Fundies and the Mayan apocalypse

[SayNoToMullets]

On my lunch break yesterday, I got a lovely surprise - there was an Apocalypsemobile driving around downtown Chicago, a van covered in Bible quotes with a speaker on top of it, with the driver broadcasting predictions of gloom and doom in the very near future.

I thought it a little bit odd, since a fundie Christian probably wouldn't subscribe to other beliefs of the ancient Mayans, so why this one? Do fundies just love doomsday predictions as a kind of salvation fire sale?

[Eternalbluepearl]

While the fundies probably wouldn't believe in the 2012 apocalypse prediction, they are assuming the heathens will and that is their foot in the door. Ever notice "fundies" spells "fun dies"?

[latraviata]

On my lunch break yesterday, I got a lovely surprise - there was an Apocalypsemobile driving around downtown Chicago, a van covered in Bible quotes with a speaker on top of it, with the driver broadcasting predictions of gloom and doom in the very near future.

I thought it a little bit odd, since a fundie Christian probably wouldn't subscribe to other beliefs of the ancient Mayans, so why this one? Do fundies just love doomsday predictions as a kind of salvation fire sale?

I love that man:

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[GeoBQn]

The Hillel I work at got a call from a reporter who was writing a story about how religious groups in town were handling the Mayan Apocalypse. He wanted to know if we were talking with students about it. The director replied, "Uh . . . no. The students don't take it seriously, and end-of-the-world predictions aren't really a part of Judaism at all." I think he really disappointed the reporter by being so reasonable.

[Closed Womb]

I would think that was just a coincidence. The fundies (really, many mainstream Christians too) have been promoting the end of the world as we know it (or the rapture, or the end times...) for quite a while now. In fact, I'd be pretty surprised if it was related, considering the verse "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matthew 24:35-36). They are very invested in the fact that no. one. knows. when. so you should accept God right now, because it could all end any second.

Young Christian women fret about this quite a bit -- they want to get married now, to know what sex is like, because God is coming any moment. Once a friend of mine said that her 60+ year old Mom felt the same way when she was young; the end of the world has been coming for a long time. Mind you, to God a day is like a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8) so that explains why TEOTWAWKI is so close, but yet so far.

[jenny_islander]

I would think that was just a coincidence. The fundies (really, many mainstream Christians too) have been promoting the end of the world as we know it (or the rapture, or the end times...) for quite a while now. In fact, I'd be pretty surprised if it was related, considering the verse "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matthew 24:35-36). They are very invested in the fact that no. one. knows. when. so you should accept God right now, because it could all end any second.

Young Christian women fret about this quite a bit -- they want to get married now, to know what sex is like, because God is coming any moment. Once a friend of mine said that her 60+ year old Mom felt the same way when she was young; the end of the world has been coming for a long time. Mind you, to God a day is like a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8) so that explains why TEOTWAWKI is so close, but yet so far.

OTOH, cutting and pasting Bible verses in an attempt to construct a timeline for the End of the World is a long-time fundamentalist obsession, never mind Jesus's admonition quoted above.

The point, to my lukewarm mainstream mind, is to live as if the next thing you are going to hear is a voice going "Okay, everybody out of the pool, time to clean and refill!" How does that look? To paraphrase: 1. Remember to love the One who loves you and 2. Be excellent to each other. When is the whistle going to blow? Not my business.

[DifferentGurl]

First, why would Fundies believe in the Mayans? They were EBIL PAGANS!

Second, isn't there a passage in the Bible saying that we wouldn't know the exact time and date when the world will end?

[pixydust]

First, why would Fundies believe in the Mayans? They were EBIL PAGANS!

Second, isn't there a passage in the Bible saying that we wouldn't know the exact time and date when the world will end?

Yes, there is, but that doesn't seem to stop them! I heard that it was going to be 1990 (that scared the piss out of me, I was 12 and I just wanted to get to grow the hell up!), 1997 (I think...), 1999, 2000, etc.....