Waiting for the Apocalypse
March 21, 2026
by William P. Meyers

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Angels, and Zombies, and MAGAs, oh my

Christians did not invent the idea of an apocalypse. I believe Hinduism, the Nordic pagan religion, and many others also predicted an apocalypse. However, it is central to Christian culture. Christianity is a Death Cult. Jesus was a story teller, a con artist who could talk the last penny out of his poor followers. One of his favorite stories was that if he died, he would be resurrected. His followers, the Twelve Bullshitters, claimed they saw him after he died. Walking and talking. But they could not produce him, so they told their gullible followers he flew up into the sky.

But he would be back. And that would involve an apocalypse.

Of course, apocalypses can happen in the real world, not just in campfire stories. Just ask the dinosaurs.

I am an old man. When I was a child the common real-world apocalyptic scenario was an atomic war. I lived in Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I expected to die. But that is the thing about apocalypses, isn't it? You can't report on, or remember, dying. You can only report that the apocalypse did not happen, but is just around the corner. Now the favorite cultural horror story is the zombie apocalypes, Walking Dead style.

I was told by my religion that if I sinned I would go to hell, and that Jesus would come back from heaven, some day, to reign in glory on earth. After the miserable sinners were roasted alive. Now most scholars believe that the Apostles (second-tier story tellers and tithe gatherers) did believe Jesus would return in their lifetimes. This created a crisis in the church as those original apostles died and tithes still needed to continue to be collected. A new story was told, later put in writing as if it had been there from the beginning. Jesus had said the time and place of the apocalypse had not been determined.

I am beginning to see it is probably that I will die of old age before the apocalypse, be it man-made, heaven-sent, or from the bowels of hell. Atomic war is still quite possible. A collapse of the internet could seem like an apocalypse. Some new all-killing disease could emerge. But the most likely reality-based source of an apocalypse is the destruction of earth's ecosystem.

Every day I check the status of the arctic and Antarctic ice sheets provided by satellites (See Charctic Interactive). It is a slow walk. There is a lot of variability, largely because of the definition of ice extent used, which is "at least 15 percent sea ice." Wind can blow some sea ice apart and below 15 percent, or together and above 15%. Still, there is a trend over time. A trend towards global warming, ice melting, and apocalypse. Right now we seem to have just seen the lowest maximum amount of arctic sea ice on record. On the other hand, in the Antarctic ice has gone closer to normal (the long-term average) than it had the last few years.

Maybe there won't be an apocalypse. The Christians adapted. They took over the Roman Empire, made sure everyone was miserable, and ushered in the Dark Ages. Maybe that is what we environmentalists will do. As things fall apart, more people will believe us and our leaders will gain political power. Civilization will mostly fall apart, billions will die, but some percentage of the human race will survive. Along with a greatly diminished global species count. And our future followers, saying We told you so.

But the cycle will go on. New variants will evolve from the surviving species, and then will become new species themselves. Much like the Christian religion evolved after the Protestant Revolution.

Meanwhile, at least in theory, I could live another decade or two. What to do with the time? Will I be able to walk around and enjoy the world, or be confined to an old folks home, or to a bed?

People tend to see a big, earth-shaking, end of the world apocalypse coming. But the apocalypse could creep in on little cat feet. Lately one can look at the wretched people of Gaza, or South Sudan, or Cuba, and wonder if they are just the leading edge. Who's next? Iran possibly, but it could be the United States, or just South Florida.

The early (third generation) Christians had a strange, contradictory belief: that Romans could be the beloved of Christ, while Jews were in league with the devil. At the same time their Apocalypse (See Revelation of St. John) was clearly about the fall of the Roman Empire and its evil emperors. Again, the writer thought soon, " for the time is at hand.".

It is worth reading Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, if you have that much time, or a shorter version if you do not enjoy reading as much as I do. Rome was not built in a day and it did not fall in a day. By the time psycho-killer Saint Constantine became Emperor, and the Catholic Church then became the de-facto religion, things were looking pretty grim. Pieces of the empire, like Britain, started falling away. There were ebbs and flows, but no actual Apocalypse. There were plagues and lots of wars, economic collapses, and the loss of art and technology, but no Jesus, or Antichrist, descending from the heavens. Various fools predicted various dates for the Apocalypse, and some fool Christian minister is out there right now raking in tithes, letting the children be brought to him, and giving a date certain. Probably several.

Donald Trump. Not smart enough to be the antiChrist. The Apocalypse of John does not include Tariffs as a marker. Hopefully not stupid enough to start a nuclear war. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I think Trump has good intentions, he just had a screwed up childhood and bad genes (hence those bonespurs), so he seldom can distinguish good from evil.

The apocalypse may not be upon us, but it does not hurt to be prepared for likely disasters. I think the main sign that someone believes the apocalypse is coming to town, soon, is living paycheck to paycheck. The left has made a cult of complaining about living paycheck to paycheck, hoping the world will end and cancel their credit card debt, and failing to prepare for the future. The right, old-school and MAGA, are not much different in that regard.

There is a future. You might as well prepare for it. And try to make it better, both for yourself and for the rest of the world. Do what you can to stop global warming. Stop electing morons and con artists to office (that applies left, right, and center). And read some history. It can help you figure out what is real and what is fake.

I know. I should start a Youtube channel. Hardly anyone likes to read anymore. It is so ... hard.