Faith, the Future and 2011

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/01/11-faith-based-predictions-for-2011/
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/04/more-atheists-to-come-out-in-2011-leader-predicts
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-01-01/bay-area/17466332_1_east-bay-bay-area-first-time-camping

This article will be all over the place, since the topic is the possibilities of the future instead of precise judgments in the present with such uncertainty assailing us. Belief Blog consulted 11 different contributors, with a 12th extra chiming in a bit late, each bringing something to the table as to what 2011’s potential for faith is. Let’s try to boil these down to categories instead of each individual story.

Selena Fox, who I referenced when speaking on Christine O’Donnell’s alleged connections to witchcraft and Wicca, predicted that more Wiccans will become involved in interfaith dialogue, which would certainly line up with a previous prediction by both Steve Wohlberg, author of Hour of the Witch and Marla Alupoaicei, co author of Generation Hex (http://shatteredparadigm.blogspot.com/2008/09/wicca-will-be-3rd-largest-religion-in.html) that Wicca will become the third largest religion in the U.S. It doesn’t seem unlikely, though one wonders what would count as a Wiccan under this notion. Also, David Silverman, head of American Atheists, thinks that coming out as an atheist might be considered cool in 2011, or as some people put it, accepted. This seems a bit more difficult to believe, though America has at least allowed an atheist in Congress, which is a step in the right direction towards a sense of cooperation. In relation to atheism in the U.S., there is the notion in the wake of the Christmas billboard and bus advertisement wars between atheists and theists that there will be a call to ally both believers and non believers in God under a common good of human flourishing. Orson Scott Card, popular science fiction Mormon author, thinks that Mike Huckabee, noted for his anti Mormon statements in the 2008 campaigns, might have to change his tone if he wants to win over the Mormons that stand in some opposition to his nomination for 2012 in contrast to Mitt Romney, a popular Republican nominee as well in 2008. And one can hope that the prediction concerning GLBT dialogue with religion will come to fruition, with the recent repeal on some level of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the military.

Concerning Muslims, we have a suggestion that Muslim/Jew dialogue may become more proactive from a moderate Muslim perspective, more than likely in America to start with. Without getting into the issues of the Middle East and the state of Israel, there will instead be more focus on common ground and a sense of spiritual community that exists between them. Also, there will probably be an upsurge of advocates for religious pluralism as an issue for the 2012 presidential race, such as from New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, in the face of the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy that still seems to kindle hatred and vitriol towards Muslims. And the Park51 controversy will hopefully be little more than a minority griping about supposed insults to their sensitivities, most people seeing the bridge-building potential of a community center with Muslim undertones with New York’s religious diversity. Not to mention by this point people have probably realized that it’s just a passing memory in the back of one’s mind, since it’s going to be hidden behind all the buildings between it and the memorial actually being built at Ground Zero.

And since the Christian majority of the country always seems to feel various levels of frustration and fear, there are predictions surrounding their development. The Tea Party and religious conservatives of various stripes will no doubt be pressuring Republicans to remain consistent to the party agenda, particularly fiscal responsibility and cultural conservativism. And with the increase in attacks on Christian churches in the Middle East, the coining of the term “Christianophobia” will start competing for space with “Islamaphobia”, which was a strong buzzword in 2010. And with people feeling like the U.S. is becoming less like their ideal “Christian nation”, evangelicals, along with triumphalists and dominionists of the Christian variety, will focus their efforts in a more radical direction, which one Christian author notes might steer more people away from the conservative flavor of Christianity and into the liberal threads that exist. In short, Christianity can be said to be going through a radical transition phase of one side accepting their potential loss of influence in some sense in an increasingly diverse religious culture and those that will continue to push for more influence that they think they deserve with the infection of historical revisionism in favor of Christianity further polluting their minds.

And what is most common in terms of predictions for 2011 is actually not far from my birthday. May 21, 2011 has been predicted by one Harold Camping to be the date for the oft spoken about Rapture, where all the good Christians will be teleported somewhere while all the bad people like me will stick around for about 7 years or so suffering at the hands of some Antichrist, from what I recall. Ironically, though, Mr. Camping had predicted the end of days 16 years or so ago, to happen on September 6th, 1994. Not unlike the Great Disappointment in 1844, people hoped for Judgment Day and were sorely disappointed; though I wonder how many people were so willing to sell all their possessions and otherwise separate themselves from the profane world in the hopes of whatever is promised in scriptures. I find more agreement with most Christians on this topic, contrasting with my common ground to the minority of Christians on celebrating Jesus’ supposed birthday. It is said in scriptures by Jesus himself that only God knows the day or the hour when the final judgment and rapture will occur (Matthew 24: 36, Mark 13:32). I won’t even get into details about how the Rapture doctrine was only formalized in the late 1700s; but suffice it to say, eschatology in Christianity has probably been one of the more contentious aspects next to soteriology. In layman’s terms, the only thing that gets people more mad at each other than whether one group will go to heaven or hell is when God’s judgment will actually happen.

So here’s hoping I’ll still be celebrating my 24th year when the date comes. Until next time, Namaste and aloha.

