The End Has Been Nigh
Introduction
I wrote about the impending rapture[1] five months ago, because Harold Camping had predicted that the rapture would occur on 21 May 2011. Since it (quite noticeably) did not occur, he has since revised the details of his prediction. Apparently, although there was not a physical rapture, 21 May was the day when everyone was judged and the effects of that judgment will become physically manifest tomorrow, on 21 October 2011.[2] There is a Christian tract on eBible Fellowship further explaining this prophecy, which seems to be based mostly on picking some numbers from the Bible and using them to do some basic arithmetic.[3] (I should correct an error in my previous entry about this topic. The tribulation, according to this message, will not be after the rapture. Rather, the tribulation ended on 21 May and the five months from then to now have been the judgment period. Why would it take an omnipotent God five months to implement the full effects of his judgment?) On the Family Radio website, there is a special message, dated 10/20/2011 (yesterday), in which the writer instructs the saved to still pray for others, since we cannot know who was saved and who was not.[4] (Perhaps this five month time period is time for people to worry about whether they were saved or not and an incentive to encourage/threaten more people into believing? Then again, according to the prophecy, this was all decided before time began, so one wonders why God could not have set up a better system in the first place.)
The End is Nigh Yet Again
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20 KJV Bible)
Judgment Day, and other events that that are the topic of religious prophecy, seem to be perpetually near while never quite arriving. The penultimate verse in the Book of Revelation (quoted above) shows the promise that Jesus would return quickly and, and many believers eagerly await his return. This never-ending wait, the repeated delays, serve to instill doubt in me about the veracity of such prophecies, and I find it difficult to believe that there are others who continue to believe in the ability of preachers to predict the future.
While it is understandable that we wonder about the future of our species, the planet Earth, and the universe, a feeling a feeling of regret about their destruction seems more appropriate than eager anticipation. I cannot help feel a sense of betrayal when I hear that some of my fellow human beings desire the destruction of all existence and, even worse, believe that God is justified in sending many people to Hell. In the long arc of the future, there will come a day when this planet no longer exists, but rather than looking forward to that day, rather than seeking a quicker religion-based end, we should seek to make this world a better place.
#
Acknowledgements
I found the tract at eBible Fellowship via JT Eberhard of What Would JT Do? (at Freethought Blogs).[5]
Two Mistakes, Similarities Between Christianity and Islam, and the Potential for Religious Reform: three comments I wrote on an entry at Choice in Dying
Eric MacDonald of Choice in Dying[1] recently posted an entry[2] that was a response to Kimberly Winston’s article ‘New Atheists’ Emerge From 9/11.[3] I wrote some comments on his blog entry which I decided to post here, because I think that I expressed in them some ideas that have been on my mind. The part about reinterpreting vs. ignoring holy books in the third comment (#16) is especially something that I wanted to express. (The comments below are as I wrote them except for two minor changes to correct typographical errors.)
Comment #1 (29 August 2011 at 19:29)[4]
As you implied, Winston doesn’t acknowledge that some of the very vocal criticism of religion is a response to actual extreme actions taken by religious groups, which is a common thing I’ve seen in other articles as well. It almost seems to be taken as a given that atheists’ criticism is too harsh, extreme, etc. by default.
About the Islam issue, I think Winston makes another very common mistake: Not differentiating between discrimination against Muslims and valid criticism of Islam. I’ve seen both coming from atheists (as well as religious people). When I was a little kid, I disagreed with things in Islam, but I would look around and see that there were too sides who were most vocal: (1) those who defended Islam and (2) those who advocated discrimination against Muslims. One of the things that has given me some hope recently is finding that, although there are those who advocate discrimination against Muslims, there are also those who have some valid criticisms to make. Attempts to lump together the actual bigots and the critics downplays the seriousness of both the discrimination against Muslims as well as the horrible problems within Islam, resulting in a situation in which both remain improperly addressed.
Comment #7 (29 August 2011 at 20:27)[5]
[Note: The second part of this comment was a response to comment #2 by tildeb.[6]]
Just wanted to comment on the whole Christianity vs. Islam issue. Upon leaving Islam, I actually continued believing in God for a few years and considered Christianity. Then, I realized that there were too many similarities: that the good things I’d heard about Christianity compared to Islam were a result of ignoring the Bible — not the result of the Bible being better than the Qur’an on issues like science, equal rights, and so on. I realized the difference was a matter of Christianity being affected, over the long years, by secularism while Islam still has to undergo that — not a matter of some difference that made Islam inherently worse.
