# Apocalyptic Thinking: 2012, the Mayans, and Gullibility



## David Baxter PhD

2012 Fizzle
Published by Steven Novella, _Neurologica_
Oct 13 2009 

Obsession with the apocalypse is a  cultural phenomenon. Apolinario Chile Pixtun, a Mayan Elder, thinks this obsession is particularly Western, and perhaps he is right. Certainly in my lifetime it seems there has been one or another apocalypse right around the corner. In 1982 the planetary alignments were going to cause massive earthquakes. There were a number of doomsday predictions over the 80s and 90s, but they were overshadowed by Y2K ? perhaps the biggest doomsday fizzle of them all.

Smaller doomsdays have come and gone since the turn of the millennium, but the next big date is 2012, December 21st to be precise (although some prefer the numerical symmetry of 12/12/12). To solidify this date in the mind of the public Hollywood is coming out with a doomsday thriller called 2012 (I don?t blame them, and it looks like good eye candy).

The date of this apocalypse is based upon the Mayan Calendar, which allegedly ends on 12/21/2012. The Mayans were fairly advanced in their study of naked-eye astronomy and had a sophisticated calendar. Their ?long count? calendar had, as its largest cycle, a period of 394.3 years known as a B?ak?tun. Thirteen was a sacred number to the Mayan, and counting 13 B?ak?tun from their presumed date of creation lands us in 2012.

Chile Pixtun says that the Mayans never claimed or intended for the ending of this calendar to imply the end of the world. That is a figment of Western apocalyptic obsession only. They have or had mystical beliefs about a transition at the end of that cycle, much like the psychological turning of the page we all make on New Year?s day, but not the end of the world. In fact there are Mayan writings the refer to future dates as late as 4772, so clearly they thought we would still be around then.

While interesting, none of this really matters. Even if the Mayans firmly believed they had uncovered some astronomical secret of the universe and truly believed the earth would be destroyed on 2012 ? so what? That would still just be a bit of pre-scientific superstition, and while they may have had advanced astronomy for an ancient culture, modern astronomy has far surpassed all ancient knowledge and has powerful tools at its disposal not dreamed of by ancient astronomers. There would be no reason for concern about ancient Mayan mythology.

So the 2012 doomsayers are doubly wrong.

Actually, not content with wrongness squared, some doomsayers have added some modern pseudoscience to the mix. Some doomsayers are claiming that sunspot activity will peak in 2012, resulting in solar flares that wipe out our civilization. This is not an implausible scenario, but there is no reason to think it will happen in 2012. As usual, Phil Plait is all over this bit of astronomical pseudoscience. Here he debunks the sunspot claims.

There are also those who claim that in 2012 the solar system will pass through the galactic plane, exposing the earth to radiation or something and wiping us out. But, this is simply not true. The solar system will be nowhere near the galactic plane in 2012, and if it were ? again, so what, there is no reason to think this will cause problems.

Then there are the Planet X afficionados - no, there isn't a killer planet headed our way. And no, we are not going to experience a geomagnetic reversal either (such things take thousands of years anyway).

Such claims are good examples of retrofitting. Doomsayers start with the incorrect mythological interpretation that the world will end in 2012, and then search for something pseudoplausible and sciencey they can squeeze into this claim.

But ? at least it is fun and light blog fodder. It is also an opportunity to teach some real science and history ? a fun way to learn about sunspots and galactic structure.

I?m also looking forward to the movie. It will probably be dumb, but I?m a sucker for good large-scale CG.


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## David Baxter PhD

Doomsday: 1971 - 1997

1972  Herbert W. Armstrong's Rapture prediction #3. (Shaw p.99)  

1973  David Berg (aka Moses David), guru of the Children of God (aka the Family of Love, or just "The Family"), predicted in his publication The Endtime News! the United States would be destroyed by Comet Kohoutek in 1973. (McIver #2095)  

Jan 1974  David Berg predicted in his so-called Mo Letters that Comet Kohoutek would destroy the US during this month. (Kyle p.145)  

1975  The end of the world according to the Jehovah's Witnesses. (Kyle p.93) 
Herbert W. Armstrong's Rapture prediction #4. (Shaw p.99) 
The Rapture, as per end-time preacher Charles Taylor. This is the first in a long series of failed predictions. (Abanes p.99) 

