The end of the world

A Christian group is proclaiming Jesus' impending return in billboards going up in Omaha, Neb. and other U.S. cities for the holiday season.

Last month on a Saturday morning run near the Memorial Coliseum, I noticed a big passenger bus with stylish script lettering that made a cryptic reference to May 2011. I didn't grasp the meaning then, but thanks to a short news article this weekend, now I do.

Jesus is coming May 21. And God plans to destroy the world Oct. 21.

Chalk it up to my utter and near-complete ignorance of Biblical teachings, but I had no idea that there were specific dates for either of those events. If I'm a minority of one on this issue, so be it. If this is news to you as well, you should know there are lots of people who believe  Christ is returning May 21 for the rapture -- the taking up into heaven of God's chosen people. Evidently, 5-21-11 is Judgment Day.

A Christian website is placing billboards in select U.S. cities to give folks fair warning during the holiday season. According to a news story by Cox News Service, there are plenty of believers:

Seventy-nine percent of U.S. Christians say they believe Christ will return one day, according to a 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Additionally, 20 percent of Christians in the United States believe it will happen in their lifetime.

I'm at a loss to comment, other than to say "good grief" and "to each his own."

Photograph by Dave Weaver, The Associated Press