美某宗教领袖称5·21为“审判日”

美国某宗教组织领袖近日大肆向人们宣传，称今年5月21日为世界的“审判日”，届时将发生特大地震，地球末日随之来临。

Say goodbye to your loved ones, repent¹（后悔，忏悔） your sins and enjoy your last few days on earth because, if a US Christian² group is to be believed, the world will end this Saturday.

Howard Camping, a minister and the president of US conservative group Family Radio, has started a campaign proclaiming that Judgment³ Day will happen on May 21 2011.

Billboards⁴ advertising⁵ our impending⁶ doom⁷ boldly claim that the "Bible guarantees" destruction this weekend.

Mr Camping said that the beginning of the end will start with an earthquake, and that while believers will be instantly raptured⁸, those dismissive（表示轻视的） of his claims will face five months of misery⁹ on Earth before the end of the world in October.

He said: "On May 21, there's going to be a terrific earthquake way, way greater than anything else the Earth has ever experienced and that will be the beginning of Judgment Day.

"The rest of the world will know instantly that Judgment Day has begun because all of the earthquake sensors¹⁰ will pick that up instantly."

Mr Camping said that he determined¹¹ May 21 as the Day of Judgment after calculating various dates from past biblical events, starting with the great flood, that he believed, happened in 4990 BC.

It is not the first time that the minister has made an apocalyptic¹²（启示录的） prediction. He has previously¹³ claimed the world would end in 1994, but puts this error down to a miscalculation.

While some people may decide to spend what could be their last day with family or friends, Mr Camping said he will be watching the destruction unfold and praying for non-believers.