At the end of each year and the beginning of another, a countless number of “prophets” take advantage of the change in the calendar to share what they believe is going to happen in the year ahead and sometimes even in a more distant future. I never pay attention to those “prophets,” but this time a couple of them made me laugh.
For example, an alleged “prophet” from Central America recently published incredible prophecies for 2010 in the United States. He said that this year there will be more Hispanics in the United States than before, and that many churches will save money to build their own temples.
I am so happy (if you allow my sarcasm) that this “prophet” shared this revealing information with us, because otherwise I would have never guessed there will be an increase in the number of Hispanics in the United States or that many churches wanted to have their own buildings.
In fact (no sarcasm here), a quick look at the statistics provided by the U.S. Census Bureau or at a report written by any reputable religious organization would have provided more and better details about demographics and churches than the details offered by this “prophet.”
However, he has so many followers that he lives a good life, based mostly on visions only he receives about the future. For 2010, he also prophesied American mass media will make fun of traditional religious beliefs and there will be an increase in the struggle for homosexual rights.
Again, who could have ever thought without this “prophet” that Hollywood would make fun of Christians, or that people with an alternative lifestyle would want more social recognition? Were perhaps those two behaviors so hidden that only a special revelation could bring them into the light?
Whatever the case, this Central American “prophet” has been sharing his prophecies for more than 20 years. Unfortunately, he is not the only one.
Last week I read a news article about a self-proclaimed “Bible scholar” in San Francisco who laughed at the idea that the world will end in December 2012, as supposedly the Mayans said, because, according to his calculations, the world will end on May 2011.
The article says this is the same “scholar” who previously predicted the end of the world in September 1994, and ten years after that he finally recognized he was wrong. How can we know he is going to be right this time? Whatever the case, his weekly programs are broadcast at 55 stations and translated into 48 languages.
The desire to know the future is older than history and as old as the oldest myths and sacred texts. However, modern imitators of those ancient prophets are so devaluated and commercialized that it results ludicrous.
I don’t deny that some people, perhaps via either a religious experience or some kind of scientific experiment, may anticipate the future. But I can’t accept the credulity of so many people who believe almost in anything said to them.