DeoValente9 wrote:
Check out my luscious manboobs...
From this derailment flower a twisted phoenix...
parthian1000 wrote:
If by the "End of Days" you mean some kind of divinely appointed day of judgement with some magic man in the sky handing out subpeonas to all and sundry then no.
If you mean will there be a point in time when Humanity as a race will become extinct, then yes.
Yeah, the first one is what I meant. This is probably contentious, but I think there's no non-theological reason to assume we are not, as a species, theoretically immortal. I also think our rate of exploration in fact bodes incredibly well for our chances of making it off this rock before Sol goes nova...
Anyway, I will put my cards on the table: I am agnostic, with strong atheistic leanings. As such, my sense of apocalyptic beliefs is that they are essentially superstitious. That said, it seems reasonable to me that people who hold such beliefs could be motivated to act in accordance with what they feel to be pre-ordained in some sense.
Of course, I come from a Christian family and the cultures I am part of have strong Christian traditions, and there's probably no escaping some aspects of those traditions. It's my contention that a deep-seated apocalyptic belief system permeates primarily Christian cultures, largely including individuals who no longer consider themselves Christian, in my view.
Further, I believe this leads to a necessarily pessimistic view of our prospects as a species, in general. And in those cases where such a view is considered not only inevitable -- but also righteous and just -- I consider such beliefs to be essentially self-fulfilling, if given the opportunity. This concerns me, and I wonder what can be done about it.
Please note that I only make reference to Christianity because it's (a) "my" culture; and therefore (b) the one I'm most familiar with. I don't doubt there are apocalyptic beliefs in other religions, I just am more inclined to look at what I know first and foremost, rather than outsourcing all the world's problems to secondhand accounts of other people's religions.
Anyway, I'd like to hear other people's views on this, especially those that answered Yes.