1976  Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #2. (Abanes p.99)  

1977  John Wroe (the Southcottian who had himself publicly circumcised in 1823) set 1977 as the date of Armageddon. (Randi p.243) 
Fundamentalist cult leader William Branham predicted that the Rapture would take place no later than 1977. Just before this, Los Angeles was to fall into the sea after an earthquake, the Vatican would achieve dictatorial powers over the world, and all of Christianity would become unified. (Babinski p.277) 
Pyramidologist Adam Rutherford expected that the Millennium would begin in 1977. (Source: article by John Baskette) 

1978  In his book The Doomsday Globe, John Strong drew on scriptures, pyramidology, pole shift theory, young-earth creationism and other mysticism to conclude that Doomsday would come in 1978. (McIver #3237)  

Sometime in the 1980s  In his book Armageddon 198? Stephen D. Swihart predicted the End would occur sometime in the 1980s.  

1980  Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #3. (Abanes p.99)  

Apr 1, 1980  Radio preacher Willie Day Smith of Irving, Texas, claimed that this day would witness the Second Coming. (Source: What About the Second Coming of Christ?)  

Apr 29, 1980  Leland Jensen, founder of the Bah?'?s Under the Provisions of the Covenant -- a small sect that mixes mainstream Bah?'? teachings with pyramidology and Bible prophecy -- predicted that a nuclear holocaust would occur on this day, killing a third of the world's population. After the prophecy failed, Jensen rationalized that this date was merely the beginning of the Tribulation. (Robbins p.73)  

1981  The establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven, according to Rev. Sun Myung Moon. (Kyle p.148) 
Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #4. (Abanes p.99) 
Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel, wrote in his book Future Survival, "I'm convinced that the Lord is coming for His Church before the end of 1981." Smith arrived at his calculation by adding 40 (one "Biblical generation") to 1948 (the year of Israel's statehood) and subtracting 7 for the Tribulation. When 1981 passed by, the group members experienced a mini version of the Great Disappointment of 1844. (Abanes p.326) 

June 28, 1981  Rev. Bill Maupin, leader of a small Tuscon, AZ, sect named Lighthouse Gospel Tract Foundation, preached that the world would come to an end on this day, which they called "rapture day." Those who were saved would be "spirited aloft like helium balloons." Some 50 people gathered in a Millerite-like fashion, only to have their dreams predictably dashed. (Source: Philosophy and the Scientific Method by Ronald C. Pine)  

August 7, 1981  When his June 28 prediction failed, Bill Maupin claimed that doomsday would take place 40 days later. Maupin said that just as Noah's ark was gradually raised to safety over a period of 40 days, the same would happen to the world. (Source: a former member of Maupin's church, who was kind enough to share this information with me.)  

1982  Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #5. (Abanes p.99) 
Jesus was to return and rapture Christians away from the Tribulation in 1982, taught Canadian prophet Doug Clark. He used the Jupiter Effect to support his thesis, claiming it would trigger earthquakes and fires that would kill millions. (Abanes p.91) 
Emil Gaverluk of the Southwest Radio Church suggested that the Jupiter Effect would pull Mars to out of orbit and send it careening into the Earth. (Abanes p.100-101) 

Mar 10, 1982  When the planets lined up, their combined gravitational forces were supposed to bring the end of the world. A book called The Jupiter Effect, by John Gribbin and Stephen Plagemann, helped to spread these fears. An excellent article on planetary lineups can be found here. (Abanes p.62)  

Jun 25, 1982  Benjamin Creme, British artist and founder of Tara Center, on April 25, 1982 took out an ad in the Los Angeles Times proclaiming "THE CHRIST IS NOW HERE", referring to the coming of Maitreya within 2 months. Creme supposedly received the messages from Maitreya through "channeling." Perhaps his ad should have read, "THE CHRIST IS NOWHERE"! (Grosso p.7, Oropeza p.155)  

Fall 1982  In the late '70s, Pat Robertson predicted the end of the world would occur in the fall of 1982. "I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world," he said in a May, 1980 broadcast of the 700 Club. (Boyer p.138)  

1983  Apocalyptic war between the US and the Soviet Union was supposed to break out by the end of 1983, said the End Times News Digest. (Shaw p.182) 
Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #6. (Abanes p.99) 

Oct 2, 1984  The end of the world according to the Jehovah's Witnesses. (Shermer p.203, Kyle p.91)  

