I was checking the locks before going to bed and saw a slip of paper stuck in the front door. It was a pamphlet, and its haunting title stared back at me.
Will This World Survive?
I usually throw this stuff away, but something made me keep this one. Was it a sudden fascination with the apocalypse? Not really. I thought it might make an interesting blog post. A few minutes ago, I read it and came up with a few observations.
1. Whoever left the paper in our door is dedicated to the cause. It is cold out there, and they certainly left one at every house. I am not sure about this apocalypse stuff, but I have to admire their dedication to making sure everyone knows about it.
2. Is this something that happens in other parts of the country, or is it a southern thing? We live in the buckle of the Bible Belt and having someone stop by the house to talk religion is not unusual. I wonder if it happens in places that are not as fundamentalist as here.
Now, a break for some apocalyptic trivia. A lot of people know about Nashville’s music industry. However, few people know that Nashville is also home to a large printing industry. In fact, Nashville prints more religious material than any other city. Oh yeah, it also prints more pornography than any other city.
3. The first sentence states the following – “No other generation has heard so much talk about the end of the world.” I guess that is true, but predicting the end of the world is not something new. I think back to the Millerites in the 1840s. They were convinced that the end was near. When it did not happen, some fulfilled the prophecy by committing suicide.
4. The pamphlet lists the ways in which the world may reach its demise. It contains the usual suspects – nuclear holocaust, pollution, economic chaos. However, it did not mention the current apocalyptic fad. Everyone knows that the world will end with a zombie apocalypse. Anything that leaves that out is not considering all of the possibilities.
5. There are passages about Noah and the flood. Humanity went off the rails and a cleansing was needed. The waters covered the wicked, and Noah was left to repopulate the world. It continues by saying something that I have heard in many sermons. The next cleansing will be with fire. That could be a nuclear fire, but I would bet on an issue with the sun. Whether by bomb or sun, that is going to be a cleansing that is hard to survive.
6. At this point, the pamphlet delves into history. There are a few sentences about a sign. Then, there is mention of the First World War. I got from this that the sign and World War I have something in common. In essence, the apocalypse began in 1914. It was supposed to be the “War That Ends All Wars.” Turns out, it was the war that ended everything.
7. What has happened in the last hundred years to prove that the end is near?
War has raged, and hunger has killed millions
Earthquakes have killed more people in the past hundred years than in the centuries before. Of course, there have been large cities built on fault lines.
Diseases, starting with the Spanish Flu, have ravaged populations.
Streets are filled with lawlessness and chaos.
In short, all of the signs are there.
8. The pamphlet was last updated in 2005. Has anything happened in the last 10 years to change course? I guess that is why zombies were left out.
9. This world will surely come to an end. At some point, our sun will die, and the planet will die with it. Hopefully, humanity will be able to escape with technology. However, they may not be the case. We may go the way to the dinosaurs and other creatures that have inhabited this place.
However, people have been looking for the end of the world since there has been people. The Millerites did it, and plenty of others did it before and after them. Sadly, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy for many. Today, I read about a young family that was found dead because the parents had become obsessed with the end of the world. For them and their children, it ended with poison.
The apocalypse cannot be predicted because the signs are always there. Heck, everyone who has ever predicted his has been wrong. War, hunger, natural disasters, disease and crime are tragedies that have always been with us. Instead of looking for signs, we should be looking for ways to fix them.
I avoid writing about religion, and I do not mean for this to be about that subject. I am saying that we should not focus on the world ending. We should focus on fixing it.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
“Instead of looking for signs, we should be looking for ways to fix them.” You said it Rick.
That aside, to what you pointed out about the two standout Nashville print sectors – cause and effect, huh?
I think it proves that printing companies will take on all kinds of jobs.
I tend to side with T. S. Eliot — “Not with a bang, but a whimper.” Or possibly Robert Frost who felt fire would do it, but ice would suffice. I hope we CAN fix it.
Instead of burning out, it could just fade away.
Well, as far as I understand it, eventually everything dies … fades away. The sun and the planets and maybe the universe itself, but that’s too far away for me to worry. I suspect the earth will get less and less hospitable and people will keep adapting until speculation ends and science fiction begins.
I once bought a copy of the prophecies of Nostradamus, he predicts a comet storm to end the World!
I have read some stuff about him. Nostradamus is a fascinating person.
i used to talk to these folks if i caught them. invite them in and have some tea. mostly nice people. but few ever came back – figured i was a lost cause i guess.
but i waste no sweat worrying about any ‘end times’.
I figure my time will end before the world’s time will end.
I live in the Northeast, and we have people like that too. It is mainly Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have those end of the world pamphlets. If you’re not home, they leave the pamphlets in the door. They use those pamphlets as a scare tactic to get you to join them and be “saved”
I guess that is who did it at my house. I will think the world is ending when they stop doing it.