August 22, 2006
End of the World, Postponed
Ok, todays' August the 22nd: according to some, on this date Iran's president Ahmadinejad would do something huge and terrible in order to free the 12th Imam and thus bring about the triumph of Islam or somesuch. Sort of the Battle of Armageddon in Islamic dressing; another escathological/millenaristic theology.
But guess what, the world is still going on, more or less happily. No nuclear attacks, no war, neither four fearsome horses of unusual colours wreaking havoc on Earth.
Well, actually... a jetliner crashed in Ukraine; Iran declared its intention to enter "serious talks over its nuclear program" (read: waste some more time while they slowly move towards producing nuclear weapons) - but at the same time Iranian forces seized a Romanian oil rig in the Persian Gulf.
Not exactly a peaceful day of cosmic harmony, but it seems pretty lame as an Armageddon.
Does this mean that Iran is innocuous - or that they will (not, correction) try some nasty trick later on? Hell, no.
There are valid reasons to be concerned about Iran without buying into prophecies and legends.
However, I cannot help but notice that many on the Right are estremely skeptical about global warming predictions and the like (righteously so, I add) but at the same time are deeply into apocalyptic and millenaristic views; I've seen people who flatly declare that global warming is junk science but who also strongly believed, back when Pope Joahn Paul II died, that things were falling in line with some prophecy about the end of the world.
That's reason and rationality for you. (No, I'm not saying all the right-wingers are like this)
But guess what, the world is still going on, more or less happily. No nuclear attacks, no war, neither four fearsome horses of unusual colours wreaking havoc on Earth.
Well, actually... a jetliner crashed in Ukraine; Iran declared its intention to enter "serious talks over its nuclear program" (read: waste some more time while they slowly move towards producing nuclear weapons) - but at the same time Iranian forces seized a Romanian oil rig in the Persian Gulf.
Not exactly a peaceful day of cosmic harmony, but it seems pretty lame as an Armageddon.
Does this mean that Iran is innocuous - or that they will (not, correction) try some nasty trick later on? Hell, no.
There are valid reasons to be concerned about Iran without buying into prophecies and legends.
However, I cannot help but notice that many on the Right are estremely skeptical about global warming predictions and the like (righteously so, I add) but at the same time are deeply into apocalyptic and millenaristic views; I've seen people who flatly declare that global warming is junk science but who also strongly believed, back when Pope Joahn Paul II died, that things were falling in line with some prophecy about the end of the world.
That's reason and rationality for you. (No, I'm not saying all the right-wingers are like this)
Comments:
Tutti questi catastrofisti ... a forza di gridare "al lupo" prima o poi ci prenderanno, ma se proprio vogliono la fine, beh, basta che lo chiedano nei dovuti modi ... noi, però, siamo per la Vita :-)
Nemmeno io sono particolarmente ansioso di vedere la battaglia finale fra Bene e Male (comunque definiti).
Anzi, ne farei volentieri a meno. E questi che l'aspettano con tanta ansia mi preoccupano, mussulmani o no.
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Anzi, ne farei volentieri a meno. E questi che l'aspettano con tanta ansia mi preoccupano, mussulmani o no.
