OK, I know this might be a bummer, and I know that you usually come here for my stunning wit and repartee... ;o)
But we've all heard recently about how there is a great increase in war and natural disasters and that it's an indication that we're either in (or headed for) the end times predicted in Revelation (in the Bible). I've heard preachers say we're in the end times right now (I was skeptical). I've heard scholars say that our current history is no different than past history, and our wars and disasters are simply of a greater magnitude because our world population is of a greater magnitude.
However, no matter what the cause, we certainly do seem to be seeing a vastly larger amount of natural disasters in the last hundred years. In fact, it's a much greater number than disasters recorded ever before.
I tried to do searches for lists of such disasters from unbiased sources, and this is the best one I've come up with. I count hundreds of disasters in the last hundred years, which doesn't compare at all with any previously recorded ones.
What are your thoughts on the matter?
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40 comments:
Did you triple post this? Or is my computer going crazy?
R2K
I guess I don't believe that modern wars and disasters are of greater magnitude. Even with the magnitude increase in population, deaths due to wars, famine, hurricanes and other disasters are less due to increased global awareness and technology... which may be a bad thing for controlling population.
Personally, I think disasters like pestulence, famine, etc. are just mother nature's way of keeping the population in check. Kind of a yin and yang thing. Maybe someday soon we will have another flu epidemic like that in 1918 that will thin down the population some. Even if it does, I think technology and global awareness will prevent the death rates experiences the last time around.
You're right, Alex! I triple posted this somehow(?) Weird.
Anyway, here's what Alex had to say:
Well WWI and WWII are just about as bad as it gets right? I mean all told, you are close to 100 million dead from the two.
But the black plague still takes it as the worst in raw numbers AND percent population. Fully 1/3rd of europe died from it right?
I think you have to allow for this: We with our modern communication and news have a good record of modern disasters. I suspect many in the past were simply forgotten. So while it seems like they are more common and worse today, there were probably many more in the past that we dont know about. History is an incomplete record. Further, when you have 6 billion people rather than 100 million, you are bound to have more death. Frankly I think natural disasters are NOT as bad today, as compared to the population.
Well, I’m a believer in the ‘the Revelations’, but I’m not quite sure if we’re in it yet. They say we are, and there are indications that prove (or somewhat prove) that we are in the midst of it. I was watching one of those shows on the History Channel, and they were interpreting the torah (I believe) … and decoding it. They said that when the end of times come, we will have information to and fro. Which indicated, ‘the internet’. We will have information at our fingertips----meaning the age of the internet and computerized technology. They also indicated the increased terrorism and the destruction of the earth. (Destruction being global warming.)
I also watched Al Gore on his Global Warming seminar on “Link”. Antarctica is basically melting like an ice-cream cone! Al demonstrated how one land looked ‘this way’---full of snow capped mountains and ice burgs-----and in the next shot----total green vegetation. No snow or ice.
I think mankind is our worst fear of ‘revelations’ … We’re basically destroying ourselves. Will we see God when we tear the place up? I don’t know. I’d like to believe so- but maybe then you can say that we’ll be in heaven to meet our creator.
History repeats itself and you are so right-----worse things have happened----but the global warming factor is alarming, isn’t it? That never happened. That was just an increasing danger all along.
Even if we had good records of history while we (humans) have inhabited the Earth, it is such a tiny slice of time compared to the Earth's age that it can't really affect the average a whole hell of a lot. While I agree with alex, I would add that the dinosaurs were here for millions of years before a natural disaster wiped them out. We've been here a couple hundred thousand, give or take.
If anything, the world is probably getting more stable, not less.
Just my .02
~Mike
Saur,
Hubby and I talked about this a couple of months ago. We did several searches and came to the conclusion that today is not that different than yesterday when you take into account the number of people on earth today, the amount of news coverage today, and the ability to monitor and document disasterous events. It all seems scary and bothersome doesn't it?
I totally think we are living in the end times. I have been to many seminars and church activities where they quote the bible and show statistics...quite interesting and scary....It could happen today and it could happen in 50-100 years.....
I think that the coincidence of the book of Revelations and the happenings in the last 100 years are uncanny.
