They long for nuclear war. Because nuclear war will presage the second coming of Christ. Richard Dawkins, Freethought Radio September 2006
This is why religion poisons everything: these congregations and their religions and the filthy texts on which they base themselves earnestly desire that everything we call civilisation and everyone in the room be destroyed. That want it. They relish it. They work for it while you’re asleep as well as while you’re awake. Coexistence with this kind of thing is as impossible as coexistence with fascism or Stalinism. The sooner we wake up to it, the better our chances of survival will be. Christopher Hitchens v Peter Hitchens 2008
What the Koran is very emphatic and explicit about is that the world will end. And there will be a cataclysmic eruption of the natural order. Sherman A Jackson, University of Michigan
I think that the apocalyptic literature appeals to modern people for the same reasons as it appealed to people during Biblical antiquity. And that is they want to know that God is fighting for them, and in the end Good will triumph over Evil. Tina J Wray, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Salve Regina University
You know when the Angel of Death comes and he rips their soul out. He will give them such a beating that this forked iron rod will enter his body and it will enter every single joint, and the Angel of Death will twist it and he will twist it and he will twist it. He will feed on the pain on that day. Dispatches: Lessons in Hate and Violence, Birmingham British Muslim faith school, Durul Uloom reporting, Channel 4 2011
This week Horizon looks at a dilemma. The dilemma of the scientist who try as he might cannot reconcile with his conscience the fear that his discoveries may eventually be used to the detriment of mankind. Horizon: For the Safety of Mankind, BBC 1969
Some say it will end in fire. Others think there will be a flood. Some tell of a great plague that will strike down humanity. But all point to one thing – the world is going to end. Armageddon is one of humanity's most powerful and enduring ideas. The End of the World? A Horizon Guide to Armageddon, BBC 2011
Many now turn to science both to predict what might happen and to protect us from impending doom. ibid.
When Armageddon arrives will Science be able to save us? ibid.
There was no going back. The nuclear arms race had begun. During the 50s and 60s the superpowers built increasingly bigger bombs in a bid to defend themselves from each other. The result was an arsenal of weapons that could wipe humanity from the face of the earth. The threat of Armageddon was real. And many people lived with the daily fear of nuclear annihilation. ibid.
Asteroids ... Tsunamis ... Super-volcano ... The Millennium Bug ... 9/11 ... 2004 the Indian Ocean Tsunami ... Our lives could be snuffed out in an instant ... A flu pandemic ... The Greenhouse Effect ... The Gulf Stream – Britain bathes in its heat ... It means we can swim in the sea at the same latitude Canada has polar bears. The End of the World: A Horizon Guide BBC 2011
Armageddon, the end of days: is the Earth speeding towards a cataclysmic end? Conspiracy Files Unsealed: Doomsday, Blaze 2012
Today, scientists are manufacturing new synthetic biological agents. ibid.
The Anti-Christ. Son of Satan. The first sign of the coming of the End of Days. For thousands of years the human race has anticipated and feared the arrival of the Man of Sin. Will the Anti-Christ bring Armageddon, and if so, when will he arrive? Conspiracy Files Unsealed: Anti-Christ?
Ancient monuments, modern disasters, deadly prophecies, a mysterious monolith predicts an apocalyptic future ... all signs now point to a cataclysmic event. Conspiracy Files Unsealed: Global Depopulation
There is a real possibility that first world civilisation as we know it is going to decline or collapse within the next several decades. It all depends upon the decisions that we make. Jared Diamond, author Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Many say these prophets have told of an apocalypse that is nearly upon us. But these dire predictions could be nothing more that dark fantasies. Paranatural s2e3: Doomsday Prophecies, National Geographic 2013
After the death of his family, Nostradamus begins writing his famous prophecies. ibid.
A growing number of people who call themselves Doomsday Preppers – some doomsday preppers believe certain cataclysmic events have already been foretold by prophets like Nostradamus. ibid.
While the Torah code’s ability to predict Rabin’s assassination may seem impressive to believers, sceptics say it is nothing more than random chance and opportunism. ibid.
Throughout time prophets have claimed to see the future through shadowy visions, cryptic codes and religious texts. ibid.
Their calendar stops dead on a very specific date: December 21st 2012. Mayan year Zero. Surely it’s just a story? Samuel L Jackson, How Will the World End? Discovery 2011
What scientists are looking out for are the five cataclysmic events most likely to devastate our world: an ark storm, an asteroid impact, a mega-quake, a mega-tsunami and a super-volcano. ibid.
An ark storm will rage for more than a month. ibid.
To scientists it’s an impact event; to everyone else it’s Armageddon. ibid.
A child born today stands one chance in twenty of seeing a large asteroid hit the Earth. ibid.
The Hopi believe that just before the end of the world there will be a period of intense trial marked by devastating social, environmental and political problems, as well as bouts of extreme weather. Nostradamus 2012
Drawings in the recently discovered Lost Book of Nostradamus may contain coded clues as to what could happen in 2012. Like the prophecies in his four-line verses or quatrains, the drawings are dire warnings. ibid.
In 2012 from the Earth’s perspective the sun will align with the centre of the Milky Way galaxy in an incredibly rare astronomical phenomenon that occurs only once every twenty-six thousand years. ibid.
According to an array of ancient cultures this alignment signifies a time of traumatic change. ibid.
In 1994 three Israeli mathematicians discovered number patterns that American author Michael Drosnin uses to pinpoint what he believes is a direct Biblical reference to the end date of the Mayan calendar in 2012. ibid.
But there’s another mysterious book that many believe contains other cataclysmic predictions. Its dark secrets are yet to be revealed. Historians, linguists and code-breakers are attempting to decipher its meaning – what will they reveal? Experts worldwide are fascinated by this: Item MS408 in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, its current home. Weird or What? s1e3: Cocaine Mummies, Discovery 2010
Let heaven kiss earth! Now let not nature’s hand
Keep the wild flood confined! Let order die!
And let this world no longer be a stage
To feed contention in a ling’ring act;
But let one spirit of the first-born Cain
Reign in all bosoms, that each heart being set
On bloody courses, the rude scene may end,
And darkness be the burier of the dead! William Shakespeare, II Henry IV I i 153-160, Northumberland to Morton
The time will come that foul sin, gathering head,
Shall break into corruption. ibid. III i 71-72, King Henry to Warwick.
The blood weeps from my heart when I do shape
In forms imaginary th’ unguided days
And rotten times that you shall look upon. ibid. IV iii 58-60, King Henry to Clarence.
It’s started. There isn’t much time. Legion 2010 starring Paul Bettany & Dennis Quaid & Lucas Black & Tyrese Gibson & Adrianne Palicki & Charles S Dutton & Jon Tenney & Kevin Durand & Willa Holland & Kate Walsh & Doug Jones et al, director Scott Stewart
Your fucking baby’s gonna burn. ibid.
Just because it’s the end of the world don’t mean you got to starve. ibid.
The dogs of Hell will be unleashed. ibid.
You wanted to live like one of them; now you’ll die like one of them. ibid.
If we could destroy custom at a blow and see the stars as a child sees them, we should need no other apocalypse. G K Chesterton, A Defence of Baby-Worship
Wild, dark times are rumbling towards us, and the prophet who wishes to write a new apocalypse will have to invent entirely new beasts, and beasts so terrible that the ancient animal symbols of Saint John will seem like cooing doves and cupids in comparison. Heinrich Heine, 1797-1856, German poet