When will it be safe?
Jan 10, 2009 Uncategorized
Will dooms day predictions end? Ever?
How about this, we set a time in the future, and if nothing has happened by then, we’ll all kindly agree that all the doomsday prophesies are bunk. How about 2100. I think that by then any year 2000 prophesy will be safely behind us.
I won’t deny that self destruction of humanity at our own hands is possible. We often play with things that are beyond our ability to control: nuclear fission, chemicals, biological agents and genetics. Any one of which could do us in at any time.
At the same time, being agnostic means that I admit that I don’t understand the true nature of the world. Some angry god or another could, however unlikely, end the merry-go-round. The end times, the second coming, judgment day. Every religion worth it’s salt has a dooms day event scheduled.
But I’m getting a bit tired of people using the “imminent Apocalypse” as a reason to act irresponsibly in the present. “Why worry about global warming? Jesus is coming and then it won’t matter.”
When will people stop being convinced that the end of the world by divine prophesy is going to happen in their lifetime? What a selfish idea. Why are you so fucking special? People have been thinking “it’ll happen in my lifetime” for more than 2000 years.
So can we kindly agree? 2100? No divine end by then and we stop talking about it? Do we have a deal everyone? 2100? They we call it quits and focus on what really matters?
January 10th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
One of my earlier memory 40 years ago was my grandmother talking about then end of the world “any day now”. My own mother believed The Rapture was coming in 1984. I read books like “The Cross & The Switchblade” and “The Late Great Planet Earth” in junior high.The series “Left Behind” is one of the top selling CHILDREN’S books in the United States. These books are horrifying in their politico/zealot propaganda. There’s movies too.
Jesus once said “The poor will always be with us.”
He may as well have substituted the word “ignorant”.
Just living here in Jesusland.
January 10th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Besides, here in The United States of Amnesia, we don’t remember anything before last Monday anyway.
January 10th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
i am not sure that linear, christian, apocalyptic can be lumped in with all the others; e.g. vedic cyclical notions of time suggests a very different scenario: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuga
January 10th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I agree.
Time to take a chill pill.
Accept that there is so much we don’t know and stop stressing on it. Spread a little more love and peace and cooperation.
.
We are all on this big blue marble together, anyway, for the ride.
.
There is so much out there we don’t know about, I would rather look at it as adventures and puzzles, instead of scary.
.
Like this
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2009/arcade_balloon.html
If you read that, do you think OHMYGODITSALIENSANDWEWILLALLDIE
or do you think “Cool…..”
.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Matthew: I don’t have a problem with concepts that say that the universe has a cyclical structure that goes around every 4.3 million years or so. There are may scientific theories that also propose a similar structure. Bang, crunch, bang crunch.
It’s the systems that use the imminent return of their deity to keep people in line that I take issue with. They set dates for the Apocalypse and then when it doesn’t come, they say “oh did I say this year? Oh I meant next year.