1985  The end of the world according to Lester Sumrall in his book I Predict 1985. (Abanes p.99, 341) 
Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #7. (Abanes p.99) 
The Socialist National Aryan People's Party was convinced that Jesus would return in 1985. (Weber p.209) 

Mar 25, 1985  The beginning of World War III, as prophesied by Vern Grimsley of the doomsday cult Family of God Foundation. This cult was a small offshoot of the Urantia Foundation, a loosely organized religious group that uses as its scripture a tedious 2000 page tome called the Urantia Book. (Sources: here and here)  

Aug 1985  Date of World War III, according to the 1977 bestseller The Third World War: August 1985 by retired NATO General Sir John Hackett. While not really a prophecy, the book was written as a warning to world leaders about what could realistically happen based on world developments at that time.  

1986  Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #8. (Abanes p.99)  

Apr 29, 1987  Leland Jensen of the Bah?'?s Under the Provisions of the Covenant predicted that Halley's Comet would be pulled into Earth's orbit on April 29, 1986, and chunks of the comet would pelt the Earth for a year. The gravitational force of the comet would cause great earthquakes, and on April 29, 1987, the comet itself would crash into the Earth wreaking widespread destruction. When the prophecies failed, Jensen rationalized the failure as follows: "A spiritual stone hit the earth." (Robbins p.73, 78)  

1987  Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #9. (Abanes p.99)  

Aug 17, 1987  The "Harmonic Convergence." New Age author Jos? Arg?elles claimed that Armageddon would take place unless 144,000 people gathered in certain places in the world in order to "resonate in harmony" on this day. Apparently, their resonating succeeded: we're still here. (McIver #2023, Kyle p.156, Wojcik p.207)  

1988  Hal Lindsey's bestseller The Late, Great Planet Earth, suggested that the Rapture would take place in 1988, reasoning that it was 40 years (one Biblical generation) after Israel gained statehood. (Abanes p.85) 
Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #10. (Abanes p.99) 
Canadian prophet Doug Clark suggested 1988 as the date of the Rapture, in his book Final Shockwaves to Armageddon. (Abanes p.91) 
David Webber and Noah Hutchings of the Southwest Radio Church suggested that the Rapture would take place "possibly in 1987 or 1988." (Abanes p.101) 
The Rapture, according to TV prophet J.R. Church in hiss book Hidden Prophecies in the Psalms. He used a bizarre theory that each of the Psalms referred to a year in the 20th century (i.e. Psalm 1 represents the events in 1901, etc.), to arrive at this conclusion. (Abanes p.103) 
Colin Deal wrote a book entitled Christ Returns by 1988: 101 Reasons Why. (Oropeza p.175) 

Sep 13, 1988  Edgar C. Whisenant lightened the wallets of many a believer with his best-selling book 88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988. He predicted the Rapture between September 11 and 13 (Rosh Hashanah). After his prediction failed, he released another book: The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989. (Kyle p.121, Abanes p.93)  

Sep 15, 1988  After Whisenant's prediction failed, he insisted that the Rapture would take place at 10:55 am on September 15. (Abanes p.94)  

Oct 3, 1988  Incredulous that yet another prediction failed, Whisenant pushed the date of the Rapture forward to October 3. (Abanes p.94)  

1989  Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #11. (Abanes p.99) 
In his 1968 book Guide to Survival, Salem Kirban used Bishop Ussher's calculations to conclude that 1989 would be the year of the Rapture. (Abanes p.283) 
In 1978, Oklahoma City's Southwest Radio Church published a pamphlet entitled God's Timetable for the 1980s in which were listed prophecies for each year of the 1980s, culminating with Christ's return and the establishment of his kingdom on Earth in 1989. With the exception of a couple predictable astronomical events, none of the predictions came true. 

