-Caveat Lector-
In this article, Diane Carmen comments:
>>doomsday planning seems
like a complete waste of, well, time.
I couldn't agree more.
<<
I second that motion!
eagle 1
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Send someone a smile for the holidays.
Find one at: http://www.lambsheart.com/web/cards.html
http://www.lambsheart.com/cafe/connect1.html
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
----- Original Message -----
From: "William Shannon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 1999 11:41 AM
Subject: [CTRL] Doomsday Prophets To Be Letdown?
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> diane carman
>
> Doomsday prophets in for disappointment
> By Diane Carman
> Denver Post Staff Columnist
>
> Dec. 9 - The Concerned Christians who were arrested in Greece as well as
> dozens of other groups preparing for the apocalypse on the first day of
the
> new millennium could be in for a disappointment.
>
> If historians and Biblical scholars are to be believed, the 2000th
> anniversary of the birth of Christ happened about four years ago. In terms
of
> end-of-the-world prophecies, Jan. 1, 2000 is no more ominous a date than
> April Fool's Day.
>
> Cancel the Middle East Armageddon tour package.
>
> As all those who dither about whether the new millennium actually occurs
this
> January or next will tell you, the Gregorian Calendar is a real piece of
> work. For one thing, the actual date of the birth of Christ, which is the
> theoretical basis for this whole deal, was almost a random selection. The
> Romans picked Dec. 25 because before the birth of Christ, many worshipped
the
> sun and that was already a day of celebration since it was the shortest
day
> of the year. Later, astronomers realized that a solar year actually was
365
> 1/4 days long, so they recalculated, and Dec. 22 became the new date for
the
> shortest day of the year. By that time, 1,200 years had elapsed, however,
so
> there was no point in going into such mundane details with the
> Christmas-celebrating faithful.
>
> As for the year of Christ's birth, that was tricky, too. Using old
documents
> that were based on a variety of ways to calculate months and years in
ancient
> cultures, Christians in the 6th century estimated that Christ was born 753
> years after the founding of Rome.
>
> That conflicts with the Bible, though, which says his birth was during the
> reign of King Herod, who died in the Roman year 750.
>
> "They just slipped up by a couple of years,'' said University of Colorado
> history professor Steven Epstein. "Counting backwards like that, you'd
> naturally lose track.''
>
> Then to top it all off, the inventors of the Gregorian Calendar in the
16th
> century were into Roman numerals and didn't know about zero. It didn't
exist
> as a concept in those days, so they figured the date of Christ's birth as
> year one.
>
> That wasn't a problem back then, but our subsequent embrace of the zero
digit
> tends to louse up everybody's calculations. Even with all the guesswork
> involved in determining the year of Christ's birth, starting with year one
> instead of zero can't help but confuse your average modern-day prophet of
> doom.
>
> New World Order worriers aside, there's plenty of controversy about the
> meaning of time and how it's measured.
>
> Asians following the lunar calendar will celebrate the dawning of the year
> 4697 on Feb. 16. Jews celebrated the new year of 5760 on Rosh Hashana.
> Muslims, meanwhile, didn't start keeping track of years until A.D. 622, so
> they're behind in the count.
>
> And Native Americans, who for generations based their calendars on the sun
> and the stars, have a more cosmic approach to the whole thing. Many
believe
> they moved through several worlds before this one, so doomsday planning
seems
> like a complete waste of, well, time.
>
> I couldn't agree more.
>
>
> Diane Carman's commentaries appear Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail:
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