@tildeb: I always had the impression that “fundamentalist” referred to the adherence to certain strict interpretations of a religion; I didn’t think it necessarily implied that the fundamentalists are small in number. Also, while I do think that fundamentalism is more “mainstream” in Islam, compared to other faiths, I do think there is room for acknowledging that it is by no means universal.
Comment #16 (30 August 2011 at 10:32)[7]
[Note: Most of the following comment was written in response to comment #11 by Eric MacDonald, in which he asked for my views about the impact of Qur’anic passages which claim divine authorship on the potential for reform in Islam. He also mentioned the issue of whether there is enough time for Islam to become modernized.[8] The small section at the end was a response to comment #15 by Deen, who was responding to a quote of Omid Safi from Winston’s article.[9] Safi said, “They direct much of their venom against Muslims, and I have seen some of their material used by Islamophobes.”[10]]
@Eric MacDonald: I should say, first of all, I very much enjoy your blog. Thanks very much for responding.
When making my comparison between the Bible and the Qur’an, I was referring moreso to the ways in which the books are wrong in areas like science, equal rights, and so on.
The reason I doubt that the Qur’an plainly saying it’s literally the word of God will prevent at least some Muslims from being more moderate, compared to Christians, is for two reasons. (1) There are some passages, as you wrote, which are interpreted to mean that the message in the Bible is from God and other passages that say not to remove or add to it. (2) Many people say they believe that their holy book is the word of God while not really following it. Since the Qur’an, according to many, has to be read in Arabic, I wonder how many Muslims believe it’s the word of God because they read it in the Qur’an and how many believe it for similar reasons that Christians believe the Bible is the word of God, due to the tradition in the religion. (Personally, I learned to read the Qur’an in Arabic, but never knew what it said until recently when I started reading an English translation. I read a book by Irshad Manji called “The Trouble with Islam Today” in which she says she had a similar experience and has heard from many other Muslims who don’t even understand what their own holy book says.)
One thing I have often wondered about, when considering how likely it is that Islam can be reformed, is this: Do the religious people who accept science, support secularism, believe in equal rights, etc. do so because they’ve come up with a different interpretation of their holy book or because they are ignoring what it says? My impression (and I could be mistaken) is that there are some religious leaders, religious studies people, and studious believers who may put in the time to come up with some different interpretation, but the vast majority of people just ignore what the book says. The people in this latter group will sometimes just quote a different nicer passage in response to criticism about a horrible passage, and don’t really have an alternative explanation for the horrible passage.
As you wrote, there is still a problem with Christianity despite it having gone through the Enlightenment, and I think this is a problem that will be faced by Islam as well, if it does get to that point. (Muslim apologetics and Christian apologetics sound frustratingly similar.) Because of the actual contents of these books, while I think there is hope for reform, I always doubt to what extent it can be achieved and if fundamentalism will continue to come up, the way Christian fundamentalism keeps coming up even after people proclaim the “death of God”. People don’t always read the whole book, but they’ll hear small sections of it and feel that those parts must be defended and must be literally true.
There is a time constraint now that there wasn’t in the past, when considering advanced weaponry and its ability to do great amounts of damage. What frightens me about that is the fact that it only takes a few people to cause large amounts of devastation. Whereas before, the leader of a country would have to gather up an army, now one weapon can cause great devastation. This is one of the reasons why the continued fundamentalism you mentioned is a problem; even if the vast majority of people of all different religious beliefs and other ideologies become moderate, even just a few can cause great devastation.
@Deen: “And Christians complain that atheists only target Christians and virtually never Muslims, because Christians are easier or safer targets. Which is it?”
Good point.
#
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Eric MacDonald for writing the blog entry and responding to my comments. Thanks to Kimberly Winston for writing the article that prompted that blog entry and these comments.
References
[1] Choice in Dying can be found at http://choiceindying.com.
[2] MacDonald, Eric. ‘New Atheists’ Emerge From 9/11. Posted on 29 August 2011 at Choice in Dying. Retrieved on 30 August 2011 from http://choiceindying.com/2011/08/29/new-atheists-emerge-from-911/.