Sep 30, 1989  After his 1988 Rapture prediction failed, Edgar C. Whisenant pointed to Rosh Hashanah 1989 as a possible date for the Rapture. (Abanes p.94) 
Hart Armstrong, president of Christian Communications of Wichita, repeatedly suggested that the Feast of Trumpets 1989 would be the date of the Rapture. (Abanes p.93) 

1990  Baptist preacher Peter Ruckman predicted that the Rapture would come round about the year 1990. (Source: article by Thomas Williamson) 
Singaporean prophecy writer Kai Lok Chan foresaw Jesus Christ returning sometime between 1986 and 1990. Armageddon (a war between the US and USSR) would take place between 1984 and 1988. He argued that the Jupiter Effect corroborated his claims. (McIver #2195) 

Apr 23, 1990  Elizabeth Clare Prophet, leader of the Church Universal and Triumphant, foresaw nuclear devastation and the end of most of the human race on this day, and convinced her followers to sell their property and move with her to a ranch in Montana. (Kyle p.156, Grosso p.7)  

1991  The Rapture, according to fundamentalist author Reginald Dunlop. (Shaw p.180) 
Louis Farrakhan declared that the Gulf War would be the "War of Armageddon which is the final war." (Abanes p.307) 

Mar 31, 1991  An Australian cult looked forward to the Second Coming at 9:00 am on this day. They believed that Jesus would return through Sydney Harbour! (Source: Knowing the Day and the Hour)  

1992  Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #12. (Abanes p.99)  

Apr 26, 1992  On April 26, 1989, prophecy nutcase Doug Clark announced on Trinity Broadcasting Network's show Praise the Lord that World War III would begin within 3 years. (Abanes p.92)  

Apr 29, 1992  When the LA riots broke out in response to the verdict of the Rodney King trial, members of white-supremacist group Aryan Nations thought it was the final apocalyptic race war they had been waiting for. (20/20, NBC, Dec 12, 1999)  

Sep 28, 1992  Christian author Dorothy A. Miller in her book Watch & Be Ready! 1992 Millions Disappear? predicted the "last trumpet" would sound on Rosh Hashanah, heralding the Second Coming. (McIver #2923) 
"Rockin'" Rollen Stewart, a born-again Christian who made himself famous by holding up "John 3:16" signs at sporting events, thought the Rapture would take place on this day. Stewart went insane, setting off stink bombs in churches and bookstores and writing apocalyptic letters in a mission to make people get right with God. He is now serving a life sentence for kidnapping. (Adams p.18-20) 

Oct 28, 1992  Lee Jang Rim, leader of the Korean doomsday cult Mission for the Coming Days (also known as the Tami Church), predicted that the Rapture would occur on this date. Lee was convicted of fraud after the prophecy failed. Lee's cult was part of the larger Hyoo-Go (Rapture) movement, which took Korea by storm in 1992. (Thompson p.227-228, McIver #2747)  

1993  David Berg of the Children of God claimed in The Endtime News! that the Second Coming would take place in 1993. The Tribulation was to start in 1989. (McIver #2095, Kyle p.145)  

Nov 14, 1993  Judgement Day, according to self-proclaimed messiah Maria Devi Khrystos (ne? Marina Tsvigun), leader of the cult Great White Brotherhood. Members of the cult planned to congregate in Kiev on that day to celebrate God's coming to Earth, but their plan was thwarted by the arrest of many of the cultists. (Alnor p.93)  

Dec 9, 1993  James T. Harmon added 51.57 years to May 15, 1949 (the date the UN recognized Israel) and subtracted 7 to arrive at the date of the Rapture, approximately December 9, 1993. He also suggested 1996, 2012 and 2022 as alternative rapture dates. (Oropeza p.89)  

1994  R.M. Riley, in his book 1994: The Year of Destiny, wrote that 1994 would be the year of the Rapture. (McIver #3098) 
Charles Taylor's Rapture prediction #13. (Abanes p.99) 
Om Saleem, an Arab Christian, prophesied that the Rapture would take place in 1994, after the Antichrist was to reveal himself. (Oropeza p.148) 
Dutch authors Aad Verbeek, Jan Westein and Pier Westein predicted the Second Coming in 1994 in their book Time for His Coming. (McIver #3348) 

May 2, 1994  Armageddon. Neal Chase of the Bah?'?s Under the Provisions of the Covenant predicted that New York would be destroyed by a nuclear bomb on March 23, 1994, and the Battle of Armageddon would take place 40 days later. (Robbins p.79)  

June 9, 1994  Pastor John Hinkle claimed that God told him the Apocalypse would take place on this day. In a cataclysmic event, God was supposed to "rip the evil out of this world." When the prophecy failed, he claimed that it's only the beginning and it's taking place invisibly. (Oropeza p.167-168)  

