It might have felt like the end of the world could have happened on the night of Dec. 21, but it didn’t.
“Planet-X” didn’t send aliens over to enslave us, the Earth’s polarity didn’t shift and the Antichrist didn’t reveal himself. The Mayan calendar has ended and with it, the hype.
The countless shows and documentaries exhibiting possibilities for the 2012 apocalypse are now outdated and meaningless. The 2009 film “2012” starring John Cusack switched genres from thriller to comedy in a moment.
Religious fanatics often predict judgment day. Think back to May 21, 2011, when Florida pastor Harold Camping predicted that Jesus would bring the saved up to heaven and rain hellfire upon the rest of us. Well, the date came around and not a drop of hellfire or a morsel of brimstone touched down on Earth.
In the 1970s, Pat Robertson of the television show “The 700 Club” set the date for Armageddon to occur sometime in 1982. He announced to his millions of viewers, “I guarantee you, by the end of 1982 there is going to be judgment on the world.”
Knowing how that show operates, he probably went on to say that with a small donation of $99.95, viewers could bribe God for some more time. But we’re still here and so is “The 700 Club.”
Sometimes predictions come from scientific thinkers. In 1919, well-respected meteorologist Albert Porta announced that, according to his calculations, the alignment of the solar system’s planets would cause an enormous magnetic current, forcing the sun to erupt into flares and explosions, engulfing the earth in fire.
Sir Isaac Newton, physicist, mathematician, philosopher and overall genius would habitually study the Bible’s Book of Revelations. He would wade through the many mathematics and symbolism in the text, until he finally figured that our Earth would end sometime in the year 2060. We can relax for another 47 years, at least.
If you look for signs of the end of the world, you’ll probably find them. At times our world does seem like it is hanging by a thread, that at any moment one jolt could send us flying into complete upheaval.
The news is plagued with natural disasters, violent calamities, war and crop shortages. It’s no wonder these predictions seem to inspire so much curiosity and fear. But the days roll on without an epic finale, despite our fascination with apocalyptic predictions.
Believing in the world’s inevitable end doesn’t open up much investment for the future. Why should we care about what happens to the upcoming generations if we’re all expecting to go down in a blaze? Some truly believe that the work of environmental conservationists is equivalent to polishing the steel on the Titanic.
So, we might as well live like pigs until the end, right? Wrong.
The only thing that has proven 100 percent true for end-of-the-world predictions is that they never happen. The idea shouldn’t even be entertained in serious discussion, however entertaining they may be.
It would be wise to take responsibility for our effect on the planet, and plan accordingly—not throw our hands in the air and simply wait for our end. In fact, with that kind of attitude, the prophecy may turn out to be a self-fulfilling one.
