Rationalizing Judgment Day: A Content Analysis of Harold Camping's Open Forum Program
This study presents a content analysis of Harold Camping's Open Forum radio program in the three weeks immediately following his failed prediction that May 21, 2011, would be Judgment Day. Following Dawson (1999), we examine the adaptive strategies Camping employed to manage the cognitive disso...
| Published in: | Sociology of religion |
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| Authors: | ; |
| Contributors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford Univ. Press
[2015]
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| In: |
Sociology of religion
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This study presents a content analysis of Harold Camping's Open Forum radio program in the three weeks immediately following his failed prediction that May 21, 2011, would be Judgment Day. Following Dawson (1999), we examine the adaptive strategies Camping employed to manage the cognitive dissonance he and his followers experienced during this period. Forty-two percent of the time, Camping reaffirmed the essential truth of the original prediction by pointing to other, nonfalsifiable components of his prophetic timeline. Nearly one-quarter of the time, Camping rationalized the failed prophecy by attributing responsibility to God. In particular, Camping emphasized God's “Sovereignty” and “Mercy” in explaining why the end did not come. While confirming the results of previous studies, this case adds nuance to our understanding of the organizational conditions, social processes, and charismatic labor by which apocalyptic groups manage dissonance. |
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| ISSN: | 1759-8818 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sociology of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/socrel/srv012 |