Jul 25, 1994  On July 19, 1993, Sister Marie Gabriel Paprocski announced to the world her prophecy that a comet would hit Jupiter on or before July 25, 1994, causing the "biggest cosmic explosion in the history of mankind" and bringing on the end of the world. Indeed, a comet did hit Jupiter on July 16, 1994. However, it is important to note that her announcement was made nearly two months after astronomer Brian Marsden discovered that Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 would hit Jupiter. (Skinner p.116, Levy p.207)  

Sep 23, 1994  Reginald Dunlop claimed this was the last date encoded in the Great Pyramid of Giza, meaning that the world would not last beyond this date. (Oropeza p.128)  

Sep 27, 1994  Harold Camping, head of Oakland's Family Radio and host of the station's Biblical discussion talk show Open Forum, predicted the end in his book 1994? He calculated that the Tribulation would end on September 6, followed by the Last Day and the Second Coming of Christ between Sep. 15 and Sep. 27. (Camping p.526-7, p.531)  

Sep 29, 1994  Harold Camping's doomsday prediction #2. (Abanes p.95)  

Oct 2, 1994  Harold Camping's doomsday prediction #3. (Abanes p.95)  

1995  Armageddon, according to Henry Kresyler, head of the doomsday group Watchers in the Wilderness. (Shaw p.181) 
The Second Coming of Christ, as foreseen by J.R. Church, using his Psalms theory (see 1988 above). The Battle of Armageddon would take place in 1994. (Abanes p. 103) 

Mar 31, 1995  Harold Camping's doomsday prediction #4. He gave up setting dates afterwards. (Abanes p.95)  

1996  James T. Harmon's Rapture prediction #2. (Oropeza p.89)  

Sep 1996  The Second Coming of Christ, according to Guatemalan preacher Marvin Byers. (Oropeza p.29)  

Nov 1996  The Second Coming of Christ, as foreseen in doomsday author Salty Dok's book Blessed Hope, 1996. (Oropeza p.48)  

Dec 13, 1996  The resurrection of David Koresh, according to the surviving Branch Davidian cult members. Koresh, of course, never showed up. (Jordan p.113)  

Dec 17, 1996  Famed psychic Sheldon Nidle predicted that the world would end on this date, with the arrival of millions of space ships. (Abanes p.341)  

1997  Mary Stewart Relfe, claiming that God communicated with her in her dreams, predicted the Second Coming in 1997, right after the battle of Armageddon. "America will burn" and be totally destroyed in 1993 or 1994, she claimed. (Kyle p.120, Oropeza p.104) 
The end of the world, as per a tongue-in-cheek numerological calculation by Superdave the Wonderchemist. 

Mar 23, 1997  Richard Michael Schiller, posting under the name Eliyehowa and a host of other pseudonyms, flooded various Usenet newsgroups with his prediction that an asteroid trailing behind Comet Hale-Bopp would bring destruction to the Earth on this date. As the date drew near, be began backpedalling, claiming the world would be destroyed 9 months later when the Earth supposedly would pass through the comet's tail, and anyway there was no way the world would survive beyond 1997. You can see a characteristic post of his on Google.  

Mar 26, 1997  Heaven's Gate suicides. The suicides occurred between March 24 and March 26, during a window of time that the cultists had predicted a UFO trailing behind Comet Hale-Bopp would pick up their souls and save them from the imminent Apocalypse. Notice the similarity between their prophecy and Schiller's one above? Both claim that an object is following the comet. This rumor started when amateur astronomer Chuck Shramek mistook a star for what he thought was a "Saturn-like object" following the comet. With the help of the Internet and the Art Bell show, the false rumor that a UFO or asteroid was trailing the comet spread like wildfire. And we all know how hard such urban legends are to quash! (Alnor p.13, 38)  

May 5, 1997  On this date, the solar system was supposed to enter the Photon Belt, a mystical energy field floating through space. Once we enter the Photon Belt, something unusual is supposed to occur. Depending on the source, the world will end, aliens will land, mankind will be enlightened or achieve super powers, electrical equipment will fail...you get the picture. Nothing happened, but that hasn't stopped people from thinking we're still going to enter the Photon Belt SOON! Perhaps in 2011. (Sources: The Straight Dope, The Photon Belt Page)  

Oct 1997  The Rapture, according to Brother Kenneth Hagin.  

