Is the apocalypse really starting?

[Nesquik]

Most of my friends say it is, the apocalypse in the bible.
In some countries churchs are getting closed and people is killing all the believers, it's supposed that it is the first step, not to scare but i think a yes too.
I want to know all the opinions even the ones of the non-believers.
What about if it is starting? world is ending, there are wars, more people die every day, more people is poor, countries only care about leadership. There is just one world, so why?

[Silhouette]

Ok, I'm not religious at all, but I do realize the kind of state the world is in now. Most of the stuff you've mentioned is basic human nature. It happens all the time. There are always wars, and people always die. Some wars are just hidden under larger wars.

There will always be poor people, and you need a strong leader to handle this.

Why? Its human nature to control others. To "wipe out" competition. That's where the wars and genocides come in..

Enough about that. The real problem is global warming. Here, we had temps in the 70s up till January, where it started to get a bit colder. We didn't even get snow until February. Global Warming won't do any serious damage until we're all dead, so its the future's problem.

Just sit back, enjoy your life, and should the world end soon due to some random apocalypse... Then the jokes on us, eh? It ends when it ends.

[Rihaku]

The Seventh Day Adventists, Anabaptists, and Millennial movement were all convinced that the world was over. They were all wrong.

The Earth's still got a few billion more years. Whether or not we're on it remains to be decided.

[EnzJon]

Don't you think that people were saying that there were all these same signs during WWI and WWII? People have been trying to predict the end of the world ever since they first found out it was going to happen sooner or later. Has it ended yet? Nah. I don't think so, at least. When it does, though, I'm assuming that it'll be when no one ever predicted it to be.

[Momentum]

People were talking about June 6th 2006 (6/6/06) that like an Anti-Christ is coming or will be "presenting himself on TV" guess what nothing happened... So no I don't think Apocalypse is starting NOW maybe in a few more years...
I believe being poor, people dying etc etc... are yeah just part of human nature...

[M_A]

All of the ssumptions of the world ending anytime soon are completely unfounded and have no weight behind them. Just because things are bad around the world doesn't mean that it will end, it means that human nature is corrupt. There were many events in history that were a lot worse than everything that is happening now (holocaust) and if the world did not cease to exist at that hellish time, iot is simply illogical to assume that it will end any time soon.

[James Cizuz]

Funny thing about the end of the world, the claims are so far open that it seems like the end of the world is happening every 50 years.

All the people who believe in it almost predict it every 50-100 years. So trusting what they are saying know I would not trust, it may just cause panic. Other then that these events happen all the time. Actually it's hard to find a time in history where churchs were not pursecuting others for beliefs.

As for it actually happening, ever, well very unlikely close to a millionth of a present chance of happening.

Also, do not fear it, if it is happening do not panic, you will just go to heaven anyway right? Or so it says.

[Habanero]

What is the world's end anyway...?

When all humans have been wiped out? When all life has been wiped out from the earth? Or when the whole planet has been wiped out?

It's really not that hard for humans to get wiped out. We're doing pretty good job at that ourselves at the moment. :p

The whole humanrace could be wiped out through various ways any day actually, the probability of it happening is quite slim though.

[James Cizuz]

He is not talking about people. He is talking about the revelations in the bible which predict the end of the world. Problem is it does not give a date, so if anything similar happens to it, or first steps people think it's happening. Then you get whats happening now. So yea...

I agree with some of this but I think global warming is'nt, please don't take it personal I just feel that it was made up.
Really, you know what a lot of people would of agreed with you 1 year ago. The government, and the majority of scientists now agree it is real, and humans are the cause. It is no longer the theory of global warming but the fact.

[Arei]

Most of my friends say it is, the apocalypse in the bible.
In some countries churchs are getting closed and people is killing all the believers, it's supposed that it is the first step, not to scare but i think a yes too.
I want to know all the opinions even the ones of the non-believers.
What about if it is starting? world is ending, there are wars, more people die every day, more people is poor, countries only care about leadership. There is just one world, so why?
That first one you mentioned has happened for centuries unmeasurable, its nothing new. Actually all that stuff isn't new, its been happening and will continue to happen.
I don't think we're going to have a good sign fortelling the coming end of the world, I think it'll just happen and we'll know.
Alot of things people say are going to happen at the end of the world thats in the Bible are not what acctually will happen, heck you can't find alot of it in there. Different groups have their own interpretation of the worlds ending. I strongly beleive in the return of christ and the judgement day

[Habanero]

He is not talking about people. He is talking about the revelations in the bible which predict the end of the world. Problem is it does not give a date, so if anything similar happens to it, or first steps people think it's happening. Then you get whats happening now. So yea...

