The ones that really scare me, though, are the ones Price alludes to: those who eagerly anticipate the coming destruction, in a very thinly veiled anger towards all the nonbelievers — e.g., think about what Pat Robertson would like to see happen to all the gays.

I am ashamed to say now that I fell for that kind of talk, and looking back, I think one of the reasons why it was so attractive is that it was a way of not facing my problems. Why worry about money for school or the fact I had no real job skills when there wasn’t going to be a future? Pretty soon we would all be living forever with the Lord, Hallelujah, and all these worldly cares would be in the past. I suspect, based on conversations I have had, that there are quite a few desperate people who latch on to any kind of sign that the end is nigh, because then they do not have to deal with the hopelessness of this life. And that is so sad.

One thing I could never understand about this “mark of the Beast” talk, is if these people believed it so strongly, then why weren’t they setting up a system to circumvent it? I would ask them, suppose your child is ill and needs medicine, but–oops–you can’t get any because you don’t have the mark. Or you are out of food,? Why wait until the crisis comes, if you know it is coming? Is there a system being set up? Not one person I asked could answer those questions. At least with Peak Oil, there are groups who are working on how to survive the transition to the post-petroleum era. They may be wrong, but at least they do have some kind of plan.

As far as the end of the world is concerned, I will believe it the day I walk into the store and all the tabloids say, this is absolutely our last issue because the world is ending next week.

And if the apocalypse is just a made-up story, and is never going to occur, how much suffering is going to be caused by those people who refuse to take any concern for the future of humanity? How much suffering is caused by indoctrinating children with the idea that their friends and family will suffer forever if they are not converted, and it will be all their fault? How many opportunities for improving this world will be missed because someone was sure it was about to end, and so didn’t bother?

I suppose I was ‘insulated’ from such thoughts as I was brought up in a ‘moderate Christian’ home. As a result something similar to Stephen J Gould’s magesteria (sp?) exists in my mind. There’s a ‘religious’ compartment and a ‘secular’ compartment and they never intersect. However, meeting a group of evangelists/missionaries and a de-converted Christian at around the same time has made me question the validity of such thinking.

@CheezChoc
Yes, I believe that what I like about this site: we are searching together.

I’m agnostic these days but still a searcher.

If an apocalypse does occur (whether due to divine, human,or natural causes) people are going to not only die, but suffer.

And if the apocalypse is just a made-up story, and is never going to occur, how much suffering is going to be caused by those people who refuse to take any concern for the future of humanity? How much suffering is caused by indoctrinating children with the idea that their friends and family will suffer forever if they are not converted, and it will be all their fault? How many opportunities for improving this world will be missed because someone was sure it was about to end, and so didn’t bother?

Glad to hear you are examining your beliefs. Every believer should do that, at some point in their lives. Any belief system worth following should be able to stand up to the kind of intense scrutiny that you will find here. We ask really hard questions. Be sure that your belief system can answer those questions to your satisfaction, and if it can’t, then it’s time to look for something else.

http://eternal-earthbound-pets.com/

Now, why couldn’t I have come up with a money-making idea like that??

In regards to your views espoused here, all I can say is that if I were an de-conv from being a Viking, I suppose then I would be interested in constructing our little Genealogy of Apocalypses for Ragnarok. (Though, of course, the results might be different, as I think theory of courage implicit in that myth is arguably salutary). Alas, as it is, I am but a poor ex-Christian, so my interests run southward, to Megiddo. Polemic? Maybe – but this *is* a de-conversion site and, well, to everything there is a season.

More generally, though, I cant help but get the feeling, with everything you write, that I am being lectured to, not engaged *with*. I mean, do you really imagine to copyright every post you make? You’re obviously a bright person. Care to come off the soapbox and join the discussion?