Time's Up?

Source: http://www.keloland.com

Our Y2K worries of a global meltdown fizzled on New Year's Day 2000. But nearly a decade later, many people now fear a date in the not-too-distant future that will supposedly make the Y2K bug look like a millennial cakewalk. At stake, they believe, is the fate of the entire world. Mark December 21, 2012 on your calendar; it may just turn out to be earth's expiration date.

What would happen if the familiar rhythms of everyday life suddenly convulsed into chaos? Would you live your life any differently knowing the exact moment of earth's demise?

"If the world ends then, if it does, okay. If it doesn't I guess we'll continue living as we always do," Heather Barthelman of Sioux Falls said.

Some people believe doomsday is just around the corner. The prediction is based upon their reading of the calendar of the ancient Mayans, a civilization known for its pyramids and advances in astronomy.

According to their interpretation, the world will come to a cataclysmic end on December 21, 2012. Speculation on how we get snuffed-out ranges from a giant asteroid strike to deadly solar flares. But experts who study such end-of-the-world claims are quick to dismiss the Mayan myth.

"The Mayan calendar has nothing to do with anything that would be relevant to us. But I guess everyone knows that," Augustana professor of religion Richard Swanson said.

Swanson believes our fascination with end-of-the-world scenarios reveals more about ourselves than any future events. He says we're culturally hard-wired to speculate on what may unfold, no matter how grim the outlook.

"And that cultural store of ideas funds all sorts of apocalyptic imagination," Swanson said.

Apocalyptic stories are common in all major religions. But self-proclaimed doomsday prophets through the centuries have yet to get the date right. Swanson says that's because they're connecting dots in history and scripture that don't exist.

"People who have a sense that the world is about to suffer a catastrophe will find evidence for that in a phone book if that's all they have available," Swanson said.

Swanson says the worldwide recession is helping the 2012 phenomenon gain traction. Fears of a financial armageddon validate their despair.

"The rise of such movements indicates in any given point in history something about what people are feeling and fearing," Swanson said.

You can find Web sites dedicated to the 2012 countdown, including tips on how to survive the impending disaster. And now Hollywood is getting into the picture. A movie called "2012" will be released later this year, portraying any number of frightful global calamities. Swanson says disaster-themed movies succeed at the box office because they tug at our survival instincts.

"Apocalyptic thought allows people mired in disaster to raise their eyes above the mud and see something that they see as hopeful," Swanson said.

But perhaps the best way to prepare for the year 2012 is to focus on the here-and-now, rather than the gloom-and-doom.

One Web site lists celebrities like Mel Gibson, Montel Williams and the group "Smashing Pumpkins" as believers in 2012. A company in Virginia even builds hardened-structures that it claims are 2012-resistant.

Another movie dealing with global destruction, "Knowing," starring Nicholas Cage, debuts this weekend.