[3] Winston, Kimberly. ‘New Atheists’ Emerge From 9/11. Posted on 26 August 2011 at The Huffington Post. Retrieved on 30 August 2011 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/26/911-new-atheist_n_938356.html.
Winston’s article was also posted at Religion News Service under the title 9/11 gave birth to aggressive, unapologetic, ‘New Atheists’. It can be found at http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/911_gave_birth_to_assertive_unapologetic_new_atheists/
[4] Sharmin, Ani. Comment #1, posted on 29 August 2011 at 19:29. Retrieved on 30 August 2011 from http://choiceindying.com/2011/08/29/new-atheists-emerge-from-911/#comment-5837.
[5] Sharmin, Ani. Comment #7, posted on 29 August 2011 at 20:27. Retrieved on 30 August 2011 from http://choiceindying.com/2011/08/29/new-atheists-emerge-from-911/#comment-5843.
[6] tildeb. Comment #2, posted on 29 August 2011 at 19:55. Retrieved on 30 August 2011 from http://choiceindying.com/2011/08/29/new-atheists-emerge-from-911/#comment-5838.
[7] Sharmin, Ani. Comment #16, posted on 30 August 2011 at 10:32. Retrieved on 30 August 2011 from http://choiceindying.com/2011/08/29/new-atheists-emerge-from-911/#comment-5870.
[8] MacDonald, Eric. Comment #11, posted on 29 August 2011 at 21:47. Retrieved on 30 August 2011 from http://choiceindying.com/2011/08/29/new-atheists-emerge-from-911/#comment-5852.
[9] Deen. Comment #15, posted on 30 August 2011 at 07:36. Retrieved on 30 August 2011 from http://choiceindying.com/2011/08/29/new-atheists-emerge-from-911/#comment-5867.
[10] Same as #3
On the (Once Again) Impending Rapture
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall he send angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
(Mark 13:24-37 KJV Bible)[1]
-
That’s how it goes, you think you’re on top of the world, and suddenly they spring Armageddon on you. The Great War, the Last Battle, Heaven versus Hell, three rounds, one Fall, no submission. And that’d be that. No more world. That’s what the end of the world meant. No more world. Just endless Heaven or, depending on who won, endless Hell. Crowley didn’t know which was worse. (Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens)[2]
A Letter: A Message to the Left Behind
Brethren,
It has come to my attention that the world is about to come to an end[3] with the rapture occurring on May 21, 2011 at 6 p.m. in each local time zone, starting in the Pacific Rim.[4] Some Christians are even spending their time spreading the message, ignoring their soon-to-be irrelevant earthly concerns.[5] Reports and commentary on The Day to End All Days will be coming in from the godless in several time zones as the wave of God’s wrath ripples over existence.[6] We have much to look forward to. Those of us who have not accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior will be left behind while true Christian believers[7] will be ratured up to Heaven.
As those of us who will be left prepare for the upcoming tribulation, I would like to express my sentiment that all is not lost. This is a battle, the other side believes, with an already-settled outcome, but we will prevail in the end. Why do I believe this? A deity who has created a world such as ours, with its vastly imperfect nature, cannot himself be perfect. He must have a weakness which we can use to bring about his defeat and destruction. We will fight and we will win, and we will show that the altruism and cooperation of humanity can defeat any tyrant, even one who considers himself Almighty.
As long as there is life, there is hope.
Sincerely yours,
Your fellow godless heathen, Ani Sharmin
P. S. In the extremely likely event that the rapture does not happen, please keep the altruism and cooperation in mind.
It’s The End of the World Yet Again
He [Newton] showed that comets, like planets, move in ellipses: “Comets are a sort of planets revolved in very eccentric orbits about the Sun.” This demystification, this prediction of regular cometary orbits, led his friend Edmund Halley in 1707 to calculate that the comets of 1531, 1607 and 1682 were apparitions at 76-year intervals of the same comet, and predicted its return in 1758. The comet duly arrived and was named for him posthumously. (Carl Sagan, Cosmos)[8]
-
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
(Robert Frost, Fire and Ice)[9]
Prophecies, especially those concerning the end of the world, are not uncommon in the history of humanity, or even in the history of the Christianity. We humans seem fascinated with our own demise, a fascination which can be both enlightening and frightening, sometimes simultaneously. A discussion about the possible events that could occur leading to the end of humanity, the end of Earth, or the end of the universe can be thought-provoking when based on evidence and reason, when accompanied by genuine consideration of the real world. Even entirely fictional accounts of the end of the world (whether in religious texts or other literature) can be fascinating, when read as fiction and considered a narrative from which one can draw meaning or metaphor.
