Mo
    May 26, 2011

    Them people pas faib. Smh

  16. Tetemorne I from...
    May 26, 2011

    Devilis prophet, devilish prophecies, devilish consequences. Some people are gullible and will believe anything anyone throws at them.

  17. Storm
    May 26, 2011

    People must read and study the bible for themselves. It says that no one knows the time nor the hour. So all those who are predicting times are false prophets, fakes.

    • TOLA
      May 26, 2011

      i AGREES WITH YOU IF THEY DO THAT THAT WILLNEVER GO WRONG

  18. FED UP!!!!!!!!
    May 26, 2011

    Just another reason to get rid of organized religion.

    • Muslim_always
      May 26, 2011

      To implement disorganized religion?

  19. Looking in from the outside.
    May 26, 2011

    Jail him

  20. Stupessss
    May 26, 2011

    i’ld kill mr…a nice slow painful death!!!!!

  21. van
    May 26, 2011

    He should be held accountable for the deaths of these people and charged accordingly

    • TOLA
      May 26, 2011

      FOR REAL

  22. Unbreakable
    May 26, 2011

    That is so serious. I cant believe people succumb to this false belief

  23. Trouble intended
    May 26, 2011

    I would hope that this is enough evidence to arrest Camping and charge him with accessory to suicide and attempted murder. I am sure the government can manufacture some type of charge to keep him in jail and quiet for the rest of his days.

  24. easylikesundaymorning
    May 26, 2011

    well i was ready for it..trust me…i went by savealot and spend all my money on food, and set my t.v to alarm 12 am may 21…thought to myself if it was coming, did not want to die in the first set of people, would want to survive till the end…..but i am still alive, and that made me realize that nobody acturally knows the date. have faith in god, and life will be good.

    • christian girl
      May 26, 2011

      if you read your bible you wud have none instead of believing this rubish

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