May 21, 2011 is ...

[Gravekeeper]

I am no expert theologian, but I believe there are two very common interpretations of Revelation by most Christians.

Nero's name is equal to 666, in Hebrew anyway, and Revelations was written during his reign or immediately after it. In this interpretation it makes more sense as a big metaphor.

The second interpretation is the crack smoking one. If its not metaphorical, then its literally the writings of a dude alone on an island having "visions" <cough>. Aka he's the crazy dude outside of 7/11 with a sign.

Personally I've found Revelation to be a challenge. I think it's highly implausible (but not entirely impossible) that the events described could actually ever happen but it's so deep with metaphor and symbolism it's quite tricky to discern what St. John the Divine actually *meant* when he wrote it.

Considering what Revelations entails, I'm going with entirely impossible. Revelations technically spans 1000 years and two wars ( the intial armageddon where Satan is finally ass kicked into a pit, then another war 1000 years later when Satan comes back yet again with a new army. Only to get stomped again ).

It also specifically calls for an army of 200 million to kill almost 2.2 billion people ( an army of 200 million will slay "One third of the world's population" ). Which logistically speaking would be pretty damn impressive even with modern weaponry.

This is all, of course, assuming Revelations is intact in its original form and translation which, like many books in the Bible, is debatable and a point of contention amongst scholars.

[Ghel]

Roughly 2 days and counting. Anyone planning on eating at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe?

I'd love to have an "it's not the end of the world" party, but I didn't think of it soon enough to invite anyone.

Three more days until the backpedaling begins.

[Rapscallion]

I think you'll find loads of 'recalculation' instead of backpedalling.

Rapscallion

[Ghel]

It amounts to the same thing, since they won't admit that their basic premises were wrong: the world is not going to end any time soon and there's not going to be a Rapture.

[XCashier]

After the work week I've had, every time I see one of those billboards I say, "Bring it on!"

[Andara Bledin]

It's a shame the site doesn't mention what time. I was wondering whether the rapture is supposed to happen while I'm at the renaissance faire, or if it won't come until I'm at the furry barbecue...

Oh, and the world doesn't appear to actually end for 5 more months, in October, during which time all the sinners left behind get tormented or some crap.

^-.-^

[Mishi]

According to the interview with one of the local members, the earthquake is meant to start in Jerusalem around midnight their time. For me that's around 8am, 22/05/2011, since I'm in the GMT+10 zone.

Edited to add: Whoops, my mistake - here's an interview with Camping that says 6pm on the 21st. http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/05...arold_cam.html Following the sun though the timezones. Hmm, that's interesting... considering sunset today is going to be at 5:05pm. *Shrugs*

[Hyena Dandy]

I feel really, really sorry for the people who believe that its going to be the end of the world. One, its theologically unsound (the Bible does say nobody will know the day), and two, people are constantly living their lives believing this will be the end. When the day comes, and we all turn out okay, it'll hurt them, emotionally. In a way that really, nobody deserves.

[Gravekeeper]

I feel really, really sorry for the people who believe that its going to be the end of the world.

Can't say as I do, as believing it requires raging stupidity and/or willful blind ignorance. Considering this is the second time this old twit has predicted the end of the world ( Surprise surprise, last time he was wrong too ). No one's forcing them to believe this bullshit, so I can't say as I have much sympathy for them. They bring all of this upon themselves quite willingly, and with some actually enjoy the smugness of assuring themselves they'll be the "chosen ones."

[Nyoibo]

Well it's the 21st and the world hasn't ended.

[protege]

They bring all of this upon themselves quite willingly, and with some actually enjoy the smugness of assuring themselves they'll be the "chosen ones."

No sympathy from me either. They brought themselves into this mess. BTW, did anyone see in the article...that some of his fellow nutjobs even blew through their entire savings, and/or quit their jobs because of what this twit has said? Again, they brought it upon themselves.

[smileyeagle1021]

Well it's the 21st and the world hasn't ended.

but it's not 6pm pacific time on the 21st either

Though Hyena, biblicaly unsound as it is, they may just be right... there is always random chance (albeit small) that they are right (I think that odds are about the same as shuffling a deck and getting the cards perfectly in order, but hey, it is theoretically possible).

[Gravekeeper]

Though Hyena, biblicaly unsound as it is, they may just be right... there is always random chance (albeit small) that they are right (I think that odds are about the same as shuffling a deck and getting the cards perfectly in order, but hey, it is theoretically possible).

No, there is absolutely no chance they are right as them being right requires an astounding series of things be proven true in very short order. Ranging from God to the Rapture itself. The entire basis of this idiots calculations ( Which were wrong back in 1994 when he first declared the Rapture was suppose to happen ) is the Bible . In which he claims, Da Vinci Code style, has a hidden series of numbers in it that totally point to May 21st, 2011 ( Just ignore that he previously thought they pointed to 1994 but that came and went so he had to pull a new number out of his ass ).

This requires that the Bible, a collection of writings by several different people which in turn was compiled by several other different people ( Many of whom had reservations about even including Revelations and finally only included it because it sounded like a cool ending ), then translated several times over all the while being "tweaked" to support the views of several different groups somehow managed to land in his lap with some sort of intact message/code that points to May 21st.

I have a better chance of being right if I were too, right now, declare the end of the world as some random date pulled out of my ass. Because in my case I would give ample time for potential events to line up ( such as say massive asteroids or something ) and make no specific proclaimations about the exact method of our destruction.

[Greenday]

If we all die here in Afghanistan at 6pm, I'll make sure to get on Fratching first and let you all know so you can prepare.

[Rapscallion]

If we all die here in Afghanistan at 6pm, I'll make sure to get on Fratching first and let you all know so you can prepare.

Spoken like a true gentleman.

Rapscallion