Unfortunately, the doomsday prophecies that are a part of Christianity (as well as other religions) are based upon faith, rather than evidence or reason. They ignore the realities of the world, and are therefore completely different from scientific predictions such as Edmund Halley’s prediction of the return of the comet that was later named after him. As a fictional story, the message that the rapture narratives send is one of an unreasonable and hateful deity who destroys those who do not worship him and rewards his followers, teaching them to look forward to the destruction of their own world and species. There is also a certain arrogance in end of times predictions; they often assume that ours is the chosen generation, the one that will live to see the End in all its glory.
Whenever religious leaders take the responsibility of predicting the date of the end times onto their shoulders (which were not meant to carry such weight) other Christians are quick to denounce the prediction, often citing Bible verses (such as the one from Mark 13 above) to prove that humans cannot know when the end times will occur. In saying this, they miss the main point, which is that the ideas about the end times as described in Christianity are baseless; events such as the second coming of Jesus and the judgment of humanity, followed by a segregated afterlife based upon the whims of a deity, are equally ridiculous whether one believes they will occur tomorrow or on an unknown date.
The end of humanity, the end of the planet Earth, the end of the universe—these are events upon which humans love to ponder, and scientists have put forth much effort in studying potential causes for these events. At this point in human history, in addition to studying the various cosmic events that could occur leading to the ultimate end, we have also invented weaponry sufficiently advanced to bring about our own end. Considering this fact, it is even more imperative that we use our minds and make every effort to improve our future. A mindset which recommends ignoring potential dangers to our homeworld and encourages actions which will hasten our demise is not one which has relevant or useful contributions to offer in achieving this goal. It is in our ability to think, not our ability to literally believe religious stories, that our salvation lies.
May the sun rise on Sunday morning over the horizon of an Earth that continues to spin and may this Earth continue to exist for a long while yet.
References
[1] Mark 13:24-37 KJV Bible
To read online, go to http://biblia.com/bible/kjv/Mk13.24-37.
[2] Gaiman, Neil and Pratchett, Terry. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter,Witch. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 2001 (1990), p. 11-2.
[ISBN: 0-441-00861-5]
[3] Finocchiaro, Peter. Why the world might end next Saturday: A group of Christian activists believe the apocalypse is May 21. We look at the evidence and the man behind it. Posted on May 10, 2011 at Salon. Retrieved on May 12, 2011 from http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/05/10/rapture_may_21/index.html.
[4] Hagerty, Barbara Bradley. Is The End Nigh? We’ll Know Soon Enough. Posted on May 7, 2011 at NPR. Retrieved on May 20, 2011 from http://www.npr.org/2011/05/07/136053462/is-the-end-nigh-well-know-soon-enough.
[5] Parker, Ashley. Make My Bed? But You Say the World’s Ending. Posted on May 19, 2011 at The New York Times. Retrieved on May 20, 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/us/20rapture.html.
[6] Eberhard, JT. It’s the end of the world as we know it…and I feel fine. Posted on May 11, 2011 at WWJTD. Retrieved on May 11, 2011 from http://wwjtd.net/?p=335.
[7] Eberhard, JT. An Old Letter about “true” ™ Christianity. Posted on April 14, 2009 at Zerowing21’s Xanga. Retrieved on May 19, 2011 from http://zerowing21.xanga.com/698959756/an-old-letter-about-true-tm-christianity/.
[8] Sagan, Carl. Cosmos. New York: Ballantine Books, 1980, Ch 4, p. 65.
[ISBN: 978-0-345-33135-9]
[9] Frost, Robert. Fire and Ice. Collected in: The Poetry of Robert Frost (edited by Edward Connery Lathem). New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1975 (poem originally published in 1920), p. 220.
