End Is Nearers.

Via James Nicoll's Livejournal here's an interesting piece by Kurt Andersen on current trends in apocalypticism. Of course as Andersen admits that this kind of thing never really goes away. For example one just has to think of the people who figured Bill Clinton was going to introduce martial law and bring in the New World Order "any day now" with Chinese troops hiding in Mexico. Others thought May 5, 2000 would be doomsday because of an alignment of the planets. Ten years from now we'll have some new versions to get hearts a flutter with fear, and as is often the case, anticipation.

A group called World's Last Chance has one of the more amusing takes I've seen in a while. They say the beginning of the End Times will be ushered in when John Paul II becomes the next and last Pope. That little being dead problem? Apparently it won't be the real John Paul II, but a devil pretending to be him. Of course given that these folks don't like the Roman Catholic Church anyways I don't know why they just don't have Satan resurrecting the real John Paul II, who is probably in Hell if their world view is correct? Their laboured interpretation of the Bible would no doubt allow such an idea without much effort.