Just saying....
Jesus called these natural disasters "birth pains." There's nothing we can do about them--only help out afterwards.
But what about all those unnatural disasters? You know, the near elimination of the American Indian? Those poor Mexican slaves that mined and died for Spain's silver? The American Civil War where brothers killed brothers. Pol Pot's killing fields? Kurdish cities wiped out by one madman's chemicals? The Holocaust? Where are the Incans and the Mayans?
I guess we could go on and on, but...will we do anything about those kinds of things?
Good, provacative post.
TC, Jules & Susie, yeah, that's where I'm heading and I'm hoping that everyone can talk me out of it. I really don't want to be in the end times. Besides, I feel kinda weird, since I've always felt Revelations may not have been true scripture (there was a lotta debate about it and Martin Luther felt it wasn't).
Michelle, it does! It just keeps piling on, too! I really hope you guys are right. Where did you go to gather up the info you found?
Mike A, good. Keep talkin'! You're making me feel better.
Deb, do you think a lot of the disasters are due to global warming, then? I'm sorry I missed that special. I would've loved to see it.
Ed & Alex, which brings me to another fear of mine: the Bird Flu. I hope that they get that vaccine manufactured soon (in mass quantity). We've seen the prediction models for global spread, and it's unnerving. EEEK! But I'm hoping you guys are right.
Paul, don't those fall under 'wars and rumors of wars'? I thought we really had lived through terrible times this century (when it came to wars, lives lost, etc) until I really started thinking about history. And I'm reading a great book called The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades which is very, very accurate (and not at all racist) but quite eye-opening. It made me very happy that we live in these modern times. VERY happy, indeed.
I just noticed something...I'm sure I left you a comment about Soduko, but it's not there now. Hmmmm? Maybe we are in the end times.
Paul, you did? It's gone? Weird... I heard others are having some slight SNAFUs in their blogs, too.
I'm not bothered by the bird flu yet. For one, it is only in countries with large poultry production in less than clean environments. Second, the cases of migration to humans have occurred in countries where it is not uncommon for humans to live in the same building as their chickens. I think that is why it will be mostly limited to the migratory bird population if it reaches the States.
But due to our large population that keeps on growing, I think a large epidemic is unavoidable. When the time comes, I think it will spread slower in developed countries just due to good sanitation. In the initial stages, I think people will just be warned to stay home and have as little contact with others as possible. I think the government would shut down our borders to foot, automobile, boat and airplane traffic. With those two measures in place, I think the losses would be minimal compared to the 1918 epidemic or the bubonic plague, etc.
I have a fireplace and a freezer full of food so I think I could wait out the storm fairly comfortably.
More specifically on the topic at hand, I don't believe the end of times is near but if it is, I am ready and have been for quite some time.
Ed, I think we would face major economic disaster if we (rightly) chose to become isolationist at that point. We're not equipped to survive without imports, even for a week - let alone the vast amt. of time it would take for an epidemic to pass. Besides, by the time the epidemic would be noticed here it would be too late - kinda like locking the barn door after the horse got out.
Well, I'm not buying off on any Revelations type happening until I see a T.-Rex chomping my sorry butt. Now THAT would be a disaster.
We just googled US natural disasters, world natural disasters, hurricanes, tornado's, etc. One website had a time line starting from the beginning of time I think, it went pretty far back. I will look again tonight. Famine and drought were huge.
Here is a timeline for you.
http://www.gesource.ac.uk
/hazards/timeline.html
Michelle, thanks! But it's a general timeline, not a disaster timeline. Even so, when you look it over you see that there is an ever-increasing and mounting advance of disasters through the centuries. I would think that the only argument could be that not all disasters were recorded... but there definately aren't as many disasters recorded as there have been in the last 100 years...
Ah well, more to think about.
Old Hoss, *LOL* You and me, both!
Jef, an excellent point!
No doubt that shutting down borders and becoming isolationists would be an economic disaster but losing 1/3 of our work force because we didn't like Europe during the Black Plague would be dooms day too. At least with becoming isolationists for a month until things passed, we might be able to rebuild more quickly than without 1/3 of our population.