To read online, go to http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173527.
Skepticon 4: 19 – 20 November 2011
The Midwest's Largest Skeptic Conference Springfield, Missouri
-
Recent Comments at The Eternal Bookshelf
Mugglenet- Emma Watson states 'Reality TV' helped her prepare for 'The Bling Ring' 2012/05/29Emma Watson is in this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly in which she described how she prepared for the role of Sofia Coppola's film The Bling Ring. Emma stated, "I just watched a ton of reality TV. I was doing an English course [at Brown University]. So I would go from reading Virginia Woolf to [watching] Kim Kardashian. I kind of loved i […]
- Mashable: MuggleNet top 'Magical Real-World Creation Inspired by Potter' 2012/05/29Earlier this week, Mashable rolled out their 5 Magical Real-World Creations Inspired by Harry Potter, and coming in at No. 2 on the list was MuggleNet! The top spot went to Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, which you can purchase courtesy of Jelly Belly. "While not featured in the books or films, MuggleNet is an important part of the Harry Potter experie […]
- MuggleNet offering chance to cover Grand Opening of 'Harry Potter: The Exhibition' in Singapore 2012/05/29If you live in Singapore and would like a press pass to attend the Grand Opening of the Harry Potter: The Exhibition, then MuggleNet is looking for you! We will provide one press pass to a qualified Harry Potter fan, to cover and report on the Grand Opening event, which is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 1st at 2:30PM. If you feel you are able to cov […]
- MuggleNet Interactive hosts summer trivia-based Quidditch Tournament 2012/05/29The sixth annual SNITCH Quidditch Tournament begins in just under one week on MuggleNet Interactive, as the top Quidditch teams from across the world prepare to claim the prized Quidditch Trophy. If you haven't checked out Quidditch on MNI - no, it's sadly not a game of taking off from the ground on broomsticks. But there are Chasers, Beaters, Keep […]
- Pottermore Insider updates progress on 'Chamber of Secrets' 2012/05/29The Pottermore Insider was recently updated to show current progress on releasing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on the Interactive website. From the Insider: Chamber of Secrets update: This week, we're in the sound studio recording audio for the Chamber of Secrets Moments. We're also working on Chapter Three, The Burrow, and Chapter Seven […]
- Order your yearly subscription to Quidditch Quarterly for all your Muggle Quidditch news 2012/05/29Looking to own a piece of Muggle Quidditch history? Then order a year long subscription to the International Quidditch Association's magazine: Quidditch Quarterly. Quidditch Quarterly is the only magazine dedicated to the real-life sport of quidditch and the official publication of the International Quidditch Association. QQ is a 60-page full-color maga […]
- Olympic Quidditch teams jerseys available for purchase now - go support your country! 2012/05/29The sport of Muggle Quidditch is growing increasingly popular around the world and this has never been more evident than with the upcoming exhibition matches that are taking place at the 2012 Summer Olympic Torch Ceremony in Oxford, London this July. At this time, four countries will be represented for this incredible honor: Team UK, Team USA, Team Australia […]
- MuggleNet presents: a fan written guide to Harry Potter conventions 2012/05/29Summer is rapidy approaching, and that can mean only one thing: the time for the ever-popular Harry Potter conventions is drawing near. Our newest submission from resident editorialist hpboy13 features a comprehensive guide to attending these conventions. If you've never attenteded a Harry Potter convention before - or if you would just like to learn mo […]
- Untitled 2012/05/29This past week thousands of fans around the world picked up their copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and rediscovered the very old magic of the book series. We watched as Harry was sorted into Gryffindor - "not Slytherin, not Slytherin!" - and then we all got a crash course in Transfiguration, where we discovered it was possible to […]
- Memorial Day Sale at WB Shop - Save up to 60% on 'Harry Potter' merchandise 2012/05/29The WB Shop has a Memorial Day savings event going on right now through Monday, May 28th, which will allow you to save up to 60% on selected items, including Harry Potter Blu-ray and DVD purchases. Some of the select items on sale include: Save $5 on All Adult Shirts Save $5 on All iPhone Cases Save 20% on Personalized Hogwarts Acceptance Letters Save 15% on […]
- Emma Watson states 'Reality TV' helped her prepare for 'The Bling Ring' 2012/05/29
