As we get ready for December 21 the Public Religion Research Institute did a survey on the apocalypse to get a feel for how many Americans believe this Mayan doomsday will actually go down.
Turns out that two percent of America thinks it’s actually going to happen.
Now listen, two percent may not sound like much—but it’s way too much. To put this in context, if you went to small-town high school with 500 kids, two percent would mean 10 of your classmates actually believe they have only eight days left to live before the world goes up in a ball of flames as foretold by ancient Mayans. Chances are you would know those 10 kids, and you would think they were all nuts. 10 kids would probably seem like more at your school than you’d expect.
On the other hand, 15% of those surveyed—the equivalent to 47 million Americans—think that the world will end with Jesus returning for the rapture as told by the bible’s Book of Revelation in their lifetime. So there’s that.
NASA is trying to reassure everyone that the world won’t end December 21. For the Jesus believers that’s no comfort with there being no date attached to their doomsday prediction and science being a sham and all. But December 22 should take at least 6 million Americans off the hook.
December 18, 2012 at 2:35 pm, Louis Falkenstein said:
That picture makes me want to cry. The stone disc in the background was made by the Aztecs. Showing a picture of this calender when talking/writing about Mayas is like showing the Hagia Sophia(a mosque in Istanbul) when talking about protestants.
December 19, 2012 at 2:51 am, Linda Marie Smith said:
the Mayans say…. there is no end without a new beginning….. Dec. 21, 2012 is a big chance to birth a new and better world…. let's take that chance and conceive and birth this new world in love….. sincerely, the Ma-ya.
December 20, 2012 at 4:43 pm, Michigan schools closing in preparation for the apocalypse | Death and Taxes said:
[...] we have already reported, over 6 million Americans believe that the world is actually going to end Friday night—this just adds to the ridiculous [...]
December 20, 2012 at 7:01 pm, NASA doing best to debunk myth that world will end on Dec. 21 | Saint Petersblog said:
[...] only 2% of Americans believe it will [...]
February 15, 2013 at 9:57 am, Deeper Perception Made Practical » Aura Reading Movie Review Starring Denzel Washington said:
[...] In terms of content, think about all the fear in the world right now. You might know that 1 in 6 Americans believed the world would end in 2012. [...]