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Old May 24th 11, 09:11 PM posted to ba.broadcast.moderated,rec.radio.broadcasting
John T John T is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Aug 2006
Posts: 23
Default There will be live Open Forum tonight.

* David Kaye wrote, On 5/24/2011 8:28 AM:
"John wrote

Naturally, Camping blamed God for the failure, [....]


He seemed to be blaming himself for his inability to interpret the Bible.


If the 1994 pattern holds, this will last a week or so. By then he
will have fully developed a convoluted zig-zag around various Bible
verses that (according to him) prove him conclusively right. Remember,
to Harold Camping, interpreting the Bible is not understanding what is
in the text itself, it is digging out by our own hard work what God
has hidden from us. That's why many of his teachings, especially in
the last year or so, are directly contradictory to the written text.
His biblical spelunking has left him blind to the obvious.


So, if he doesn't collect a salary from Family Radio, as evidenced by his
non-profit filing for 2009, where does he get his personal income, from his
retirement as a civil engineer for the city of Oakland?


I don't recall that he worked for the city. He owned a construction
company, and he owns property all over the Bay Area. He built a fair
number of shopping centers around such as Town & Country Village
(Sunnyvale), Pelton Center in San Leandro, South Shore in Alameda, and
he still owns the land beneath the Alameda post office. (All of these
last I heard- things might have changed). In decades past he
bankrolled Family Radio through some financial crises. Harold Camping,
even now, cannot be accused of financial greed for its own sake.


Back when I knew a production guy over there he asked me if I might want to
apply for a job. This was when Family was about half the size it is today.
I said no because I wasn't a believer. The guy (I forget his name now) told
me that I didn't have to be a believer, just be able to do a good job.


Harold Camping is, in many ways, very easy to work for. Do your job,
don't undermine him, don't contradict him in public. You can screw up
mightily and he will let it go if you simply own up to your errors.
There are several levels on which he is a very likable old man, and
there is a great deal of flexibility in our employment. I have been
places and done things that *never* would have happened in the real
world. I've been on full salary throughout cancer treatments and
multiple surgeries during the last two years. Name another business
where that would be true. (Of course, another business might have had
real health insurance. *That's* a sore spot!)


I should think there are enough commercially viable stations that they could
actually set up an endowment for the whole operation.


Unfortunately, he and his board either don't understand commercial
operation and what it could (have) do(ne), or there has been a
rejection of the notion altogether. When we owned channel 64 it *could
have been* a cash cow for the organization, but Jesus was coming in
1994 and there wasn't time to do business *as* business. And then he
was offered money for the station that would finance the present
campaign. As it was, we were never more than a "break even" operation.

In the end no commercial operation can be had because everything done
throughout the organization is not just *for* Harold Camping, but it
is *about* Harold Camping. We couldn't broker religious time on 610
because there would be *other* voices, and, to borrow from Higlander,
"There can be only one." Likewise, a secular format would be a
complete waste of precious time to disseminate Harold's voice.

Do you see why things are the way they are?

JT
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