Critically examining the "End of the World"
Posts tagged 2012
The Japanese Earthquake: Real worries to consider
Mar 14th
It seems like everybody these days is talking about the earthquake in Japan, and with good reason. This was one of the largest earthquakes to be recorded in the area and its impact has been anything but minor. Not only was there damage from the initial seismic disturbance, but the following tsunami impacted coastal regions half way around the globe while devastating those closer to the epicenter.
There are all too many people crawling out of the woodwork to use this tragedy as proof of their own preferred “End of the World” scenario, and the worst part of such behavior is that it takes away precious energy that could be devoted to the real problems and questions that the Japanese earthquake has posed.
- People are in danger, and need help. While parts of Japan which were on the opposite side of the island, or inland, may be mostly intact, coastlines were ravaged and vital infrastructure has been compromised. Nuclear reactors are offline and countless people are without electricity. Rescue crews are still working constantly to dig through the rubble and debris for both victims and survivors. If you want to help, you can donate to the International Red Cross/Red Crescent here.
- Why is our ability to predict these events non-existent? It is no surprise to us anymore what causes earthquakes. When the energy stored along a fault line between tectonic plates exceeds a certain threshold, the plates grind and stutter against each other causing earthquakes and tsunamis. I understand that we have only had a standardized method of measuring these events for less than 100 years, but I personally can not help but ask if a few hundred million dollars spent on understanding our planet might have been better spent than an equivalent investment in bombs, or banker bailouts.
- How safe is nuclear energy, really? I will not deny being concerned about energy issues in general, and peak oil in particular. Nuclear energy has recently started regaining momentum as a possible solution since it was almost completely abandoned in the US after Three Mile Island. While there is plenty to fear from a meltdown, I get worried just trying to figure out what we’re supposed to do with the waste. I more than recognize the need to find sustainable energy, and quickly, but nuclear power is not a real solution to the problem.
We can learn a lot from the earthquake in Japan. We can face down serious questions about our energy. We can recognize that as much as we have learned in the last 100 years, we still have so much more to discover. Most importantly, we can learn that we are a durable and compassionate people capable of overcoming great adversity with the assistance of our fellow human beings.
2012, the Japanese Earthquake, and Basic Geology
Mar 14th
There are plenty of people trying to claim that the tragic Japanese earthquake is a sign of their own preferred End of the World scenario. You have people like Timothy Lahaye, “co author” of the Left Behind novels claiming that the earthquake was foretold in the bible. (Why didn’t you warn us? More importantly, why didn’t you try to warn Japan?) There are also people arguing that this is earthquake was triggered by solar flares, or is an early warning of massive polar shift. Of course we can not forget those who would say that the earthquake was caused by the “loosening of tectonic plates” prior to the arrival of Planet X.
The truth is that none of these things has anything at all to do with what is happening right now in Japan. What is happening right now in Japan is that people are suffering. People are dieing. Perhaps, most importantly, people are surviving, and people are working to help each other. Please, remember to take the time to do something to assist in the efforts of those heroes who are struggling right now to help those in need in Japan.
There is as it turns a very normal explanation for what seems like destruction on a mythic scale. It is geology. Japan is part of a global chain that surrounds the Pacific Ocean and is known as the “Ring of Fire.” This is a volatile region were tectonic plates are colliding and volcanoes are pushing magma from the Earth’s core to the surface. Seismic activity is common on the Ring of Fire. In fact, 90 percent of all earthquakes occur somewhere along this chain.
While those wishing to incite panic will point out that the intensity and frequency of earthquakes “seems to be getting worse and worse” they typically do not take into consideration how long we have been able to actually quantify earthquakes. The Richter scale wasn’t developed until 1935, and the now more accurate moment magnitude scale developed in the 1970s. While devices that could measure local seismic activity are quite old, the idea of a standard measurement for earthquakes and similar events is a new invention. To say that these disasters today are “far worse than ever before” is deliberately misleading. The accurate statement would be “this is the most activity we’ve recorded in the 85 some odd years we’ve bean measuring these things.” Which, when one assumes at the least, 6000 years of history, (or the more widely believed millions of years) is not saying very much at all.’
The Japanese earthquake is a tragedy. Feel free to do what you can to help those suffering there. But this was not foretold in the bible, it was not caused by a solar flare or another planet, and it does not mean the entire crust of the Earth is going to radically shift all at once. Don’t be bothered by such bedtime stories, there are real problems to worry about in this life.
Have you seen this status update “about” the Japanese Earthquake on Facebook?
Mar 14th
Sept 11th (NY) Jan 11th (Haiti) and March 11th (Japan)….Luke 21:10-11 Then Jesus said to his disciples : “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes’, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from Heaven. ‘Jesus says for behold I come quickly, [so... ask yourself are we ready?] [Sad to say Many won't re-post this msg]
If you have, you’re looking at another attempt to turn tragedy into, at best, a tool for proselytizing, and at worst, a cynical attempt to use fear and lies to coerce others into sharing a preferred belief structure. Obviously not everybody who will “re post” the message are liars trying to trick people. In fact, most of them are good people, including my own friend who posted it.
However, with even a little scrutiny the whole premise that attempts to link the very real suffering of these events with faith based wish fulfillment can not hold up. First, the date of the Haiti earthquake is incorrect. That unfortunate tragedy happened on January 12th. This has already shattered the tenuous “thread” that symbolically ties these events together. Second, the first event, the bombings of Sept 11, 2001, happened almost a decade a part from the other two tragedies. The earthquakes in both Haiti and in Japan just this weekend were only a year apart. So, it goes from Sept 2001, to Jan 2010 without any indication in the middle? Surely a google search could have provided a tragedy that happened on the 11th that was less than a decade old. (Or, that, you know, actually happened on the 11th.)
