Of course, some nutter, somewhere in the world, will try to make something spectacularly bad happen today to justify their view of the Mayan prophecy that the world will end today. It's in the nature of both prophecies and of nutters to live in that swirling headspace, the space where poets, visionaries, shamans, one-man crusades, griffins, phoenixes and Harry Potter are regular customers alongside religious fundamentalists of all stripes, and their atheist counterparts. A kind of Star Wars bar, where all the glasses are half full of the most dangerous spiked brew.
This is the big danger of prophecy - not that people believe them, nor even that they come to pass or don't come to pass. Rather, the problem is that people get it into their heads that is is up to them to bring them to pass. So I guess we're all safe for today, provided that people who really could bring about the end of the world (USA, UK, Russia, China, North Korea, India, Pakistan, Israel and one or two others) don't get it into their heads that it's their God-given role to make it happen.
Ronald Reagan once said that we could be living in the generation that saw Armageddon. For any politician in control of nuclear weapons, that's a truly terrifying thing to think, let alone actually say. So if you're a praying person, perhaps praying for the people with their fingers on the big red buttons today would be a positive contribution. And if you're not, then let's all make sure we use the influence we have from today onwards to vote, act, think, create, write, speak, sing, organise, work, teach, spend and yes, prophesy for a world that will continue in better shape than it is today.
The Dangers of Prophecy
Of course, some nutter, somewhere in the world, will try to make something spectacularly bad happen today to justify their view of the Mayan prophecy that the world will end today. It's in the nature of both prophecies and of nutters to live in that swirling headspace, the space where poets, visionaries, shamans, one-man crusades, griffins, phoenixes and Harry Potter are regular customers alongside religious fundamentalists of all stripes, and their atheist counterparts. A kind of Star Wars bar, where all the glasses are half full of the most dangerous spiked brew.
This is the big danger of prophecy - not that people believe them, nor even that they come to pass or don't come to pass. Rather, the problem is that people get it into their heads that is is up to them to bring them to pass. So I guess we're all safe for today, provided that people who really could bring about the end of the world (USA, UK, Russia, China, North Korea, India, Pakistan, Israel and one or two others) don't get it into their heads that it's their God-given role to make it happen.
Ronald Reagan once said that we could be living in the generation that saw Armageddon. For any politician in control of nuclear weapons, that's a truly terrifying thing to think, let alone actually say. So if you're a praying person, perhaps praying for the people with their fingers on the big red buttons today would be a positive contribution. And if you're not, then let's all make sure we use the influence we have from today onwards to vote, act, think, create, write, speak, sing, organise, work, teach, spend and yes, prophesy for a world that will continue in better shape than it is today.