So like, I've seen tons of people lately joking about how the world's going to end on May 21st. But the thing is, what's supposed to happen on May 21st (according to the followers of Harold Camping) is The Rapture, which is not the Last Judgement and Armageddon, those are two separate prophecized events. There are all sorts of different theories from different Christian sects on how the End of Times is supposed to play out, but the general consensus is that the Rapture happens before Armageddon (and that the latter cannot happen without the former). The Rapture is the second coming of Jesus to whisk all the souls worthy of heaven away and leave everyone else behind to a decaying earth and an unspecified period of strife and tribulation. When that period ends is when the actual Last Judgement and Armageddon occur.

But here's what makes it more complicated: I can see why everyone keeps mixing the two together and thinking that the whole May 21st thing is supposed to be the end of the world, because the Christian group that actually believes that May 21st is the Rapture seems to be doing it themselves! A lot of the media that group has been putting out has been saying that everyone should prepare for the end of the world on the 21st and things to that effect. This absolutely drives me crazy, when the group that's spreading all this BS can't even get half of the established stuff relating to that BS right. ARGH.