Oh yeah... I was concentrating too much on the last few posts instead of the OP...

I've read the book of revelations some years ago. It's quite amusing and in my opinion the most entertaining book in the bible. If 3rd world war ever starts, I think it's gonna be quite easy to fit the message of the book of revelations into that time.

New testament is so messed up anyway because of how many texts never were put into it. There was about 200-300 different gospels of which these 4 were voted to be picked for the new testament, probably because those 4 the least contradicted each other...

But anyways, I wouldn't worry that much about Apocalypse :p

[II Xion II]

Since I do not believe that the Book of Revelation refers to the actual cataclysmic end of Earth, I have to say "no." However, that is not to say that I do not believe that the world will soon (within centuries) come to a cataclysmic end. Whether it is from some natural catastrophe, war, or our own ignorance, I think that the world is in the "end days." I could be wrong, but seriously, it is just my opinion based on an analysis of climate, world events, moral decay, etc. et. alli.

I have to say that I do not think angels will start blowing trumpets and the rivers will start to turn to wormwood though.

@James: Please refrain from double-posting, the rest of us try not to do it, so please do not do it either. If you have something additional to say then edit your previous post or wait for a response.

[.multi]

I'm not Christian but if people still act the way they do, we're going to all die. People are probably going to start wars for energy (oil, natural gas, coal, etc.) then the most powerful country will just wipe out an opposing countries (not pointing out any now). Then probably either we all die from that because of some unexpected consequence or aliens pop up and do stuff. Or become extinct like dinosaurs. It's a sad story really.

[Mugen]

like now the world is going to cripple over it`s very foundation........and Global Warming isn`t helping things either but hey just like life the way you want and when the apocalypse comes or whatever hold yer head high and don`t regret anything.

[Donut]

Meh, it's just christians sayin' that kinda stuff just because they want attention. Friggin' emos. :rolleye09

But no, I don't think the "apocalypse" is starting... Even if it did, it'd be kinda cool. You might think I'm crazy, sick and perverted for saying this, but I'd be kinda cool to know you haven't missed anything. Like, you were there at the end. Being one of the last humans would be badass. And surviving the Apocalypse would be superbadass.

[James Cizuz]

I agree Rikku. You going to hell to? We should all have a gathering party or something when we get there, hope to see you there!


Spam much? Last I checked debates section was meant to be a about debating, not about agreeing that being in Hell is fun =\
-Undying

[Donut]

Splendid! (<--- Have been wanting to say that for a long time now...)

I'll bring the muffins, I'm looking forward to it!

Spam much? Last I checked debates section was meant to be a about debating, not about agreeing that being in Hell is fun =\
-Undying

[Epyon94]

Well I guess I'll be joining both of you in hell but that is besides the point.

I personaly don't think the world is ending. Death, poverty, war, they've been around since humanity first cralled out or the forests, and plains of our ancestors (Yes I am an evolutionist, and I'm wiccan too, you can flame me later).
Hell War is a driving factor in the economy of many nations, including my friends to the south The United States of America, and as long as war creates an economic profit it will continue to exist, and with it Death and poverty go hand in hand.
And as long as those factors exist people will be claiming that the end of the world is upon us.
Anyways the Miyans predicted that the world would end on December 23rd 2012, and they were very acurate with many of their other predictions, so either way we have some time.
Hey Rikku and James wait for me, we might as well go to hell together...

anyways that's my two sence, next person here bieth the floor...

[Kyouka Suigetsu]

In all likelihood, the world isn't going to end anytime soon. Nothing short of a drastic cosmic event could cause the destruction of even of a small planetoid like our's. The obliteration of the world as we know is within the realm of normal possibility though. Global warming and nuclear war could easily make Earth a very hostile place for human existence. I feel that we should do what we can to preserve or preferrably better the current state, but worrying about the end of everything serves no purpose in the scope of an average human life.

