Dweezil Zappa World

For years upon years, civilization has had this uncanny love for the end of the world.  Why people would want to know the date of their demise is far beyond me.  The Apocalypse, Armageddon, The End Times, The Rapture, The Last Goodbye, Turning Out the Lights, The Big One, The Big G's Closing Shop, or whatever people may call it (those last three were completely made up, you're welcome), has been a fixation of humanity's for decades.  There is of course the popular Mayan prediction of December 21, 2012, which has been proven to be inaccurate (good thing, I was really getting nervous there!), and many other predictions of the past (Y2K, anyone?) that have all been proven wrong.  So why on Earth to people still try to figure this nonsense out.

             The latest prediction has been set for May 21, 2011 by a Christian group based in California.  These are some more people who claim that after reading the Bible, this date is a clear reservation for all of God's followers to get their tables beyond the Pearly Gates.  Anybody who knows anything about Christianity knows that nobody can know the true end of the world, not even Jesus himself.  For God, this is a fly by the seed of your pants-type thing.  These people are the dangerous ones in the world.  Those terrorists from the Middle East fall in this category.  The Final Jeopardy category for today is "People Who Believe They Can Speak Directly to God and Deliver His Plans to the Rest of the World". "Hmm... Who are the most dangerous people in the world?"  "That is correct!" What did I wager on that one?  My life.  You see, prayer is a way to speak to God, that's certain, but it doesn't give you all his secrets, he's just there to help you out of jams and help you lead a good life.  The terrorists blow stuff up because their God tells them to in a dream.  These Christian crazies try to predict the end of the world because God tell them.  That guy down south in the summer wanted to burn Q'urans because God told him to.  There's a fine line between faith and insanity.

               Now I know this makes me seem like I'm an Atheist or anti-religion.  This is not the case.  I'm a Catholic, I do believe in God, I go to church (not every week, but I'm not the one on trial here).  Even for a part-time church-goer like myself, it's clear that nobody would ever know the end of the world's exact moment, in fact, it may end before you finish reading this sentence... did it end? No? Okay, we'll keep going then.  These people who believe that God tells them the date of the End are the people who give religion a bad name.  Is there really a guy in the sky planning everything out for us?  Maybe yes, maybe no, but believing that comforts many people.  I know I'm one of them.  Let's face it, nobody would embrace death if there were no belief in an afterlife, we'd all just be headed six feet under.  Not a pretty thought, eh?  You'd have to be pretty messed up to think so.  The sad thing is that people aren't willing to be open about whether they believe in something or not.  Now if you know me, you may say to me "But Nick, you don't go around spreading faith."  This is true, however that's not to say I don't have any faith.  I keep to myself about that sort of thing, it's a bit personal.  We have a freedom to believe or not believe in religion, so who am I to impose upon others' rights by telling them they should believe in God because I do?  It's just not right.  That's exactly what these religious extremists do.  Muslim terrorists will bomb anybody or anything that isn't of their own faith.  They can let every other religion get mocked, but if one thing is said about their own religion, everything goes downhill.  These Christians who push the end of the world could also be considered terrorists, in that they use their "propaganda", if you will, to spread terror in fear into the hearts and minds of others. 

              All in all, I think it's time for everybody to just drop these End Times conspiracies and live their lives.  Whether they want to live their lives as God wants or not, just live!  Because when all is said in done, no matter what religion you are, we all face the inevitable truth of death.  So why live in fear when you can just live your life peacefully?  Like I said before, no person can predict the end successfully.  If somebody has the talent to do that, I want them to find the gold at the end of the rainbow, show me Santa's workshop, prove to me that Elvis is still alive and convince me that Justin Bieber is a talented person