The Rapture That Wasn't: Believers Cope, Rationalize, and Question

As many people know, a small but vocal group of Christians expected yesterday (May 21st) to be the beginning of the end of life as we know it. Centered upon the teachings of evangelist Harold Camping, who made a similar claim in September of 1994, the group from Family Radio believed that yesterday would include cataclysmic earthquakes and the rapture, a miraculous event in which they would disappear from earth and be gathered with Jesus Christ and travel heavenward. This rapture would remove 3% of the earth's population, while the remaining 97% would be left to experience tribulation on earth for five months before it was destroyed in a final apocalypse.

The buzz about yesterday's "rapture" was all over the news this week, in part, because the Family Radio Christians had spent time, energy, wealth, and effort to promote knowledge about May 21st through radio and internet programs, billboards, advertisements, large signs, and demonstrations. And as the day and hour came, the buzz continued to be loud, particularly on Facebook and Twitter. (Author note: At one point in the day, 1/3 to 1/2 of my Facebook newsfeed contained references to the rapture that came and went!)

For some, this day was an anxious one, and for many people it was a joke to be shared. People seemed to bond over the rapture that came and went.

And so, for some, this day-after seems like an "I told you so!" moment. But what about Harold Camping's followers? Many people also are feeling compassion and concern for them. What would it feel like to expect so much and to be dismayed? Many of us (myself included) are happy to still be around, but what is it like to be left in this world when you wanted to escape it so desperately?

On the day after, followers seem to be working hard to develop ways of coping. Some are rationalizing what happened: Perhaps Harold Camping made another calculation mistake? Others are questioning the faith they had, and perhaps, faith in general.

Here are some news stories about the beginning of that process:

Doomsday Prophet, Followers 'Flabbergasted' World Didn't End

Radio Host Who Predicted End of Days to Speak

Live Science: When Doomsday Isn't, Believers Struggle to Cope

Believers' Reactions Mixed to Unfulfilled Doomsday

NYDaily News: May 21 was NOT the Rapture: What Harold Camping and his faithful followers do now?

Huffington Post: May 21 'Judgment Day' Believers React to Being Alive on May 22