Fearful Teen Commits Suicide Due to Harold Camping's Judgment Day Forecast

http://www.christianpost.com/news/fearful-teen-commits-suicide-due-to-harold-campings-doomsday-50542/

A 14-year-old girl from Russia was so scared of the May 21 doomsday and rapture prediction made by Harold Camping that she committed suicide the same day, investigators said Wednesday. The teenager wanted to choose death rather than be among the ones suffering on earth after the rapture. Nastya Zachinova, who lived in the Republic of Mari El in Central Russia, believed that the world end on May 21, her family told LifeNews, a Russian tabloid. The girl's personal diary entries revealed how terrified she was of the suffering that was to take place. She believed that she was not one of the "righteous" people that would be taken up to heaven but someone who would remain on earth and suffer. “Whales are trying to beach themselves and birds are dying – it is just the beginning of the end,” Zachinova wrote in her last diary entry, as reported by RIA Novosti. “We are not righteous people, only they will go to heaven, the others will stay here on Earth to go through terrible sufferings,” she wrote. “I don’t want to die like the others. That’s why I’ll die now."

The girl hung herself.

Poor thing :(

Unfortunately, as much as I would like him to, Camping cannot be held responsible for this, at least not criminally. Should he be? Is his speech protected under free speech laws? Can one be held responsible if their firmly held religious belief causes someone else to kill themselves (or someone else)? What do you think?

Oh, and what if he's full of shit? What if he's literally making all of this up for publicity and money? What would you think then?

Cognitive Dissonance and You

Feeling as Gleeful as I want to be? Think that we're looking at a whole new era? 

Think again.

The sad thing is, rather than realize their errors, owning up to them and moving forward, many of Camping's followers will, due to the dissonance they will experience (cognitively), actually strengthen their resolve and adherence to their ideology.

Especially those who made public proclamations, as it has been shown that a public statement of belief lessens the willingness to retract said belief/heightens the threshold for evidenciary based retraction. 

So, as much as we may be laughing and in our heart of hearts hoping that this will finally be the catalyst to a more rational future....it's not going to happen :(

Another Story Opener

Remember this:? http://magx01.blogspot.com/2010/12/short-story-starter.html

Well, I have a second short story starter for anyone who may be looking for ideas to springboard into a story. This is the beginning to a story I wrote recently, and it was brought on by a single line: "If it was my world...." I give to you not just that line, but the beginning of the tale, in the hopes that I can help someone get out of a slump/writer's block. Good luck to anyone that uses this, and if you do, post the results in the comment section if you wish!

The intro:

The Gift- A Short Novel (First Draft) (Longest Blog Post In the World?)

This is the first short novel (novella) I wrote for the 3 Day Novel Contest three years ago. It was my first time entering, and I was successful in that I was able to actually complete a manuscript and submit it in by the deadline. Three days of nonstop writing produced the following book. 92 pages, 26k words. It's a sad story, and it's rough around the edges, of course. Enjoy what may be the longest blog post in the world, the first (and most likely last) draft of the very first short novel (novella) I ever wrote, written in three days for a contest, and dealing with subject matter that is very personal to me, The Gift. 

(By the way, Hunter's Bluff was the novel I did the next year. I'm really proud of that one, as you can tell if you follow the link.) 

The Gift