h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I was at a performance of Spamalot last night, and my loudest laugh was at teh line when they decide they're off to seek teh Holy Grail:

"Really? The all-mighty all-knowing all-seeing deity has misplaced....a cup?"

A few places on teh innertubes give the time of the commencement of the event as @ 6:00PM on the 21st, but fail to mention the time zone

Anyone know?

I heard one suggestion that it was going to be 6 pm 'local time', so we'll be able to watch it on television as it happens elsewhere before it gets to us.

I did some research on this one, and the claim is that an earthquake will start at the International Date Line at 6 pm, local time, and propagate globally, following the sun, for the next 24 hours. So New Zealand experiences this first.

Don't shoot the messenger - I'm just reporting. Mr Camping has told the press he intends to watch the whole thing on tv.

My favourite response to it all has been the Centers for Disease Control in the US. They put out a pamphlet on emergency preparedness designed to deal with a coming 'zombie apocalypse'.

http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies.asp

so, as it's a little before 5 am on the 21st in New Zealand right now . . .

in a little over 13 hours we'll know whether it's happening or not.

Does anyone know how many Christians in America actually believe this 21/5/11 thing?

News reports show people with placards in different cities and suggest the whole thing is widespread but it's the "dancing Palestinians" effect in a way - when you think objectively you realise you've only seen about 20 people.

I don't *know* how many believe this particular dating, but I suspect it is a vanishingly small number.

On the other hand, I have a suspicion that a very significant portion of U.S. citizenry fully expect some sort of Rapture-like event in their life time.

Hey, . Could we get the New Zealand report, then? I mean, you'll let us know you're okay?

I'm sitting in the Bible Belt, and I didn't even know this was going on until the press got into overdrive yesterday. I grew up with people who fully hoped this event would happen in their lifetimes. But nobody believed anybody who said they knew when.

Most evangelical Christians have a mantram: 'Of that day and hour knoweth no man...' Meaning: MYOB, it'll happen when it happens. Carrying signs with dates on them is considered naughty and 'tempting the Lord'. This is a good thing, because it keeps them out of mischief.

We're headed outside in an hour, so if there are placard-carrying people over at the Superbullseye, I'll report back.

The earthquake should be hitting New Zealand and midnight my time. I don't know if I want to bother staying up for it.

If I counted right, it'll be 1 am here, so unless it wakes me up, I'll have to wait until morning.

The thing that bugs me the most about this is that a section of the population avids looks forward to what they imagine will be their neighbors' comeuppance. WHY do they think they are "better than thou" and can dictate others lives? Who died and made them Judge?

A favorite poem by Piet Hein, Danish scientist, poet, and inventor.

Mankind

Men, said the Devil,
are kind to their brothers --
they don't want to mend
their own ways, but each other's.

(any punctuation errors are mine, it's from memory)

"avidly" not avids! Doh!

Well, if by some chance Mr. Camping is right, I won't be going anywhere, anyway--I've attended a church (regularly, at that!) after 1988, which was supposedly the end of the church age.

A report from the Superbullseye in (fictional) Acme, North Carolina:

There is a conspicuous lack of interest in the immanentisation of the Eschaton.

Also, people were buying LOTS of groceries...

Dmitri, maybe they're confused, thinking, "Take with..."?

I was just looking Piet Hein up online; if you've never read his poems, you can find them here (most of his books have gone out of print, in English, anyway). He has a charming way with words, on myriad topics. http://www.poemhunter.com/piet-hein/

'people were buying LOTS of groceries'


Maybe they know they're not going to make the cut and they're buying supplies to get them through the chaotic period between the Rapture tomorrow and the complete destruction of the world in October.

Is that this year? Thought it was next...

I just can't keep my calendar updated.

So that group has shortened the Great tribulation to six months?
I was aways told that it was at least 42 months ( three and a half years).
I notice the radio network that strted this still has their webpage up
http://www.familyradio.com/may21/
but as far as I have heard most denominations take it as something that probably won't actually happen.

I'll try to clarify:


The Bible says the Rapture will be today and the world will end in October (actually, no it doesn't).

The Mayan Calendar says the world will end next year (actually, no it doesn't).

According to poll consensus, at least 75% of all US citizens believe they are going to heaven.

My fellow countrymen are nothing if not convinced of their own righteousness......also, that they would be good neighbours for the angels.

I know where the confusion is coming from. The Mayan calendar business is next year...more of this to look forward to...