Doomsday seers: The end of prophecy isn't nigh
SIGN OF THE TIMES
By RICK de YAMPERT
With the year 2000 charging toward us like some sort of cosmic buffalo, all sorts of prophets
are predicting the end of the world. Doomsday cults are becoming as common as salt.
In the spirit of these times, now I can reveal: I once was a member of a doomsday cult. Well,
sort of.
When I was about 7 years old, I saw one of those school science films and the uncle-like
narrator smiled perversely and said, "One day the sun is going to burn out!"
Not for a second did I doubt the revelation. I believed! Because I believed, and because I
didn't have much of a concept of time, and because I didn't have any concept of my own
mortality, this sun thing scared the bejeezus out of me!
I can still recall this sinking feeling of doom that writhed in my gut. "One day the sun's going to
burn out and the whole earth and every one and every thing is going to freeze! Freeze to
death! Including me!" I thought.
Of course, I soon figured out that I probably wouldn't be around when the sun poofed out and
the earth turned into a giant snow cone of death, and I returned to a carefree life of pick-up
football and toy trucks.
As near as I can tell, that panicky feeling of doom must be what a lot of prophets are inspiring
in folks these days. As mentioned, anticipation of the big 2-0-0-0 is creating a buzz among the
end-of-the-world set.
Heck, that buzz has been percolating for centuries. Nostradamus, that granddaddy of
doomsday seers, said back in the 1550s that the "Great King of Terror" would arrive in 1999,
followed by the "end of the world age" in 2000. Should we be spooked that Nostradamus
accurately forecast the date of his death -- July 2, 1566?
In the 11th century, a visionary named Malachy penned brief, colorful descriptions of all the
popes to come until the end of time. Many observers say his epigrams are right on. For
example, Malachy's "Light of Heaven" indeed seems to fit 19th-century Pope Leo XIII,
whose family crest was a comet.
The bad news: St. Malachy lists only two more popes to follow the present John Paul II.
Yikes!
Today's prophets are no slouches, as everything from Atlantis to the Antichrist, computers to
communists figure in end-of-the-world scenarios.
Lori Adaile Toye, who's in touch with four "Tibetan masters," says a giant meteorite will strike
Nevada, causing Florida and California to sink beneath the sea. Byron Kirkwood says a shift
in the earth's axis will kill two-thirds of the planet's population, while the survivors will be
rescued by "the space brothers."
And let's don't forget that king bee of Christian doomsday dudes, Hal Lindsey. In his 1970
book, "The Late Great Planet Earth," he deciphered biblical prophecy and claimed that
current events in the Middle East and Russia are fulfilling the visions of the ancient Hebrew
seers. Armageddon and the Antichrist, Lindsey hinted, are just around the corner.
Even for nonbelievers, all this doomsday stuff can get creepy, even chilling and tragic. Recall
that recent millennialist cults such as the Branch Davidians and the Order of the Solar Temple
came to deadly demises.
But we can take comfort in the prophecies of William Miller, who predicted that the world
would end in 1843. Wrong. That comet Jeanne Dixon said would hit the earth in 1985?
Wrong. Harold Camping's Bible-based doom date of September 1994? Wrong.
Tired of fellow Christians who abuse the prophecy game, William Alnor penned "Soothsayers
of the Second Advent." The book's telling subtitle: "A compelling expose of doomsday dating,
pin-the-tail-on-the-Antichrist, and other non-biblical games that Christians play."
In fact, the doomsday field is littered with faulty prophets who've had their excited followers
ready to board the giant space arc to safety, only to be stood up.
One prophet I do have faith in: pop music star Prince. As he said in his song "1999," the turn
of the millenium should be one big party. Let's just hope the Antichrist, nuclear missiles,
comets and the space brothers aren't invited.
Rick de Yampert is a News-Journal staff writer. |
