The End of the World or is it

Many people darkly hint that "the end is at hand". They claim that they see a direct connection between the apocalyptic final book of the Bible, Revelation, and the world around us. Just look at the weather, they say. Look at the pollution, look at the continuous threat of war.

And what about all those rocks flying around in space? Look around you. Look everywhere. How is it possible not to believe?.But is it? What of other theories? What about science? Don't we have several millennia to go? Then again, it seems increasingly likely that earth has a date with an asteroid in the not too distant future.

So will the four horsemen ride? And most importantly, will all this happen in our lifetime? And why are we so obsessed with the end of everything anyway? Isn't it better to just live life as it is and be as happy as possible? When all is considered, it is equally likely that I will die and that the world will end tomorrow. Either way, I won't be here anymore if either event happens. So why not just enjoy what I have now?.There are many questions. Further research will probably result in only more questions.

This is okay. We're human and we're curious. Let's hope we have a while yet to try and satisfy some of our inquisitive nature.The most poignant question is perhaps, what is the point? What is the point of worrying about the end if it inevitable anyway?.

From the religious point of view, the reason for worrying is one's eternal soul. The Christian religion, and to some extent Judaism, has a very specific set of events lined up for the end of our world. Christians are madly preparing themselves for the end of all.The problem with this is the nature of the society in which we live. Once, long ago, when nations were still living separately, each in its own little corner, religious segragation was acceptable and even vital.

Now however, we are required to live next door to any number of freaks. And we're expected to accept these freaks for who they are. Christianity and many of the fundamentalist, organized religions do not see things this way. They worry not only about their own souls, but also about those of others.

Nevertheless, society is inevitably moving towards tolerance. Not everybody is very open to the idea of the religious end and the actions required to prepare for it.Much more current is the question of the physical end. This is something we can see coming, and it strikes many people as much more urgent than their eternal souls.

Of course even scientists admit that there is little that we can do to stop flaming rocks from the sky or aliens suddenly deciding that the earth is in their way. But we can do something about the ecological disaster we seem to have inherited. Much is already being done.

Organizations have been registered and officially recognized in order to save everything from the whales to the tiniest of endangered seedlings. Every day we are told to recycle, to reuse, to protect and clean up. This is the end most of us are trying desperately to avert.If we succeed, the human race can survive until the end of time, or at least until the sun burns away, until a rock bigger than Earth hits us, until an alien destroys us, or until a religious entity comes to judge us.

Maybe that is the point. Ignore what we cannot change and do something about what we can. Perhaps this is the reason behind all action attempting to avert the end. We are biological beings. Even the most religious among us has a sense of the survival instinct. Maybe the madly preparing Christians are no stranger than those working madly to save our rain forests or ozone layer or endangered gecko.

It is all a matter of survival. The only difference is perspective.

She is an instructor in a special program there, teaching year long seminars to help disadvantaged students improve their English academic reading and writing skills in preparation for University studies. In addition she is a reviewer and proofreader for the Institute of Groundwater Studies, also at the University. This department is concerned with the management of borehole water and other underground water sources mainly in South Africa, and also in other parts of Africa. Highly interested in the Internet as the new form of international communication, Cathi has established two Blogs, one on self improvement subjects and one on Web site reviews of sites she has found to be excellent and rewarding experiences for Internet surfers.

Cathi's self-improvement blog can be found here: http://www.writingup.com/Cathi. Her Web site review blog can be found here: http://cathe-reviews.blogspot.com/2006/03/introduction.

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By: Catherine Bitzer