Comments on: End-of-the-worlders, again! (And I feel fine.)

By: Rapture, Judgment Day, Billboards: Oh my. : Kelly J Baker

Rapture, Judgment Day, Billboards: Oh my. : Kelly J Baker — Thu, 19 May 2011 19:07:55 +0000

[...] posted on the historical legacy of end of the worlders last week, and I couldn’t resist reflecting on this topic over at Religion in American [...]

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 09 May 2011 19:22:05 +0000

My husband replaced his old (1988) computer in 1999. But on January 1, 2000, he went to the basement where the computer lived, and turned it on. It said it was January 1, 1966.

And these calculations always crack me up, just as much as Archbishop Ussher’s calculation of the date of creation, which as I recall was 9 AM on October 23, 4004 BC. In which case, if the universe is to last 7000 years, those May 21 folk are a little early…

By: Profane

Profane — Mon, 09 May 2011 12:26:25 +0000

uh oh this means no fear cavalier renegade steer clear a tournament a tournament a tournament of lies

By: ntbw

ntbw — Mon, 09 May 2011 00:47:36 +0000

Back in March, I had to make a very long road trip, and driving through the rural south I kept seeing billboard with just the date May 21, 2011 on them–no additional information. I thought this was hilarious, because that day will be my 41st birthday. Now that I know the apocalypse scenario, I kinda love the idea that my turning 41 will, evidently, be the beginning of the end. My parents always have said I’m a hell-raiser! I never interpreted that quite so literally to this point.

By: Belle

Belle — Sun, 08 May 2011 19:55:42 +0000

I heard the NPR story, and loved the bit about the main guy saying his previous predicted date had been wrong, because he ‘hadn’t gotten all the way through Jeremiah.’ The story got me through graduation ceremony, because with every person told, the potential excuses got funnier & funnier. Carry the 2! Base 16! Oops, typo in this version of the protestant text!

But the couple who’d quit their jobs, and were living on savings that ran out on 5/21? Scary. They said she’s preggers too, and due in June. So… does childbirth hurt in heaven?

By: Retrochef

Retrochef — Sun, 08 May 2011 17:44:04 +0000

Apparently if you cannot do mechanical engineering math, you are not limited only to mechanical engineering technologist jobs — you can also do your own calculations of End Time predictions.

I can only imagine if I had to endure a family member who was constantly fretting at me to repent. I feel really grateful that my one seriously religious uncle is also a sorta-hippie and prefers love-and-happiness Bible interpretation to fire-and-brimstone.

By: Lexia

Lexia — Sun, 08 May 2011 00:00:44 +0000

“Even if I were one of these nutty nihilists, the last season I’d be rooting for the end of the world is spring,”

They’re also closet T.S. Eliot fans. Who knew?

By: Feminist Avatar

Feminist Avatar — Sat, 07 May 2011 23:32:41 +0000

I actually find millenarianism entirely compelling- not because I believe it, but because I can emphasise with the sense, the anxiety or excitement, that you get watching events unfold around you and having a sense of their significance, that something is going to change, to be historically significant, that you are on the edge of something… . And, ‘the end of the world’ is the only popular narrative that helps explain that sensation, outside of science. And let’s face it, science’s explanation- change happens and feelings are body chemistry plus socialisation- is rather less satisfactory (yes another emotion) when trying to understand ‘why’ you feel the way you feel. You want to believe that sense of anticipation is meaningful.

By: thefrogprincess

thefrogprincess — Sat, 07 May 2011 23:02:54 +0000

So I grew up Southern Baptist and, per my mother’s Biblical interpretation, it can’t be May 21 b/c the Bible says nobody knows when. So, according to her, the moment a date is mentioned, that won’t be it. So looking forward to May 22!

By: Dr. Koshary

Dr. Koshary — Sat, 07 May 2011 22:47:22 +0000

I also laughed out loud at Squadrato’s comment; the image is awesome. And, for the record, I’d *better* not get raptured up/sucked up by aliens/whatever the hell happens to the nice people who probably hate me on May 21. I intend to enjoy my first year as an actual university professor to the fullest, even if Satan comes to earth and makes everyone watch skee-ball championships on TV. Nothing can stop me from having an office for the first freaking time ever.

Come to think of it, Jews are pretty much always left out of the ‘good’ option in these millenarian scenarios, right? Badass! Bring on the textbook order forms!