Ep 5 – How long IS that calendar?

Hello, folks.

We’ve been asked if the world is going to end on December 21, 2012.  Well, in short, The Other Bald Guy doesn’t think so.

End-times prophecies have been around for as long as we can tell in recorded history.  The advent of 21st century communications has really broadened our abilities to explore, cross-reference, document, and recall.  Ergo, while memories fade, Google provides all sorts of recollection at our fingertips.

What this can allow us to do is see the more definitive histories of end-times prophecies, which will allow us to put the Mayan Calendar prophecy into some perspective.

To start, if you’re not familiar with the Mayan Long Count Calendar, then you can do worse than starting with a Wikipedia link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_Long_Count_calendar

Probably the best annotated rebuttal to the idea of a Mayan Doomsday Prophecy comes from Robert T. Carroll’s The Skeptic’s Dictionary:

http://www.skepdic.com/maya.html

Given the specificity of the question, I don’t have a whole lot to say on the blog this time around.  I did encounter some interesting links, though, that are all worth your time.  In particular, this first link is a document entitiled End-Time Prophecy and the New Millennium written by Jeffery K. Hadden of the Department of Sociology at the University of Virginia.  It’s primary focus is the relationship between specific religious groups, end-times prophecies, and the impact of failed predictions.  I found it to be fascinatingly interesting.

Also, this document was written prior to the year 2000, so all references to the millennium are future-tense.  Given the hindsight that the reader is given, it makes this document all the more worthwhile to read.

http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/brimstone/hadden.html

This document, by the way, is a part of a larger exhibit called Red, White, Blue, & Brimstone.  This exhibit examines the relationship between America’s history and the John’s Book of Revelation.  I haven’t been through all of it, but it sure looks interesting.

http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/brimstone/

NOW, HOW ABOUT THOSE FAILED PROPHECIES?

The fine folks over at ReligiousTolerance.org have a neat list documenting numerous failed prophecies since A.D. 30.  This particular list goes up to 1990:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/end_wrl2.htm

They even have additional lists of end-times prophecies from 1991 to 2010 and beyond, as well as some other interesting information.  This link below takes you to a list of links on their site:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/end_wrld.htm

Oh, and if some of their writings tickle at your sensibilities a bit, then at least take a moment to see who these folks are.  They provide a statement of beliefs that I find refreshingly forthright.  I do appreciate their intellectual honesty:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/statbelief.htm 

AND FINALLY, the granddaddy of all End-O-World sites.  Posted on a Geocities site by a woman who lists herself as Alma Geddon (get it: Armageddon), this is quite possibly the most comprehensive collection on the Web.  This site also includes known future prophecies, particularly well-known Net-Kooks, and even a listing of TV/Movie/Theatre/Book treatments of The End and Post-Apocalyptic futures.

Now, there are few documenting links, but most of these items could likely be verified with minimal effort.   Surely in a site this big there may be a few inaccuracies — it’s a huge listing.  HUGE.  Also, be warned that the site is written with an edge of sardonic humor that gives no quarter to religion of any sort.  Nonetheless, it’s a lot of fun.

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It …Again

There is only now.

Peace.