[Sushi]

There is no scientific evidence to support the end of the world coming for at least another few billion years. If we manage to stay on the earth till then, all we need to worry about is the sun exploding, meteors, and global warming.

However, we probably won't last till then. Weapons are becoming more and more advanced, and the U.S. alone has enough Nukes to blow up the earth 4 times. If a WWIII ever comes about, we're doomed. That's what we should be worrying about, not what some nutjob said when he was high one day. I mean, do those people on the street wearing cardboard vests that say "the end is near" look very believable to you? Not to me

[Sub.Shinigami]

Yeah, I think. I was watching this video on the ancient Mayans, and their calendar has predicted every thing so far, like eclipses and all that stuff. It consists of systems of gears. Compared to modern calendars, their calendar is just 30 seconds behind after like hundreds of years. And it predicts that the world will end in 2012 in december, and it gave a exact day and time , but I forgot it.

[CallouS]

The Apocalypse...?


Can much worse happen? Human-beings are a plague to the once-pure earth. We corrupt, pollute, rape, pillage, and ravage the earth for materialistic items.


Oil, for an example? Many through plans for alternate sources of power have been suggested, but for some reason, are never passed. People are ignorant, arrogant, filthy imperfections.


You ask of an Apocalypse? I think of it as a simple cleansing.

[ulrich_wolff]

Religiously, and I stress religiously its logical to believe the end of the world is coming near considering the heat in the middle east. Though, its always been rather heated there hasn't it? I believe the meaning of "apoclypse" has been lost here. The "apoclypse" is the final battle that is to take place in a valley called apoclypse in the middle east, not sure what the modern term for the valley is. When the temple is destroyed and rebuit, you will know it is the end times.


As my personal point of view, the world is always coming to an end, just as my life is coming to an end.




Some one said "what we have to worry about is global warming the weather is strange here blah blah blah..." No. Global warming is media hype. There have been multiple little ice ages over the history of this frickin' planet, before pollution existed. Though I agree, poisoning the planet with chemicals should be taken under control. Needless to say though, we are not dieing any time soon from global warming!

Please refer here for further information :

http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/lia/little_ice_age.html






The Apocalypse...?


Can much worse happen? Human-beings are a plague to the once-pure earth. We corrupt, pollute, rape, pillage, and ravage the earth for materialistic items.


Oil, for an example? Many through plans for alternate sources of power have been suggested, but for some reason, are never passed. People are ignorant, arrogant, filthy imperfections.


You ask of an Apocalypse? I think of it as a simple cleansing.
How dramatic! All the horrible things humans have done, horrible indeed! What good have we done? There is that too. We love, we create, we build, we save, we protect, we unite, we care. Of all the animals on this earth, only humans are capable of great and wonderous things, or horrible things. Be one on the weight of good and perhaps the world will shift!

[xxBluebird]

People have been thinking that the world is going to end for a very long time (Y2k, 6/6/6, now it's 2012...) and obviously, it hasn't yet. And when it does, well, that's it then, isn't it? If the world is going to end there's not much you can do about it.

The world's not ending because of global warming, that I'm pretty sure of. The world goes in ice age-global warming-ice age cycles, and we're in one of the global warming bits right now.

The world ending religiously [meaning it was predicted in the bible or another religious book/scroll/word] either means we're going to explode ourselves to extinction because of war, or it just means the end of the world of religion. I mean, either there are more athiests/agnostics around now or I just haven't heard of them until last year. Years ago, athiests were probably labeled as heretics and before that they were just plain old killed. Same might go for anyone who lived anywhere near an extremist religious community and didn't believe what said community believed.

[IkkakuKid]

Scientists have predicted the next ice age, and if you look back at the last massive ice age, there was a large time period of global warming beforehand. Therefore its safe to say that another ice age is coming (who knows the severety). However the global warming issues with polution is just speeding up the process. Global warming is happening quicker then espected because of green house gases etc. Global warming being the precursor to an ice age, definately suggest we are on a path that will lead to a colder world. The apocalypse is not upon us. The world will not end. I am sure the ppl on this planet will adapt to anything mother nature throws at us. As for the Catholic christian religious apocalypse, i dont think it has started, and to be honest will ever start. The four horsemen arent coming to knock on your door ppl.

