Jeff Byrne

    IT was with some relief that I awoke yesterday to find that none of my loved ones had been whisked off to heaven. That was supposed to have happened some time Saturday, according to one Harold Camping, an 89-year-old retired U.S. engineer and self-proclaimed Bible scholar who has had no formal training in theology. But he is pretty good with figures.

    Camping, a radio evangelist worth US$120 million, claims to have calculated that the end of the world would begin Saturday, May 21, 2011, with the “faithful” being carted off to heaven in the “rapture,” with the rest of us left in misery awaiting the tumultuous and fiery end of the world on Oct. 21 (keep this date free) — and eternal damnation for all non-believers.

    I watched this intellectually deficient soul on television Saturday night (Saturday morning U.S. time). I must say, the urge to fall to my knees crying, “Hallelujah, praise the Lord,” was quite underwhelming. Charlatans like Camping have been around for centuries and their predictions have all ended up in the dustbin of theological history. William Miller was another who warned that the end was nigh way back in 1843. Oops!

    There have been plenty of others since and they always seem to haul in like-minded followers in their thousands. Indeed, thousands of Camping’s sheeple gave away their earthly belongings in anticipation of life in the everafter. We can probably expect some interesting legal battles in the future. Back to the drawing board, Harold.

    There are those who believe we make our own “heaven” or “hell” in the way we choose to live. Indeed, the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics, Pope Benedict, recently conceded that heaven is not a place. So, what is it? A state of mind, perhaps.

    Eminent scientist Stephen Hawking has never hidden his denial of the existence of a God. He does not, however, rule out the existence of a supreme being or entity. He believes we should live our lives the best we can, and do the best possible job of being ourselves.

    Christian zealots seem to forget, or ignore, that the books of the New Testament — the Word of God — were written by old men 50 to 70 years after the death of Jesus Christ. Memory is an unreliable witness.

    The great French writer and philosopher Voltaire said: If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. Well, we have.

    Since ancient times, civilizations have invented gods to explain natural phenomena. Deliverance from things that have or have not happened and things that they hope will happen. It’s called the power of prayer.

    There is nothing wrong with people having faith. It is prerequisite for peace of mind. But it is up to us to choose the way we live our lives. It is the height of immaturity to believe that some supposedly omnipotent being is responsible for our successes and failures.

    When all the nonsense is set aside, one of the world’s greatest philosophers, Buddha, probably said it best: “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.”

    Amen to that.

    (The author is a Shenzhen Daily senior copy editor and writer.)