The End of the World...

[watervole]

Although I laugh with everyone else as the end of the world fails to happen yet again, and know perfectly well that the latest prediction (October, I'm told) will also fail, I feel sorry for many of my Christian friends.

The Christians I know are perfectly well aware of the bits of the Bible that say no one will know when the end is due.  They don't pay any attention to these prophecies of doom, but every time another 'End of the World' fails to materialise, they lose a bit of credibility simply because the act of one Christian cult becomes a brush to tar all Christians with. They have my genuine sympathy.

Do I feel sorry for those who sold everything in expectation of the end? No.  A quick bit of research would have shown them just how many failed predictions there have been in the last 2000 years.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if we average at least one a decade.

It's so much easier being an atheist.  All I have to look forward to is peaceful oblivion.  No risk of hell fires.  No risk of being left behind on an Earth being torn apart by earthquakes. 

I have no fear of death.  (dying might be nasty and painful - one reason why I'm firmly in the voluntary euthanasia camp)

I wonder if those who make predictions of the End of the World are afraid of death?

Comments

[damerell]

I'm absolutely terrified of death, FWIW.

[grikmeer.livejournal.com]

I second the sentiments. If I recall correctly, some of the phrasing in the bible implies that revelations was supposed to happen within a hundred years of revelations being written... it's a bit late :)

[davidwake.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of evidence that all the 666 business and the battle like the one at Geddon, is all about the persecution doled out by Nero. (Apparently VI-VI-VI is code for Nero.) So, it did happen within a 100 years and with Constantine converting Christianity has ruled the Roman world for 1,000 years plus.

[rockwell-666.livejournal.com]

"Apparently VI-VI-VI is code for Nero"

Except that apparently the original "Number of The Beast" was six *one* six...!

[davidwake.livejournal.com]

Whatever it was, it was code for Nero, apparently.

Someone else worked out the author was on ergot.

[davidbrider.livejournal.com]

A lot of it seems to be just down to interpretation, and as my ex used to cheerfully point out - if you put 100 Biblical scholars in a room, you'd get 101 interpretations of Revelation. Which is why much as I'm fascinated by theology, and consider myself a committed if very liberal Christian, I leave eschatology to other people. It just isn't worth it, and there are more important things to be getting on with.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

But, of course, there is actually little difference between believing that what it says in Matthew about no-one will know when the end if due is true, and that you can calculate when the world will end in Jesus's return is true. Both are simple acceptance of an ancient text with no supporting evidence.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Point taken.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Except there isn't even text for the 2nd one. :P

[temeres.livejournal.com]

Do I feel sorry for those who sold everything in expectation of the end?

I do, actually. They deserve pity, not ridicule. Save that for the self-aggrandising scaremongers.

And what about the children murdered by their own God-fearing mother last weekend? They surely deserve pity.


It's so much easier being an atheist.

Certainly is, but that's not an argument for its validity. And there is a downside - you have no prospect of ever saying "I told you so".

[watervole.livejournal.com]

"And what about the children murdered by their own God-fearing mother last weekend? They surely deserve pity."

I didn't hear about that one. Without reading about it (always risky) I'd assume mental illness was involved somewhere. Certainly they have my pity.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

I can almost see those who keep asking: what if ?...and who pay to the Church to buy...what exactly?
Ah, I know that I am part of the Nature and this is enough for me.

[davidbrider.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I think the only thing anyone can do when a guy with a 100% fail rate for predicting the Rapture date (this was Camping's second, at least) is to just raise eyebrows, giggle, and get on with life.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I feel sorry for the kids whose parents told them that they'd be left behind (presumably to a torment-ridden hell-on-earth) on Rapture day when Mummy and Daddy went to heaven. Sweet, eh? I fervently hope those parents sugned over te family fortune - house, car, bank accounts, the lot - over to those kids and that the kids refuse to give it back.

I certainly feel sorry for those sane and sensible Christians who never believed in Camping's brain-addled predictions, but are now, through no fault of their own, lumped in with the Rapture-ites in common perception.

I'll stick to my atheism, thanks, though I'm always happy for people to have their own religious views as long as they don't hurt anybody else. Sadly some of the extreme Rapture-ites caused a lot of distress to their nearest and dearest.

[rockwell-666.livejournal.com]

The End of the World has been cancelled due to lack of interest... ;-)

And what did their Bible say about "False Prophets"?!

[raspberryfool.livejournal.com]

Well, I suppose the Icelandic volcanic eruption is a start. Even God has to start somewhere... :-)

[steverogerson.livejournal.com]

If you meet a distraught rapture believer, are you allowed to put your arm round their shoulder and say don't worry, it's not the end of the world?

[jon-a-five.livejournal.com]

::applauds::

:-)

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

No risk of hell fires. No risk of being left behind on an Earth being torn apart by earthquakes.

Neither are any Christians who actually know their faith, FYI.

And we believe that instead of any fear, we have endlessly creative and loving life to look forward to, the fruition of all the good things that were started here. :)

I wonder if those who make predictions of the End of the World are afraid of death?

I think you might be right about that. Or, at least, they're afraid of something--predictions like that seem to be a desperate attempt to control the unknown. Whether it's literally death they're afraid of or not... the result is the same.

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

>>>I wonder if those who make predictions of the End of the World are afraid of death?

I think it might actually be the opposite. So many of Camping's followers have said how "disappointed" that the world didn't end. A couple even commented that now they'll have to deal with all the problems they'd been having in their lives. I think a lot of them subconsciously want things to be OVER with, including their lives. Consciously, they're not suicidal, so believing that their problems will soon be over with probably has a lot of appeal. Now, what does it say about them that they seem positively gleeful that most of the world's population is, theoretically, doomed to suffering and destruction?

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Mm, a good point. Although, to be fair, most of us have things in our lives which we would like to be OVER with sooner than later, if not to that extreme. :)

I think I was thinking more in terms of anyone who tries to predict the future--from this, to palm reading and psychics (my city is full of these scammers), to other forms of nailing down the unknowable.

Now, what does it say about them that they seem positively gleeful that most of the world's population is, theoretically, doomed to suffering and destruction?

See, this is why 9 year old me disagreed with the idea of the Rapture in Sunday School. Because if the world is going to end, shouldn't we be here with the rest of humanity to help them out? Anything else didn't seem quite fair!

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

The “funny” thing about the Rapture is, it’s a concept cobbled together from a number of different Bible verses and popularized by a Victorian-era preacher who felt that his congregation shouldn’t have to suffer the tribulations of the end times with the rest of humanity, and so came up with this “get out of jail free card”.

The concept isn’t accepted by many, if not most, Christian denominations. I‘m a preacher’s kid (Episcopalian), and I spent endless Sunday hours in church listening to my father’s sermons. He never once mentioned the Rapture. It was such an alien concept when I first ran into it that I just had to do some research as to where the idea came from.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I have decided that I like your nine year old. S/he is intelligent and compassionate. (and a credit to you as a parent)

Sort-of Christian, not needing sympathy.

[artw.livejournal.com]

Personally the fact that some American said the world was going to end doesn't hurt me. But the fact that some non-Christians would use that as a brush to tar all Christians with doesn't hurt me either. They're mistaken, is all. (Thanks for the thought, though).