[Reyin]

I'm just going to throw this out there; There is no conclusive evidence either way. Every argument is going to be either based on supposition, or upon religious beliefs. If based upon religion you may as well not argue unless you're prepared to convert the person(s) you're arguing with. Saying there is scientific evidence that the apocalypse is coming is false. Every single piece of "scientific" evidence I've seen has been refuted and debunked.

[II Xion II]

You can believe what you want based on the evidence you want but it is inconclusive.

Frankly I do not think it is, primarily because my beliefs are not Christian in nature and because I think that similar events have happened throughout history so nothing obvious is actually happening that would be "new" or would fulfill a prophecy.

But 2012 is an interesting date nonetheless and carries a lot more merit and intrigue than 2000 or any other date for that matter so we'll have to wait and see...though I doubt anything much will actually happen at all then.

Let's hope I do not eat my words. :p

[Rozene]

I agree that arguing the religious aspects will not get us far. The whole 2012 issue seems interesting. I always wonder what else they will say might happen during that time. Theres the ice age due to the pole shifts and global warming (which I feel will/is happening). Also I heard that the Earth may be soon aligning with either a black hole or the center of the Milky Way (forget which one..actually I think I heard both interchangeable). Then heard of major volcanoes erupting and the occasional asteroid hit. But a group of us have came up with the idea of throwing a party around that Dec. 21, 2012 date so if the world does come to an end...we will go out with a blast, possibly passed out.

[Takeshi]

Yeah, I think. I was watching this video on the ancient Mayans, and their calendar has predicted every thing so far, like eclipses and all that stuff. It consists of systems of gears. Compared to modern calendars, their calendar is just 30 seconds behind after like hundreds of years. And it predicts that the world will end in 2012 in december, and it gave a exact day and time , but I forgot it.

That's the exact same thing I heard, So I guess we'll have to wait until 2012 or until war just destroys us all which shouldn't be that far away. But I'm going to have to go with China taking over the world. With their ever so rapidly growing population, they'll have to gain more land sooner or later. Just throwing out random ideas here.

[ClayFace]

The interesting thing about most world religions and cultures is that there is usually coinciding belief of a past catastrophy that nearly destroyed the world. Most of these religions/civilizations have a similar belief about "the flood" that brought man to the verge of annihilation and from the ruins we rebuilt. While some believe that these are just fables meant to teach man to respect/honor God/Gods its makes you think that about how cultures and religions the globe over share the same mythos even if it is told differently. Could be that our ancestors really were trying to warn us of history repeating?

The Mayans believe that the world will end in 2012, though technologically not as advanced to us today, they were a civilization with a surprisingly extensive understanding of astronomy and the world around them. I think someone mentioned them visualizing the universe as a set of gears. I've read about this and scientists who theorize about "Armageddon" believe it can happen geologically by the earth switching magnetic poles causing a shift in climate and possibly floods like the reversing of giant gears of the Earth. But yeah... There as someone else said about there will always be 2 sides to every story and it seems to be the pattern of man to only react in times of need rather than preemptively but could the rise in number and severity of natural disasters be signs of a greater looming disaster in the future?




This a little far fetched and sounds a little sci fi to me but since I really like sci-fi I thought I'd throw this one out there for the shits and giggles of it :D... My science teacher in High School told us that isotopes have been found in Antarctica that could only have been formed in the presence of a nuclear reaction/explosion. The weird thing about finding these isotopes is that they've been dated back to a time before knowledge about atomic energy was never even a reality according to our current knowledge... pre-history. I don't know if this is even true... Seems like something that would sound rational after smoking a bus load of weed... :P

[Juniahh]

Well every new generation people look at the bible and try to relate what they see there and in there current time. This is why every few years the world is coming to an end i.e. The Apocalypse. Take Y2K for example, the people who were reading a bible thought that things off the bible were very similar to what was going on at the current time. Then other people got involved and made a huge commotion on a new millennium which in the end nothing happened. Same thing happened a long time ago. Some weird priest thought he knew when the world was going to end gathered up followers and each year, same day, same month, same time he would get everyone "ready" for The Apocalypse and this went on for years until he died. So if anything don't worry about it enjoy your life and until you actually see "flying horsemen" killing everyone you have nothing to worry about.