Of course, perhaps the most appalling part of this status update is that it lifts two verses from the bible without context and twists them to the intent of whomever it was that originated the post first. Here, let me demonstrate by actually including the very next verse, that is to say Luke 21:12, from the King James Version of the Bible.
“But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.”
That is to say that, while Jesus may be describing earthquakes as one of the many signs that “the End is Nigh” (Which he seemingly does I admit. I just want to say thanks for that very useful landmark. This strikes me as being similar to giving somebody directions to your house and telling them to “turn at the 7-11″ without specifying any other landmarks, or cross streets, or street names. Yet one more reason to remember, the Bible is allegory.) the events that would predate this rash of biblical tragedies and earthquakes should have already happened. But since Constantine converted to Christianity, it has become increasingly difficult to find examples of Christian’s being brought before rulers and leaders in the name of Christ. In fact, the recent Supreme Court ruling of Snyder v Phelps makes it quite obvious that Christians have not, and will not, be enduring any such hardships in the USA. The people of Japan on the other hand are dealing with hardships and tragedy that are too easily seen.
What happened in Japan this last weekend is awful. They will be picking up the pieces for weeks and months, enduring shortages in energy, food, water, and many other basic needs. Please, donate to charities such as the International Red Cross or others in an effort to help alleviate the suffering of others.
I do not personally identify as Christian, but I would like to follow that call to donate with one more quote from the Big JC. (Matthew 25: 34-40)
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Is the Japan Earthquake the beginning of the End?
Mar 13th
With the devastating earthquake, and subsequent tsunami that affected Japan and other Pacific nations this weekend some people are claiming that this is a sign that the planet is doomed, the clock is ticking, and that on Dec 21, 2012 the world as we know it will end. Frankly, this is utter bullshit. That is not to say that everybody who says it is willfully misleading others or fabricating the truth. Quite the contrary, it is to be very honest about your beliefs, very sincere, and still believe something that is categorically wrong. Like the idea that this earthquake has anything to do with any ideas about 2012.
This natural disaster was devastating without a doubt. The seismic activity has endangered homes, offices, business, nuclear power planets, you get the picture. An 8.9 earthquake is quite powerful and definitely capable of “shaking things up as it were.” To add insult to proverbial injury, the seismic activity caused a tsunami that created problems not just for Japan, but for coast lines all over the Western Pacific ocean.
As the days progress, rescue crews will work to the point of exhaustion and beyond attempting to help as many survivors as they possibly can. International charity organizations such as the Red Cross will be accepting donations for their efforts to bring food, water, medicine, and other basic provisions to those in the most need.
Once again, the people of Earth will be called upon to think of each other, to sacrifice something so that those in need may be provided for. This is not unusual, in fact, massive charity efforts frequently follow these kinds of disasters in the modern world, and with good reason. Our technology has brought all the people of this planet closer together than ever before. We are no longer ignorant of the suffering that may occur on the other side of the world, unless we choose to be.
For the most part however, we all see images like those coming out of Japan now, or those which came out of Haiti a little over a year ago, we are moved to do something, anything for our fellow human beings. While I often look at modern society and despair at the way we seem to be collectively oblivious to our own destructive nature, how many of us are willing to allow apathy and leisure dissuade us from pushing for positive change, it is, perhaps ironically, times like now when I am reminded of humanity’s nobility. Our ability, no our need to empathize, and share with those less fortunate gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, we can manage to survive our own actions. As for the theories about 2012, they may as well be bedtime stories about the boogie man.
The Year 2012: End of the World?
Feb 2nd
There is a lot of speculation these days about the possibility of a global cataclysm in the next few years. Most of this attention is based on the Mayan calendar. December 21, 2012 is the supposed end of the Mayan long form calendar, but it is only the end of one epoch, not the end of time. This date has been popularized by the modern media, being featured in everything from History Channel specials to a major Hollywood blockbuster film. There is no shortage of people out there willing to cash in on the attention being given to this phenomenon, but sadly, personal gain all too often outweighs informed or reasonable analysis.
To start off with most of the people talking about the “Mayan’s 2012 prophecy” do not have a proper understanding of the long count Mayan Calendar. December 21, 2012 is not actually the end of the calendar, it is the end of the 13th b’ak’tun. We will be delving into the intricacies of the Mayan calendar in the future, but to keep it simple for now, even the Mayans predicted events to occur after the 13th b’ak’tun’s conclusion. Not even the fascinating culture who’s calendar has inspired much of this frenzy thought that this impending date would be the end of the world.
End times prophecies and fears are common. While the most recent and easily remembered is probably the threat of the Y2K virus, they are not a new or recent phenomenon. Even the belief in an impending Rapture and biblical End Times prophecies, a relatively new school of thought within Christianity, is essentially only a little over 100 years old in a religion with a history that spans two millenniums. All you have to do is look at accounts of the turn of the first millennium to find evidence of groups shouting about the impending end of the world, and that was a thousand years ago.
However, it is also true that a failing infrastructure has left large segments of the population at risk from perfectly normal natural disasters. The National Academy of Sciences did issue a statement in January of 2009 warning about potential issues to modern electrical and communication networks caused by solar flaring. Prophecies might not be anything to worry about, but that does not mean there are no dangers presented by our reliance on modern systems and how they would interact with the processes of our planet and solar system.
It is our goal to not only examine theories and risks that modern society might face in the near future, it is our intention to provide reasonable advice you can act upon to help protect your self and your family. With all of the hysteria about the end times in today’s culture it is comforting to know that you are actually doing something. The year 2012 is probably not going to be the end of the world. However, unless we as a civilization fail to prepare ourselves and our culture to adapt to the challenges we will be facing in the future the era of man on Earth may be coming to a close sooner than we think.
