One of the things I don’t like about certain religious groups and people is their love of round numbers. Or more specifically round years. Every new century, half-century or decade they claim something miraculous and/or terrible is going to happen1
To me it’s just lazy, easy prophesying. And I find it rather silly. If religion is fantasy then these predictions are high fantasy. They’re always the same. The non-believers will burn. And the believers will live in a utopia or be taken to heaven. There’s never any subtlety or precision.
And it’s been happening for centuries. In the book I’m currently reading – “Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire" by Roger Crowley – it talks about how as the year 1500 approached Christian’s in Europe were expecting a huge event, as always. And of course nothing happened, as always.
Researching this phenomenon I’ve discovered there’s a name for it: Millenarianism. I’m sure it’s a phenomenon that won’t end any time soon.
