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December 21, 2012 AD – the sun aligns with the galactic center as the cosmos returns to chaos and hellfire. War, weather and pestilence purge the planet of the disease called humankind.
The apocalypse is not just daydreaming on my part. It’s a phenomenon that more and more are buying into. Our cynical culture is capitalizing on a morbid fascination with Armageddon. The History Channel has shifted from the Second World War to the coming Third. Every day Nostradamus, the “Bible Code” and archaic Mayan astrology all point to impending perdition. Do we need more programs like “Life After People” to express our sense of doom? Now Hollywood is catching up with the films “Knowing” and “2012″ – logical steps from “Deep Impact.” Fear is a commodity.
Faith in a world to come is a death wish for the present one. Since the dawn of Christendom, each generation believed theirs would be the last. All have pointed to the Book of Revelation, a bizarre fantasy filled with dragons and crowns. Likely, it was a metaphor for the fall of Rome, cloaked in symbols by a subversive Greek. Yet a Time Magazine poll warns that 59 percent of the electorate still takes Revelation seriously, handing the reins of empire to those who would hasten its fulfillment. Global warming, the economy and other crises demanding long-term solutions are unimportant when one sees salvation through the fires of a last crusade in the Holy Land. Rebuild Solomon’s temple and the second coming shall bring rapture to the righteous. Theocracy is the master of political puppets in a battle between gods, with the New Jerusalem in view.
This woeful worldview is not exclusive to the Bible Belt. As related above, the media increasingly forecasts the end of days. The news would rather dazzle us with tsunamis and suicide bombers than anything consequential. So desensitized to the stench of reality we now thirst for a self-fulfilling prophecy of unfathomable ruin. Our culture is inclined to believe the end is near, so it seeks desperately to confirm it. Like seeing the Virgin Mary on toast, we make too many connections all pointing toward Judgment Day. Beliefs become actions and we march into Hell. It’s no different than coming in to take a test with a defeatist attitude. We all fail.
As intelligent people, we can distinguish between entertainment and reality. We attend anti-war protests by day, and by night we blast our Halo opponents to kingdom come. Regardless, exposure to any violence decreases the shock value of real-life suffering. We are so privileged to behold virtual and actual carnage on the same screen, and thus to shut both off when we’ve had our fill. We digest doomsday daily.
Take my advice. Don’t give in to conspiracy theories, and do something positive for your future. Sept. 11 was not the beginning of the end, nor was the sack of Rome or Constantinople. When our sense of normalcy is shaken, eschatology has an easy appeal. Celestial alignments and cryptic texts by delusional Frenchmen have no power over natural disasters or human history – save for that asteroid heading right toward us. But don’t worry, I see Jesus riding on it.
Jeremy Swist is a sophomore Latin and History student.
