© Vera Volkova, ShutterstockDespite Harold Camping's doomsday predictions, the sun has gone on rising.
Doomsday prophets have been around for thousands of years, according to sociologists, and failed doomsday predictions rarely stop them for long. Camping himself originally claimed the world would end in 1994, later asserting that he'd gotten his Biblical math wrong and the real date would be Oct. 21, 2011.
In fact, Camping had also predicted Judgment Day, complete with devastating earthquakes and a Rapture of the faithful, on May 21 of this year. After that prediction failed, Camping stuck to his guns, claiming that a spiritual, non-physical, rapture had indeed happened on that day.
This has all happened before, and it will all probably happen again. It's extremely rare for a doomsday predictor to recant his or her apocalyptic views after a failed prediction, said University of Alberta sociologist Stephen Kent. Some groups fall apart, while others cling more closely together against the scorn of the outside world.
"There's going to be a crisis within Camping himself, an existential crisis," Kent told LiveScience. "His remaining followers will have their own crises."
Comment: The stress and hopelessness that the Greeks are feeling at this time are understandable, but there is a simple way to help us distress so that we can see what solutions lie ahead of us and act towards helping ourselves and those we care about, despite any national financial crisis. If you, or someone you know, live in Greece, direct them to this website, where they can learn how to bring their nervous system in a relaxation mode and healing to their mind and soul, using breathing and meditation techniques. The site can viewed in Greek and the program is online for free.
As Greek poet Odysseas Elytis said in his Nobel Prize speech in 1979: We can start by constructing healthy selves: in body, mind and heart.