My thoughts on…predictions for 2008
Well, school has officially resumed. Back to the daily grind I suppose. I was reading blogs this morning when I read Gordon Swaby’s post about his predictions for the year. They were very pessimistic to say the least. They reminded me of the doom and gloom predictions religious leaders make every couple years. Am I the only one whose sick and tired of hearing these predictions? From Carone Gordon (strange co-incidence isn’t it), Richard McKenzie, Samuel Blackwood, that dude on Religious Hard Talk last Tuesday (I forget his name), to that modern day Nostradamus, Pat Robertson, religious leaders are suddenly getting mad messages from the Almighty. There must be something special about 2008 for God to suddenly turn into a chatterbox. Ok. Lemme address the more shocking predictions.
Recession in America: That’s not really news, after the subprime crisis of last year. So the other predictions of a stock market crash, decline in tourist arrivals, etc, all tie into this. Tsunami: Well, I’ve done my research, and while I believed it’s HIGHLY unlikely, it’s actually not impossible. Jamaica is on the Caribbean Plate, and deformation of a tectonic plate may cause a tsunami. But it is more likely that the U.S. would suffer a tsunami, unless we felt its effect. Dramatic rise in oil prices: Gee! Ya don’t say? Hurricane: Well, it could happen.
But I’ve heard far too many of these predictions over the years to believe any now. I used to believe these doomsday prophecies. I spent hours listening to these terrifying prophecies, and spent even more time pondering the fate of myself and my loved ones. And after putting me through all that unnecessary stress and worry, most of them wouldn’t even have the decency to admit they were wrong, or say “God saved us through the power of prayer” or some other copout like that. Failed predictions that come to mind are the famous predictions that the world would end in the year 2000. And more recently, Phillip Phinn’s prediction of Portia’s victory in last year’s elections and Pat Robertson’s prediction of a nuclear terror attack in the U.S. last year. I think religious leaders use this to scare people into Christianity, the same tactic they use when they breathe “fire and brimstone” from the pulpit. No wonder so many people “de-converted” after 2000. And people wonder why Christianity is no longer taken seriously. Folks, don’t worry your heads about these predictions. Whatever happens, happens.