I disagree that we wouldn't see it in time. Yes it would already be in the country before the government would consider such draconian measures such as shutting down borders but that is why I also mentioned isolating ourselves from the rest of America too. This way, it contains the disease to hot spots like large cities. Us folks out here in the boondocks are always the last ones to get affected because of the trickle down nature of the population. It would be hard but if you knew a deadly disease was heading your way, I would be willing to bet that you would be less likely to risk your life by interacting with your neighbors. Besides, we would still have the internet and could blog about it!
We as a nation survived before global trade was common and I'm confident that we can do it again provided sufficient motivation, i.e. a huge pandemic of some sort.
Excellent topic Saur!
Actually if we are in "the end of times" I really don't care becasue there is nothing I can do about it. No need to panic. I am certainly not excited about the possibility becaue frankly christians have been saying "It is the end" ever since Jesus went back up on the cloud. The New Testament is full of "it is coming soon" stuff and it has been 2000 years so I am not sweating it.
As for the disasters, we aren't any worse now, we just notice them more. And more people are around to catch heck when things break. If you think WWII was bad you should sit down and read a history of the Mongol invasions of Europe and the middle east. As an easy one to read I reccomend "The Devils Horsemen" can't recall the author off hand but I am re reading it and am quite impressed by the Mongols thouroghness.
Exmi, funny you should bring that up. I'm reading The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades and it's equally horrific.
Ed, actually, they're saying that once it hits the USA we're going to be in a heap of a lotta trouble. You see, we have soooo many years of conditioned response against isolating the sick, that I don't know if we'll be able to do so until its too late. Remember that during the height of the AIDS fears in the 80s (when we weren't really sure how it spread, yet) we kept hearing how we never want to isolate people like they did during the times of typhoid, etc, blah blah blah. And if they were willing to risk public safety for political correctness THEN, what will stop them now?
Don't make me work at this!
I think Paul's missing post was raptured. Rapturous!
Uncle Joe & Michelle, *LOL*
I think there are 2 explanations. The first is global warming. I hate to see the glaciers disappearing -- a bit scary.
The second is technology and communication. I'm not sure I would've heard about the recent tsunami if it was say, the year 1700, all other things the same. I might be too busy trying to stay warm or hunting for food! And who knows how many disasters were either not recorded (people too busy surviving)or erased to keep people from remembering in the past. Would a mudslide in an isolated community make worldwide news? I don't think so.
Excellant post and comment section as always, Saurkraut! You certainly have a way of bringing out the thoughts in people.
I have been reading this post all day, hoping that I could come up with something different to say. It even prompted me to google up sites on global warming, the ice ages, and the history of the earth.
What I found was that the earth has always been in the stages of constant movement and land reformations. It's all happened over a span of millions of years, and is still in the stages of changing. We do not help the situation with global warming and the raping of the natural resources; it might even be hastening the situation more than we care to admit.
Regardless, I am more afraid of the man we put in charge of the "button" (that could end it all, as well as the terrorists who have no regard for life), than I am of the natural disasters we seem to be creating by our constant harvesting of resources.
I'm sure the people caught up in the recent disasters with no escape, might have thought that it was the end of the world. Sadly it was, but only for them.
Global warming has a lot to do with it.
There's an awful lot of bad happenings, that's for sure.
A pandemic (Bird Flu or some other) would REALLY makes our collective butts pucker.
Scary to even comptemplate.
althouse is very right (sorry been at work all day so I cant participate in anything anymore). All human suffering aside, as a scientist, I have to admit that human history is but a heartbeat in the life of the earth.
R2K
Saur I am not afraid of people shouthing about the end times of the world, but these end times I am living in concerns me ... is that a paradox? I am talking about my personal end time ... I am at that age where death is in my thoughts more than the book of Revelation. Still, it interesting to click on the link and check it out.
Saur,
Excellent post.
The liberal media is systematically destroying America. If the rapture doesn't happen soon the media will have forced the Tribulations on most Americans.
The only thing that has changed over the years is the mass media. 200 years ago, the tsunami in the Indian Ocean would have remained unreported - unless it happened to hit you.