Oct 11, 1997  Internet prophet posted in various Usenet newsgroups that this date would be Judgement Day. His post can be seen on Google.  

Oct 23, 1997  6000th anniversary of Creation according to the calculations of 17th Century Irish Archbishop James Ussher. This date was a popular candidate date for the end of the world. (Gould p.98)  

Nov 27, 1997  According to the Sacerdotal Knights of National Security, "A space alien captured at a UFO landing site in eastern Missouri cracked under interrogation by the CIA and admitted that an extraterrestrial army will attack Earth on November 27 with the express purpose of stripping our planet of every natural resource they can find a use for -- and making slaves of every man, woman and child in the world!" (Source: Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance)


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## Daniel

> As the date drew near, he began backpedalling, claiming the world would be destroyed 9 months later


:rofl:


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## crzycadn

Wow - I knew there were other silly predictions, but I didn't know there were that many.


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## NicNak

I wonder what the Scientologists think


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## Daniel

http://www.anthroblogs.org/nomadicthoughts/archives/maya_cartoon.JPG


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## David Baxter PhD

Ottawa just gave pre-approval to a renovation and expansion of Landsdowne Parke, a historical sports facility primarily for losing CFL teams, whoch is what passes for football in Canada.

Discussion on the radio about this today with one of the municipal councillors:

Q: When do you think we'll actually see pro football being played there?

A: Maybe in 2013...

Host comments: Couldn't you at least try to make it before the end of the world in 2012?


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## Miroku

People are always, always saying this world is going to end...it happened before the first millennium and people were pretty much running in circles while screaming. 

The same thing happened before when we were close to the year 2000...except with maybe less running and more screaming  and the same thing will probably happen in a couple years, who knows? I still want to see the movie 2012 thought, mostly because of it?s awesome special effects


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## SoSo

I just told a fellow who was interested in me to go away, far away as possible as he believes in this stuff, really he does, in church 6-7 days a week sometimes twice a day.  Oh well, to each their own but me...looking forward to the day the Leafs win the cup again, 2046, drat, I would be let me see...100, great  way to celebrate living that long:2thumbs:
SoSo


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## Andy

Well, don't count on that one. Hell will have frozen over if that ever happens.


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## SoSo

Oh dang, guess then I will have to find something else to celebrate the 100th, the Canadians winning the cup???:rofl:
SoSo


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## Andy

lol You really don't want to make it past 100 eh?


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## Andy

Aha! The answer to 2012


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## Ade

Hers a good web site with some sanity about 2012

2012 hoax: Debunking the "2012 Doomsday"


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## Daniel

David Baxter said:


> Obsession with the apocalypse is a  cultural phenomenon. Apolinario Chile Pixtun, a Mayan Elder, thinks this obsession is particularly Western, and perhaps he is right.





David Baxter said:


> Mar 26, 1997  Heaven's Gate suicides. The suicides occurred between March 24 and March 26, during a window of time that the cultists had predicted a UFO trailing behind Comet Hale-Bopp would pick up their souls and save them from the imminent Apocalypse. Notice the similarity between their prophecy and Schiller's one above? Both claim that an object is following the comet. This rumor started when amateur astronomer Chuck Shramek mistook a star for what he thought was a "Saturn-like object" following the comet. With the help of the Internet and the Art Bell show, the false rumor that a UFO or asteroid was trailing the comet spread like wildfire. And we all know how hard such urban legends are to quash! (Alnor p.13, 38)



I recently watched the HBO documentary on the Heaven's Gate cult.  It was very interesting, though partly disturbing with the last episode discussing the mass suicide.    The leader "Do" was gay but became asexual and eventually had himself castrated.  Having been raised by a strict, disapproving minister and having delusional beliefs (and/or false memories) that he was an extraterritorial messiah, he never accepted being gay or even sexual.   No romantic love or sexuality of any kind was allowed, and some of the other men in the cult had themselves castrated as well.

24 of the 39 members of the cult who killed themselves lived in the cult for 20+ years, starting in the 1970s.   So for two decades, they lived a regimented, almost robotic lifestyle and became more and more attached to the cult and the cult leaders.  Each phone conversation was monitored and they were told to stay away from their families. There were no personal possessions or relationships allowed, and you were to abandon any minor children -- making it easier to be beholden to the cult for all of your psychological needs.

