From Phil M

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

Personally I believe it is completely unfounded but I do recognise that alot of unconnected 'seers' as you call them do seem to mention this..

Is there an actual date specified? Seems like an excuse to have a right good party if nowt else!!

Certainly not worth gettin all depressed and listening to REM about tho..

From Ron Taylor

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

Yes, it will be all over by Christmas. I can see it now.

From Benny M

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

It has been widely known for some time that we are in the process of a planetary shift due to the pull of Neptune. This happens every three thousand years. Both poles are moving closer to the equater as a result. Climate change is one of the major sufferers as a result.

The end of the Mayan calender is not the end of the World. It is the end of an astrological cycle and the start of a new one Aquarious to be precise. The old world order is already in collapse.

Bankers, Dictators, Politicians, the wealthy and the greedy are all on a knife edge at this time December the 21st is the time of a new start all. Very interesting times are just around the corner for all of us. Embrace them.

From Jack Hughes

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

Ralph's post brings to mind the old adage about newspaper headlines - if phrased as a question, the answer is invariably 'no'.

If I may quote his post; 'Will the earth axis change and magnetism and electricity disappear? Is it possible we may have darkness for 3 days and nights? Could there be flood waves? Will our 2-string DNA be updated to 12 strings and we communicate telepathically?'

'No, of course not, don't be silly' is my immediate response. Even with Hebden Bridge's reputation as Britain's second-greatest repository of New-Age solipsism, hubris and quackery (sorry, but I reckon that Totnes just about pips us at the post there), I personally find it incredible that such naivety can exist and indeed gain such a foothold in popular consciousness.

There again, of course I could be wrong. Perhaps Ralph and his cohorts are privy to cosmic insights that the cynical rationalists among us lack. Maybe I should indeed start hoarding tins of beans... Let's wait and see, eh?

From James Baker

Friday, 16 November 2012

Nothing will happen, and if I am wrong then I am prepared to eat my tin foil hat.

From Dave H

Saturday, 17 November 2012

These recurring 'accurate dates' for when the world will end irritate me. The kids have been coming home from school saying all the children are talking about it, and worrying without the slightest foundation.

I'll tell you what - anyone who firmly believes in the latest 21 December prediction - write me a cheque for £1,000, and date it 22 December. If the world ends - you win. The joke's on me.

From Andy M

Saturday, 24 November 2012

I guess many of us here in Hebden Bridge have their fears but keep them private - or just stick our heads into the sand not to face it?...

You may be right that HB may have a more than it's fair share of people believing in this nonsense but I'd stick your head in the sands of reality if I were you!

From Rev Tony Buglass

Sunday, 25 November 2012

No, no, no - they've got it all wrong. The Mayans predicted the world would end in 2012 because someone thought Mitt Romney would win...

Look, it's quite simple: there have always been 'end of the world' predictions when events have appeared to be cataclysmic. The Book of Revelation was written when the Emperor Domitian had threatened to declare war on the Church and remove all Christians from the Roman Empire. The persecution didn't happen, because Domitian died (you think God took a hand?), so the book has remained as a collection of 'unexploded prophecy' which has been a heretics' happy-hunting-ground ever since. When Jerusalem fell to the Muslims during the Crusades, it stimulated Joachim of Fiore to write an apocalypse (which never happened). When the Yom Kippur War broke out in October 1973, there was lots of heated speculation about which biblical prophecies it fulfilled, and how the timetable was set and the Second Coming was due in a few weeks. (I remember it well: I had just met this lovely girl, and hoped for a bit more time together before the End - we've been married 34 years, now...) More recently, Harold Camping predicted the End, and changed the date when it didn't happen (to Oct 21st - I think he only chose Trafalgar Day to annoy the French...)

I don't believe in apocalyptic - it's a literary device. Most of the daft ideas that have arisen have done so because people don't understand it. My reading of history suggests God doesn't work that way, but leaves most of it to us. That's where I'm concerned: I don't think 2012 (or any other dates) are relevant. What we do with the planet is a lot more significant than numbers in a calendar. Or, as a biblical studies lecturer once said "Don't worry if you can't spell 'eschatological' - it isn't the end of the world..."

From Chris Reason

Friday, 30 November 2012

Can I just point out that December 21st is two days before my birthday, so for all of you who are planning cards and presents, can you ensure to get them in early?

From Reg Slater

Friday, 30 November 2012

I had to look up 'eschatological', it being a new word to me - in fact I confused it with 'scatological', which on reflection might be appropriate to describe the sentiments expressed by the doom mongers.

From Rev Tony Buglass

Saturday, 1 December 2012

There is a link, Reg. It's about the crap some people talk about the end of the world.

From Ralph Nimmann

Thursday, 20 December 2012

OK - we have arranged celebrations for tomorrow 21 Dec!
see Winter Solstice Celebrations