End of time, prophecies, heresies and goulash soup!

I was driving down the New England thru-way on May 15th to visit a customer in Manchester, Vermont. Typically this is an event free drive with an occasional cop giving out tickets and growling about speeding but oddly satisfied that he/she has succeeded in nailing some "city scum." Coming around the bend near Hartford, I almost stopped in the middle of the Freeway. There on the bluff overlooking the Highway was this huge sign, "Judgment day is coming." The billboard predicted the end of the world at precisely 10:35 AM, Eastern Standard Time on May 21, 2011 with something called Rapture, where the pious would be taken away and rest of us sinners (yes, Muslims included, especially Muslims) will be left behind to death, destruction, mayhem and raging hell.

This particular doomsday was predicted by Harold Camping, a Christian Fundamentalist radio talk show host. This charlatan managed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars and brain washed a lot of people to give up their jobs, sell their houses and live from day-to-day. These hapless fearful people lived under the bridges, with friends, prayed all day for the eventual rapture and the end of the world.

As I was driving past the sign, I was wondering what if this was actually true. The regrets I would have were endless. I had just promised my dogs that we will go on a 14,200 feet hike next Saturday and camp on a 12,000 feet ledge on Quandary Mountain. They love to camp there, chase mountain goats and snuggle up in my sleeping bag, even the fat one would be allowed in. I still have not created 100 new jobs that I promised I would do by the end of 2011. I have not looked at any woman in that special way in a few years. Tsk, tsk, said my inner voice. All regrets that flashed by my head at the prospect of my imminent demise.

Well, nothing happened. May 21, 2011 was just another day. Full of mayhem in Afghanistan, the Republicans calling for Obama's head (even though I think he is a secret Republican), many newborns, many deaths. An utterly ordinary day in modern times. This got me looking into the whole sordid business of prophecy in various religions. What I found out is fascinating to say the least.

The phenomenon of prophecy of End of Time is well established and had been around since the mutterings of the Abrahamic religions, starting with Judaism. There is a whole academic discipline called Eschatology that studies the Doomsday prophecies. The word eschatology derives from the Greek word eschatos, which means the end. People are getting doctorates, holding down tenured professorships in the study of End Times. Little unnerving, no?

There are just so many End of Time scenarios in the key religions that it is probably a good idea to start where there is no End of Time; a resurrected Jesus or the coming of Mahdi on horseback for blood and vengeance. So, if you look at Hinduism or Buddhism, these views hold that there is no end of the world in the sense that there is in Christian eschatology, Jewish eschatology, and Muslim eschatology. There is a perpetual cycle of the world being manifest, declining — being manifest, going on forever and ever. It has been that way forever, and it will continue to be that way forever. Hindus actually tie this to the concepts of "kaals" and at the end of "kaal" (time) a new one starts with different ethos. The only sense in which they would talk about an end would be the end of an individual person. So, you have kind of a personal eschatology but no end of the world per se in the same sense of Jewish, Christian, or Muslim eschatology.

Let's start with Christian eschatology because if I start with Muslim eschatology I will invite scorn and pompous declarations of infidelity.  Besides Christians are always self-examining their religious worldview, and they tend to be irreverent, the ones I know anyway. Religion is specifically excluded from government and public places of discourse in most western Christian countries. Most of the Christian End of Timers resides in the shadowy world of the fundamentalists and Seventh Day Adventists and other such odd denominations.

There is a common theme in Christian eschatology which basically goes like this; the world is becoming corrupt, undisciplined and unfaithful to God Almighty and his son, Jesus. So, the world will end in a total outburst of cataclysmic violence and a new world order will return where Jesus will rule for 1000 years of peace and prosperity. However, the concept of imminent demise of the temporal world is an old one, Christians, Muslims and Jews merely adapted the tale to fit their purposes.

Here is a quotation "Our Earth is degenerate in these later days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end, bribery and corruption are common, children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book and the end of the world is evidently approaching." I am sure this could be written today by any of the religious leaders in Dhaka or in New York or in Jerusalem. But, this end of the world warning was inscribed on a clay tablet in ancient Assyria almost 5,000 years ago.

The Seventh Day Adventists believe the sole purpose of their religion is to warn people of the imminent demise. They believe that the only reason for their church to be in existence is the calling for the warning of the end of the world, of Revelation 14, beginning at Verse 6, with the three angels' messages. And so they believe that when the Lord finishes his work in the sanctuary and comes out, it will be the end of the world. The heavens will part like a scroll. The islands flee out of their places. The mountains will fall. The very air will catch fire, and the dead in Christ will rise, and rule the world.

