In the pantheon of controversial billboards, there seem to be a few which are very good at rattling people into hysterics, from ones which are adamantly anti-abortion, to the pro-atheist signs, to the Calvin Klein orgies. And then there are the Apocalyptic billboards, which have been springing up across the country all year in anticipation of Judgment Day. And now, one of these specters of the End Times is hovering over the BQE.
Sometime in the past week, the above billboard went up on the BQE, promoting Christian radio station WFME 94.7; the call letters stand for "Where Faith Means Everything," but it is better known as FamilyRadio. The date is based on the radio ramblings/preachings of Harold Camping; there is a five-month judgment period after May 21, just like when you apply to buy a handgun. The world won't be completely obliterated until Oct. 21.
Although Camping has been predicting the end of the world for a long time (he previously thought the end of the world was coming in 1994), it's still a bit odd to see one of the billboards in Brooklyn. It's one thing when one goes up in, say, NJ, where we heard about the story of Edwin Ramos, a follower of Camping who constructed his own sign, ruined his business, and alienated his entire family in the pursuit of...being right? Warning people? The whole thing reeks of desperation and sadness to us. Shouldn't that kind of delusion be left in LA?
