Apocalypse? Yeah, Right! | Op-Ed/The Scribe

The world won’t end in 2012, and if you’re one of the millions who believe that it will, you’ve just fallen victim to a scam. Okay, maybe it’s not that serious, but neither is this whole 2012 hype. As many already know, the history of the assumption that the world’s end would come in 2012 stemmed from the Maya calendar. The Mayan civilization is described to have been extremely knowledgeable in the subjects of the universal processes. Because of their knowledge, many today have been fooled into thinking that simply because the Mayan’s say so, the world will undoubtedly come to an end in 2012.
The fact of the matter is, doomsday predictions have surfaced time and time again and so far, none have been correct. Take Y2K for example. We all lived through it- the hysteria caused by countless media outlets and technology experts claiming that there would be a massive computer outage at the start of the Millennium, causing absolute global chaos. In the weeks leading up to the new year, millions of people prepared for the so-called catastrophe, and as the clock struck midnight, those anxiously awaiting the destruction were astonished to realize that absolutely nothing had changed.

With the countless amounts of doomsday predictions being proved wrong, why do people continue to believe these false prophecies? In one word: fear. It’s a widely known fact that if you can get someone to fear you, you have power over them. That’s exactly what experts are doing right now; Getting millions of citizens to feed into this whole idea that the world will end in 2012, therefore they must panic and react. Not to mention, these guys have to make some money while at it. So, what’s the next step? Hollywood, of course!

Creating a movie based on the idea of the world ending in 2012, at a time when not only the United States economy is crashing, but when global warming and world destruction are also huge issues, is a sure-fire way to kill two birds with one stone: make millions of dollars, and create hype. Did this tactic work? Of course. Take a look around. If you even so much as mention the year 2012, it’s likely someone will bring up the world ending. Or better yet, log onto Facebook or any other social networking site. Tons of groups have been created based on the idea of the end of world in 2012.

It’s not only social networks that have bought into this idea, but cultures, too, have found themselves fearing the end of the world. Surprisingly enough, some religions and religious folks do believe that the prophecy of 2012 may in fact be true. The Holy Bible, while it does emphasize that the end is near, is quick to dismiss any idea of the end occurring in 2012. “Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father,” states Matthew 24: 33, 36; These passages blatantly disprove any sort of idea that a human can know the date as to when the world will end.

But even with the holiest of books disproving the 2012 assumption, the hype has been created and it has spread like wildfire; Hysteria has been set and as if on cue, the world has jumped on the bandwagon of belief, yet again, that doomsday is near. The question remains: Will December 21, 2012 mark the end of the world as we know it? Ultimately, nobody knows. You decide.