Now thanks to 24 hour news channels, and satellite communications, anything that bleeds anywhere in the world can be on your TV in minutes. And so it is.
But I do not think there are more disasters today, nor do I think there are less.
And for those who think the end of the world is near, I offer them this. Give ME all your sinful evil money, so when the Lord comes back you will be in his good graces - free from all that devilish sinful evil money. Ill take the rap for it.
I think a lot of the natural disasters are because our entire earth's biosphere is changing so rapidly. The shift in all these patterns leaves us with more and more hurricanes each season, more mudslides, big storms, etc etc etc. Even in the last 20, 30, 40 years, can't you sense some kind of change?
I know the winters here are very different than they used to be, as far as i can remember. Now, granted, I haven't been around for 70, 80, 90 years, but if I can tell a difference, can't everyone?
And the wars and man-made chaos is probably just because of the higher populations. But that's just a guess.
Lets go to the Word of God and see what Jesus had to say about what would be the signs of the end times.
From the book of Matthew: And ye shall hear of WARS and RUMORS of WARS; see that ye be not troubled: for [these things] must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet.
What I have not yet heard talked about on this blog is another sign that Jesus said would mark the beginning of the end - and that sign is that Israel would once again become a nation after a 2000 year Diaspora (dispersion) throughout all the nations of the world. This happened in 1948, which marked the countdown towards the end times spoken of in the Bible. You see, it's not just about wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, pestilences and plagues which mark the end times. It also has to do with what is going on in the nation of Israel, the most sought after fought over piece of real estate upon the Earth. What Jesus really said was when you begin to see all of these things taking place at the same time, that would be a sign that we are living in the end times.
Also, pay attention to what is happening in Europe, and how it is being transformed into a single super state. This is also prophesied in the Bible and it is called the Revived Roman Empire. And here is an interesting piece of news about the coming Antichrist: http://www.inplainsite.org/html/european_union.html
I, at some point, anticipated a discussion like this coming up so I took the liberty of scanning in some pages of a book I am currently reading. The information given is public domain, so I'm not really worried about copywrite issues. I think after having read some of this material that even the most hardened skeptic would agree that there are people - very powerful people - in our nation and around the world who are hell-bent on seeing a one world government come to fruition. I say all this because I believe it ties in with the discussion saur is having on her blog regarding Bible prophecy and the end times.
I very much recommend picking up a copy of the book, "Hope of the Wicked" if you wish to learn a lot more about the subject of global government and its key players in the world today.
http://bryansspace.com/Hope%20of%20The%20Wicked/index.htm
Good day.
well, whether or not you believe in the "end times," the time we live in now is unprecedented for many reasons:
1) the world population has grown so rapidly in the past couple hundred years that the total number of people LIVING now is nearly equal to the total number of people who are DEAD. check it out, it's true.
2) the advance of the transistor and the scaling of moore's law make it very likely that computers will be superior to humans in designing other, better computers. according to current rates, this could happen in just 20 years. when computers design ever-improved computers at faster speeds, they are predicted to take over the world ... just so you know. ;-P
I was looking for this information last night but couldn't find it. This is it in a nutshell why I believe the end times are upon us.
Notice, about half way down, the part about the Temple Mount being rebuilt and that the Jews will once again resume their worship there. This is also very indicative of the end times.
Everyone, thank you so much for your contributions. I'd like to comment on each and every one right now, but I can't (work calls). If I can do so later today, I will! This has been a wonderful debate/weighing in of opinions.
You are probably right about the conditioned response. Hopefully if we saw it laying waste to countries overseas we would change our tunes a bit before it was too late. Lets hope neither of us are around to find out.
Posts like this and the one above are really turning me into a Saur fan! Thanks.
Coming in on the tail of it, this was an interesting discussion. I mentioned in one of my own posts that I think these are the "End Times" but then so did Paul, so I presume the end time to be somewhat flexible. I have never worried much about them. I worry more about identifiable disasters and their amelioration. Besides, once you are past seventy, you are in "your" end times regardless of how much you worry about it. So who me?? why worry??
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