One of the main reasons the Christian Fundamentalists support Israel unconditionally and vociferously has to do with the End of Time belief system. This is why people like Glen Beck are out in Jerusalem heaping scorn on the Palestinians and the Muslims. In this view the second coming of Christ depends on the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem on the current site of the Dome of Rock. The existence of the Al Quds mosque on the Temple Mount is stopping the rebuilding of the temple and thus the return of Christ. This is one reason the Fundamentalists are vehemently against a Palestinian state. Their hopes have been high since Israel occupied East Jerusalem and most of Palestine during the 1967 war.

The Muslims have similar End of Time narrative. They differ based on the sect or denomination. For example, the Twelver Shiites believe that that Mahdi was born in 869 AD as Abu'l Qasim Hujjat ibn Hasan ibn 'Alī. He has been hidden by Allah so that he can come back with Isa (Jesus) to bring peace and uninterrupted joy to the world. That rapture thing again. The Twelver Shias believe that Mahdi was hidden by God (gaybat) at the time of his father's funeral at the age of five. He is waiting for God's word to come back and bring absolute justice to the world. This particular narrative is all the rage among the mullahs in Tehran. This is one reason guys like Ahmadinejad and Ali Khameni is so dangerous. They really believe in the return of the Mahdi and more importantly they believe that the time is ripe for the return of Mahdi. So, they are yin of the yang of the Christian fundamentalists who believe in keeping Palestine occupied and the Palestinian subjugated are really God's work!

The Abrahamic religions are all thematically similar in that the world becomes a vile place and God destroys the whole nastiness when his patience runs out. The pious are saved by Isa (Jesus) or Mahdi or both, and then the world enjoys a 1000 years of peace and prosperity.

On the other hand the Mayan calendar predicts the end of Creation (not just the world). Creation as we know it will end on December 21, 2012. There is no redemption, no redeemer, no Mahdi, just a blank. Mayan long count calendar 12.19.19.17.19 will occur on December 20, 2012, followed by the start of the 14th b'ak'tun, 13.0.0.0.0, on December 21, 2012. There is nothing but blank beyond that point.

As you can see, there is money to be made in the End of Time business. This particular business trades on fear and redemption. It is the hope of redemption that allows charlatans like Harold Camping to bilk people out of an estimated $200 million. The movie 2012 was a box office hit and was simply an amalgamation of various End of Time prophecies and good cinematography!

So, what if we could just think of the End of Time slightly differently? We know that it is an absolute certainty that we as individuals will end. But, we obviously do not believe that "we" will actually die. We think that dying is reserved for someone else and not us or me! Thousands of people gave up everything they owned, spent time purifying themselves and doing charity work because Harold Camping told them that the world is coming to an end on May 21 at 10:35 AM. We on the other hand know certainly that we will end too, but the end is shrouded in mystery. So, the mystery allows us to function in the way we do function. We cheat, we lie, we steal, we kill, we maim, we treat poor people and our servants with contempt, and we are mean to other humans and downright destructive to other species. But, what would you do if you knew that you will end at a date and time certain?

So, let me give you a timeline. You will die 24 hours from right now. Make a list of things that you will do and go do them. To get you started here is my partial list:

• I would pay off all my debts, and where I cannot I will write a letter of explanation and try to make amends.
• I would go for a long walk with my dogs and feed them the things they like.
• I will cook Salmon and Daal Bhaat for my friends and myself.
• I will watch a Chick flick with Gerdur. I hate chick flicks but she loves them. So, that will be my parting gift.
• I would hug my goddaughter Alex close to my chest and hold her for a long time.
• I would talk to my sisters and reminisce about our childhood a little, maybe gossip a little.
• I would read Rumi for an hour, followed by The Economist.
• I will go to work and make sure that I have done my best to create a sustainable and joyful workspace that will live on long after my end has come.
• I will talk to my friends and make them laugh. We always laugh a lot when we get together.
• I would create a living will so that after my end all the things that I want to do like the animal sanctuary in Kathmandu and one in Dhaka can still go on.

OK, this can go on and on. But, here is the thing; if we could live as if it were our last day, I am sure our whole worldview would be one of intentional carefulness and empathy. So, I say why not? Give me a Doomsday clock and I will a make great Goulash soup of life!

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Kayes Ahmed lives in Boulder, Colorado, USA with his three dogs. He runs a small yet global apparel and design business based in Boulder.