Family Radio: The end of the world is nigh

The world will end … pretty soon.

So says California-based evangelist and radio station owner Harold Camping (right), whose Family Radio network is erecting billboards around the United States saying that the Judgment Day predicted in the Book of Revelation will happen on May 21 — a week from Saturday — while the world itself will end Oct. 21.

Although Family Radio doesn’t have an outlet in Pittsburgh, it does have stations elsewhere in PBRTV-land — including Johnstown’s WFRJ-FM (88.9), Youngstown’s WYTN-FM (91.7), Erie’s WEFR-FM (88.1) and Altoona’s WUFR-FM (91.1). You can also listen online at familyradio.org.

If you haven’t heard about Camping’s prediction and you haven’t seen the billboards yet (a reliable source reports passing one in Mercer County daily) you can check out the article in Thursday’s Washington Post.

But it turns out Camping has made these predictions before. Back in 1992, for instance, he said the world would end in September 1994.

So, if you work in radio, you should probably still fill out your quarterly issues and programs reports for the public file this month, and log any EAS tests, just in case Camping’s math is off again. The judgment of the FCC may not be as fair as the Lord’s, but it’s terrible and swift.

Also, if you’re a believer, instead of dialing up Family Radio, you might try dialing into Matthew 24:36, instead.