Moral Burden to Become Financial Hell for Doomsday Believers Sunday

COMMENTARY | According to Harold Camping and his followers, the beginning of the end of the world happens on Saturday, May 21, at 6 pm ET, to be exact. Camping, a retired civil engineer and Bible scholar, has used numerology to divine the exact date. The chosen will rise to heaven and the rest will stay on Earth suffering discomfort until the Earth is consumed in fire Oct. 21.

Believers in Saturday's Rapture are preparing in various ways for their one-way trip. Some are making practical preparations, like leaving pets with non-believers to look after (at least until the world burns up just before Halloween). Some of the faithful, however, believe in the Rapture so much that they have quit jobs, sold all their possessions and have spent their retirement savings.

According to the New York Daily News, Robert Fitzpatrick of New York spent over $140,000 on posters and subway signs warning others of the impending end times. His ads proclaiming "Global Earthquake: The Greatest Ever" appear in over 1,000 subway cars and on bus shelters all over the city. When asked what happens if he wakes up Sunday, May 22, Fitzpatrick steadfastly stated that May 21 was the date.

Joel and Adrienne Martinez began preparing for the coming Rapture a year ago. The couple lived in New York at the time and both worked there. They decided that working for money would be useless in the time left, so they both quit their jobs and, with their infant daughter, moved to Orlando, according to NPR. They are working on spending the last of their savings, reports NPR.

So, what happens on Sunday when Camping followers wake up and realize that they're still here and are now jobless and broke? Should they be able to apply for unemployment insurance? Should other Christians who did not believe that May 21 was a magical date have to help them out?

You can argue that people have free will and should be allowed to do any ridiculous thing they want. You can also argue that Camping isn't making anyone give up their possessions -- or their common sense. When Camping releases a statement Sunday saying that he miscalculated the date of the apocalypse once again, however, the moral burden of the financial hell he has created for his followers rests on his shoulders.