[Dradam]

I dunno if this has already been mentioned, but i think that something is happening... I mean food prices have reached an all time high, same with fuel, basically the earth can no longer support this level of population and development. Put simply its like going over your pop cap, your food res goes down slowly until you do something to fix it, and i think the Earth is doing that on it's own, i mean in the last week alone 350,000 people have died as a result of natural disasters, earthquakes in china have so far killed 150,000, Iceland has also been hit, and some other countries as well, cyclones in Burma, major flooding in the UK again this time inland in somerset. Recently on the coast here in norfolk, there was major storm surges that left most of the beaches a mess of debris...
You've really got to wonder what is going on?

[Manchester Black]

basically the earth can no longer support this level of population and development.

This could be true. But with the expansion of technology and society, humans will start to leave Earth and go out into space. In the future, Earth will probably not be that great a place to live. I'm sure there will be colonies and things like that on other planets/moons though.

I really don't think the apocalypse is coming any time soon. There have been so many instances in the past when people thought it was finally here, and nothing happened. That's because the predictions from things like the Bible, Nostradamus, etc., are so generalized that it's pretty hard not to find something that sounds kind of like the prediction. The last big thing all these apocalypse believers have is the 2012 thing with the Mayan calendar. I wonder what they'll say when nothing comes of that.

[Kaze]

The apocalypse has been coming for two thousand years.

And it hasn't happened yet.

Enough said.

[Dradam]

I disagree, and i find your post somewhat pointless.
If it hasn't come for two thousand years, then isn't it about due to come now?
I do not think that you have said enough to iterate your point fully...
@ manchester
Yeah i agree on solution is to move to the stars and build colonies, but you have to ask will humanity as a whole be prepared and ready to leave when the time comes, and when it does and we're not ready, who will be on those last shuttles out? will it be the prettiest, the smartest, the average man? the politician, the soldier, the accountant? the leader, the follower or the advisor? how will it be determined? a lottery? a council of decision makers? a vote?
Tbh when that time comes, i think there will be a time of anarchy and panic, mass blackouts will probably cover most of the globe as the energy and fuel sources run out, then no matter what you say there will be war over the last few drops, and i am predicting it will be sooner rather than later since the first supplies are predicted to run out by 2010. The main thing that has driven man to war since the beginning of evolution is a contest over natural resources, in this case i think there will be two sidesm the russians and chinese (ex-communist) against western europe and america (pro-capitalist)...

[Kaze]

I disagree, and i find your post somewhat pointless.
If it hasn't come for two thousand years, then isn't it about due to come now?
I do not think that you have said enough to iterate your point fully...


Your logic here is flawed.

You think that two thousand years time is a pretty lengthy period of time, so, naturally, you assume that it's "just about time" that the world ended, however, thousands of years are but grains of sand in the Sahara desert compared to the infinity of time. Human civilization might reach the year 5 million, then this two thousand year period will seem like a flash.

Also, let me explain my point.

Ever since the book of revelations was written, people have been arguing this very same topic. For the longest while it was thought the year 1000 would be the year in which the world ended. 1000 came and went and the world didn't end.

A person in the year 999 could have said the same thing, "1000 years is a pretty long time, so I guess God wants us to die now". The year 2000 was next. Obviously, nothing happened. No cataclysm, no nuclear war, nada, zilch. I'm pretty sure that when 3000 comes around people will be fairly paranoid if religion (read: christianity) will have survived by then.

There is no reason whatsoever to believe the end of the world is coming, in the metaphysical sense, partly because it depends on God, whose existence is impossible to prove, wanting to murder 6.7 billion human beings (because he loves you).

However, if you believe in God and the bible, then there really is no way to convince you that the end of the world is not coming, because, well, if there was, you wouldn't be believing in God in the first place.

