I'm an apocalyptic idiot.

By LaGs · Jul 6, 2011 · 395 · 4
  1. So we’re all gonna die!! Throughout history people have predicted the end of the world and have thus far been made to look foolish. All full of shit. Full of the brown stuff. It begs the question why do people still cling on to the idea? Even if you’re not religious is it idiotic to think it may be a possibility?

    I’m still on the fence somewhat. And there are a couple of reasons. I can’t deny the signs but when you’re not religious you avoid the apocalyptic mindset like the plague (See what I did there?)

    But what are the signs?

    The secularisation of society? It can’t be denied that it’s happening. At an alarming rate actually. Religion has taken a back seat. In my own country there has never been a more sharper decline, for example, in the influence of the Catholic Church. An institution which in the past had such a strong grip over the opinions and actions of the public that it practically ruled their lives. With all the child sex scandals, that is no more. You pick up the paper and you read articles that are quick to vilify and condemn the church, and rightly so for it’s inadequate dealing with abuse, but I’m thinking about the influence of religion in a wider sense. I remember reading in the book of revelation that this was to happen. People would begin to deny God from every angle, to dismiss it as nonsense and this is why I’m a bit wary about it. It’s happening all over Europe, particularly Germany. It’s in vogue to slate religion at the minute. *Waves to Richard Dawkins*

    So why don’t I just throw away religion and never think about it again? Is there an element of fear dictating my thoughts? Probably.

    But then what’s happening in current affairs? You have the U.S ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan that’s been going on for 10 years; you’ve had the war in Iraq since 2002 only recently winding down; you have all the turmoil in the Middle East, not just the prolonged conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, but the uprisings in Egypt, in Syria, in Bahrain, in Morrocco and in Libya. The list could go on. There may be more but I just can’t think of them off the top of my head. Even more recently you have the massive rioting in Greece. Even in Belfast there’s been rioting recently. It’s widespread turmoil (in the West a lot of it out of financial crisis), and obviously for a multitude of other reasons, but I think all the trouble happening at once bears thinking about.

    What about natural disasters? The earthquake in Haiti, the massive floods in Pakistan, in Australia (There were fires in Australia at one point, too), the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Worldwide of course there’s always something happening as far as natural disasters, and maybe it’s just me, but it’s all happening within a relatively short space of time.

    I’m an idiot!

    It’s weird even speaking about this since I’m not religious, but I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t crossed my mind a couple of times.

    But what do you do if you accept the apocalyptic arguments? Try and turn to the religious life?

    Most people, including me, will just continue being passive and go about their daily routine. The devil’s working his magic planting doubt in your mind, ensuring your spot in hell is the safest place of all! Stay apathetic, ‘cos we’re all gonna die and burn in hell for an eternity!

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  1. arron89
    I guess I should preface this by saying that I'm not at all religious, but I really don't see anything apocalyptic about recent events. It may seem to us that there have been a great deal of natural disasters recently, but there's no real reason to think this is a long-term trend given the scale of geological time. It's likely that global warming is a contributing factor to some extreme weather, but things like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are just unfortunate consequences of living on such a geologically active planet. There's no divine reason for them, it's just a natural process.

    As for the riots and wars, as you point out, most of it is intimately linked to the state of the economy. The riots in the Middle East are linked to the waning power of dictators, the decline of oil production (it's interesting to note that in Libya, Egypt, etc, the riots more or less coincide with the countries' shift from net oil producer to net oil importer), and the wars in the Middle East are religious and political in nature.

    So no, I'm not really convinced that there are any signals of a coming apocalypse.
    arron89, Jul 7, 2011
  2. LaGs
    You're absolutely right, thinking about it logically there's an explanation for each and every one of the examples I mentioned. But i'd say coinciding all of them into your thoughts at once, you can see, if anything, how an apocalyptic mindset comes about. I try to look at everything rationally, (As much as anybody i suppose), and there has been times when i've contemplated what I've written in this blog, for however short period of time, to be true. I guess it comes out of a combined confusion and fear of the unknown, which is even more peculiar on my part given the fact that I wouldn't really consider myself religious.
    LaGs, Jul 7, 2011
  3. Lemex
    To answer the original question:

    Why do people cling to the idea. Could be because people are still terrified and fascinated by death?

    And is it idiotic to still think an apocalypse a possibility.

    It's perfectly rational to accept that we could all die by our own hands, or because of some kind of solar or extra-terrestrial event, like comets smashing into the earth or an excess of solar radiation seeping into the atmosphere.

    Is it logical to be scared about the book of Revelation? It's not exactly rational, but reality has this irritating habit of sometimes being counter-intuitive. And besides, a lot of the images in Revelation are very striking.
    Lemex, Jul 7, 2011
  4. Wrathnar the Unreasonable
    The Apocalypse has already happened; the world ended several years ago. This is the afterlife.
    Wrathnar the Unreasonable, Jul 8, 2011
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