Do you think the 'End Times' are near?

Do you thing the 'End Times' are near? This is what I was asked today. I did my best to contain my laughter, because it was my boss who was asking me. And I like my boss, she's a nice lady, ultra-conservative, but still nice. My reply was simply "No, not anytime soon."

She cited that what the bible says about the Armageddon, that there will be an increase in frequency of natural disasters, wars, famine, and other bad things just before the end of the world. But, there has always been earthquakes, and hurricanes, and many more destructive than what has been seen recently. Many, that are likely to not even be recorded. Wars have always been prevalent. Since the beginning of recorded history there has been war. Famine has been less documented, but one can easily assume that poverty has been as bad, if not worse in the past than it is now, because in more recent decades we’ve become more aware about using taxation to spread the wealth. She then cited how homosexuality has become so widely accepted, as being evidence that the end of time is near. Like I said, I do enjoy working for her, so rather than start a fight, I kept my mouth shut.

But here, with the safeguard of anonymity, I can express my thoughts on the subject. Homosexuality has always been excepted in various societies, such as the ancient Greeks. Likewise, there have always been societies that condemn such behavior. Of course the spread of Christianity had snuffed out homosexuality briefly, and my boss is right that it is more widely accepted than it was 100 years ago.

But why has it become more widely accepted? Despite what some Fundamental Christians would have you believe, Christianity has not become a minority religion, Christians are not being persecuted for their beliefs, and most of our lawmakers are still Christians. The reason is not the lack of Christianity, but rather the reason is that we are better interpreting the traditional Christian beliefs. And by traditional Christian beliefs, I mean the concepts that are the cornerstone of what Christians believe. Things like “love one another,” and “treat others have you would like to be treated.” Furthermore, we have evolved into a wiser, and more logically thinking society. So when we apply the values, and we ask ourselves “Who does this really hurt?” then we arrive at the conclusion that we must accept these actions, because after all, acceptance and tolerance is the ‘Christian Way’ to behave.

Another reason that homosexuality has become more accepted in our society is because we have a governmental system that mandates a separation between church and state. Not only does this mean that we can make laws concerning organized religion, but it also means we can’t make laws on the premise of moral objection. The fundamentals of our government system is rooted in the Socratic philosophies, which are based on reasoning and logic. Thus laws concerning homosexuals have become more lax recently because we are evolving as a government, and realizing that laws must be based on logic and reasoning rather than moral outrage.

Of course when I say “we”, I am really referring to the more liberal thinkers in our society. Because it is obvious that not all of us have evolved morally. There are a vast many that still hold some sort of irrational moral outrage to homosexuality, and it is unfortunate that we do live in a discriminating society.

Back to the original question: Do I think that the End of the world is coming? No, but if it is, it would happen with a Republican in office.