[Dradam]

Ok, i don't believe in God, and no i do not think that my logic is flawed, i am well aware that in the grand scheme of things a thousand years of time is almost no time at all in terms of the Earth, however in terms of humans, a thousand years is a very long time indeed. I am not nessacerily talking about God killing people on the planet, i am talking about humanities own destruction which is coming, that i am certain of.
Just look at the statistics for nuclear weaponry, the leader america has about 300,000 nuclear warheads, Israel alone has 150 nukes, all it takes is one of them to go off, and the russians and chinese will return fire with their arsenals, which i think almost match the US's.
I agree people think that the world is going to end all the time, and yeah most of the time they are wrong, but if you read my post then you will see that the number of natural disasters are increasing exponentially and that the number of dead from these are in fact rising. Food on the planet has run out, its not a matter of running out, it is that there is no longer enough wheat on the planet to support the life here, some people are being forced to buy bread by the slice because they can't afford to buy a loaf anymore. We have droughts, we have epidemics of diseases, we have pests destroying crops, and to top it off we have the worst natural disasters for well over a hundred years. Oil reserves are running low, so are other metals and natural resources, soon there will be war over these remaining resources between the worlds superpowers. Then my friends, then, we will have fire coming down from the sky.

[Reyin]

Ok, i don't believe in God, and no i do not think that my logic is flawed, i am well aware that in the grand scheme of things a thousand years of time is almost no time at all in terms of the Earth, however in terms of humans, a thousand years is a very long time indeed. I am not nessacerily talking about God killing people on the planet, i am talking about humanities own destruction which is coming, that i am certain of.
Just look at the statistics for nuclear weaponry, the leader america has about 300,000 nuclear warheads, Israel alone has 150 nukes, all it takes is one of them to go off, and the russians and chinese will return fire with their arsenals, which i think almost match the US's.
I agree people think that the world is going to end all the time, and yeah most of the time they are wrong, but if you read my post then you will see that the number of natural disasters are increasing exponentially and that the number of dead from these are in fact rising. Food on the planet has run out, its not a matter of running out, it is that there is no longer enough wheat on the planet to support the life here, some people are being forced to buy bread by the slice because they can't afford to buy a loaf anymore. We have droughts, we have epidemics of diseases, we have pests destroying crops, and to top it off we have the worst natural disasters for well over a hundred years. Oil reserves are running low, so are other metals and natural resources, soon there will be war over these remaining resources between the worlds superpowers. Then my friends, then, we will have fire coming down from the sky.

I get what you're saying, but the overall issue here is that it requires a suppressed premise and there are a couple facts that are wrong.

Firstly that the earth is more than a few thousand years old. I'm not saying I believe one way or the other, but there are those in the intelligent design sector of debate that believe the earth is only a few thousand years old, as compared to millions of years old. While it might seem ridiculous to someone who believes it's millions of years old, it's generally speaking, part of someones religious beliefs and they're just going to ignore your argument as being unsound if you tell them it's millions of years old.

The second problem is that there have been droughts and pests resulting in famine since the beginning of mankind. The biggest issue at the moment is not in the global volume of crops being produced, but the fact that because of money, distribution is a problem.

Last, and while it doesn't really matter because 5,000 is still overkill, the U.S. doesn't have 300,000 nuclear warheads, it has 5,000.

As it stands, I agree that the end of the world could come at any time, we could blow ourselves up several times over. Is it likely to happen? Who knows, one thing is for sure though with China, if the U.S. were destroyed, they would lose an enormous portion of their demand for production, and it would collapse their economy, the reverse is true of the U.S. If China were destroyed, the U.S. would lose and enormous portion of their imported goods, enough to crash our economy. Both governments know this, and as a result I don't think we're likely to see any great conflict between the two.

[Dradam]

(Firstly, my bad on the typo meant 30,000.)

I think it was a mistake on my part to mention nuclear warheads, or at least try to pin a number on them. For the simple fact that i am getting mixed numbers, from the NRDC i am gettin the picture of over 20,000 in the year 2002, and well over the ability to produce at least 5,000 every subsequent year. However if you look at the reports starting the year 1945, then there is clearly a very steep exponential curve in the ability to produce this nuclear arsenal, which will easily make it 50,000 nuclear warheads today.
As for the importation and economic import reliance on China, you must be having a laugh. When it comes down to the restrictions of natural resources, imports and exports won't mean a thing. When the resources start running low, every government is going to try to secure what they can for themselves. They're not going to be caring about imports and exports, especially not if they attack they can control the supply directly...