May 21-Save The Date (Or Not)

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/17/my-take-may-21st-doomsday-movement-harms-christianity/
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/18/tick-tock-goes-the-doomsday-clock/
http://inthearena.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/17/harold-camping-prepares-for-judgment-day-may-21-2011/
http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/05/16/the-end-is-near-the-false-teaching-of-harold-camping/
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/19/my-take-doomsdayers-show-what%e2%80%99s-wrong-with-all-religion/

Straight from my New Zealand friend, head of Spritzophrenia , I have relative confirmation that no earthquakes have happened and that nothing out of the ordinary has occurred in a place that is no doubt waking up around the time I actually post this.

Many Christians would agree with non-Christians that this predicting the date of the end of the world is nonsense. But they’d also argue that being able to tell the exact month, day and time by mathematics is unbiblical. Jesus himself says in the Bible, Matthew 24:36 specifically, that no one but God would have that specific information. Even Jesus is not privy to this information by a Christian consensus. As I mentioned in an older post about this whole Rapture and doomsday hoopla, “Faith, the Future and 2011”, the head of this ministry predicted the world would end in 1994, but there would’ve been little chance of me hearing even a peep about his claims 16 years ago. Camping, not surprisingly, simply said his math was off and recalculated. Now he apparently also knows that in October, things will go from bad to worse. The months of tribulations will end in what is presumably described somewhere in Revelation about the world being completely destroyed. Most Christians would probably disagree with Camping in the same way they’d disagree with young earth creationists who say the Bible enumerates a 6000 year history through the calculations of Archbishop Ussher, putting a precise date and time of the creation of the world which is still thrown around to substantiate this argument. The same Christians who’d condemn young earth creationists on their willful ignorance of scientific facts you can find through multiple disciplines would say Family Radio makes Christians look more fanatical than they actually are. My parents are pretty private about their beliefs and discuss these issues in private as well. It’s that sort of individualist practice of religion balanced by a sense of community that enables modern Christians to appear more sophisticated than they may actually be. The communal aspect is what binds them to a status quo they fear to break and become defensive of when people challenge it. The individual aspect is admirable, even if it can be as unjustified as any atheist who doesn’t learn and contemplate their nonbelief. Just saying you don’t believe means nothing if you don’t justify your nonbelief. I imagine most Christians have just as much of a problem with Family Radio as atheists and agnostics would, but for different reasons. Christians seem to be more concerned with what is an ever degrading public relations problem, with the continued coverage of the Catholic sex abuse scandals in Europe and many so-called “Christians” demonstrating hypocrisy on family issues (Newt Gingrich anyone?). Put all that into a pot and then add apocalyptic/millenialist groups like Family Radio and it’s no wonder Christians either strongly denounce them or try to ignore them, so as not to give them the satisfaction of getting public attention. But curiosity usually gets the best of us and so we come to coverage in a separate article of the group’s behavior just a few days before Armageddon.

It’s easy to call this a fringe group or a cult, but if anything, they’re an interesting study in what might be considered New Religious Movements, similar to what happened in Japan post World War 2. In the wake of 9/11, a tragedy of similar gravity with our country being invaded, but not brought to its knees, inspired many people to speculate that the end times are near. In America, though, people claiming the coming apocalypse have existed since the 19th century at the earliest. What was called the Great Disappointment happened in 1844, with the Millerite movement, which apparently then branched off into Seventh Day Adventism groups. What happened back then is likely to happen this time, throwing people into further despair or, with some of the members of Family Radio, a kind of solemn acceptance. Some of the members have left to be with their families, while many are still persisting, turning away the media, since according to them, it will be pointless to cover it. Some of these people allegedly don’t take the prediction seriously and are going to work next week anyway. This brings up a twofold consideration. It’d be one thing if the earthquakes and such happen, but not a single person in the world mysteriously disappears. But it’ll be another thing entirely if neither the earthquakes nor the “twinkling”, as one person put it jokingly, happen at all. It’s one thing to predict the end of the world, but to be as specific as Camping is with events is another: a series of earthquakes, dead bodies strewn everywhere, etc, and all the believers apparently going up to be with God secretly in the destruction. It’d be one thing for nothing to happen to anyone, but the prophecy of earthquakes to be vindicated, since they could just claim they weren’t part of the elect, which is involved with their Calvinist theology that God has preordained both the saved and the damned. But if nothing happens out of the ordinary, they’re going to be at least a temporary laughingstock and the target of questions as is usually the case with journalism. It’s not like anyone could change their minds, and they’re about the same size as Westboro Baptist Church, only without the inbred family vibe you get from the latter. The explicit prophetic aspect of this group distinguishes it from WBC in that there’s a set time before they have to regroup, though I hope the results of a failed prophecy from a man who’s on his last legs (almost 90 years old) might change the minds of some of these people and perhaps turn them towards a strong skepticism about these sorts of claims. Part of the difficulty with skepticism for many people is that it involves a kind of thinking we’re not used to. It has to be practiced and few things ought to be taken for granted except principles that work consistently. Once you start creating exceptions to your skepticism about religious claims, it tends towards a partiality that negates what might have been an initially credulous argument. Whatever happens on this “doomsday”, skeptics will remain. Until next time, Namaste and aloha.