As cult members, they were even told how much syrup to put on their pancakes, and they were forced to wear similar, unisex clothing styles.   So there was very little room for individuality except for working outside the home/cult -- with all the income going to the Borg-like collective.    They likened themselves to Star Trek, and one of the deceased members was the brother of Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols.


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## Daniel

Most of the experts who were interviewed for the documentary are sociologists, who discussed the processes of cult indoctrination, etc.  But I wish they also interviewed a psychiatrist for the documentary:


> [Doomsday delusions of religious content (apocalyptic version)] - PubMed
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> 
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> Delusional ideas of the end of the world in schizophrenic patients develop in the structure of the syndrome of acute sensory delusions with a predominance of delusions of perception (type I) or visual-figurative delusions of the imagination (type II), which have different duration, degree of...
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> pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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> Delusional ideas of the end of the world in schizophrenic patients develop in the structure of the syndrome of acute sensory delusions with a predominance of delusions of perception (type I) or visual-figurative delusions of the imagination (type II).


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## Daniel

But regarding the cult aspect:  Not only did they not have personal possessions, they didn't even have personal underwear (according to the New York Times).  They had communal underwear!   But they were allowed to watch "The Price is Right," as a way to make fun of human greed.


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## Daniel

The Aztecs foresaw the end of the world
					


But then it didn't happen.





					theoutline.com
				




When people imagine that the world is about to end, it’s their _particular_ world that’s doomed, and the nature of that end will always in some way reflect what’s being destroyed. People who live in the desert would not live in fear of a global flood. And the End Times aren’t a unique product of Christianity; some kind of eschatology is present nearly everywhere. Nearly.

The pre-Islamic Turkic peoples of Central Asia, for instance, don’t seem to have had _any_ myths about the destruction of the world, and why would they? They lived on an open steppe far from the ocean, where everything is flat and endless. Why would it ever end? Societies that believe in the Apocalypse tend to be those in which the seeds of the apocalypse that’s really happening are already planted. Cultures that have big cities, forms of writing, a discourse of history, and centralized power. Cultures like the old eastern Mediterranean that gave us the Biblical prophets and the Book of Revelation. Or cultures like the Aztecs...


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## Daniel

The Heaven’s Gate Cult Was As American as Apple Pie
					


A closer look at the doomsday group at the center of the new docuseries Heaven’s Gate: Cult of Cults—and why organizations like it (hello, QAnon) have long found a welcoming home in the United States.





					www.vanityfair.com
				




The public clings to its own beliefs that doomsday cult members are outliers—that getting suckered into one _would never happen to me_. In truth, though, most of us are much closer to embracing those beliefs than we think. The Pilgrims and Puritans, for instance, were apocalyptic thinkers themselves. 

Overt doomsday groups have proliferated in America since at least as far back as Johannes Kelpius’s Society of the Woman in the Wilderness—which believed the world would end in 1694. “Part of the vision was to go to the new promised land,” Dawson said. “It’s all in the early discourse: the destiny of America to be a special nation that will save the world.”


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## Daniel

One of the most fascinating experts on cults in the Heaven's Gate HBO documentary:









						Steven Hassan - Wikipedia
					







					en.wikipedia.org
				




From one of his blog posts:



> Understanding Cults: The Basics
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> To help others, it is important to understand mind control and undue influence.
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> www.psychologytoday.com
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> 
> What exactly is a cult? Destructive individuals and cults use deception and undue influence to make people dependent and obedient. A group should not be considered a cult merely because of its unorthodox beliefs. It is typically authoritarian, headed by a person or group of people with *near complete control of followers*. Cult influence is designed to disrupt a person’s authentic identity and replace it with a new identity.



In the Heaven's Gate cult, some people left the cult in the final weeks/months to avoid dying from mass suicide, but -- tellingly and tragically -- no ex-member reported anything to the police or FBI -- knowing full well what was going to happen.


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## Daniel

USA: The Existential Risks and Trauma of Leaving a Cult
					


Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen Publication (Outlet/Website): Secularism is a Women’s Issue Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/05/10 Scott is the Founder of Skeptic Meditations. He spe…





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There is a certain degree of an annihilation of self that occurs upon entering, staying, and psychologically leaving the cult doctrine. That is perhaps why many former members who leave cults hold onto the underlying beliefs that led them and kept them in the group in the first place.


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