Doomsday Clock

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Doomsday is a word used for a time when the world will be destroyed, one way or another. Many people have their own ideas about if this will happen, when and why!

We live in a world where there are many threats and dangers around us. We have seen how terrorism seems to affect almost every country around the world with those who want their brutal and hateful ideas forced on everyone across the world and are prepared to do anything to achieve their aims. But there are many other threats – diseases and epidemics where vaccines are no longer working – to biological terrorism – to mad dictators getting weapons that could cause destruction – to chaos on the world stock markets that cause financial crashes – and the threat of increased global warming, destroying habitats and increasing weird weather.

Timeline

One set of ideas comes from the ‘Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’. This video is their take on things – it’s not necessarily the right angle or the complete picture! It’s just their opinion, one among many. They think that it’s just 3 minutes to midnight – meaning the world is just “3 minutes” (thinking of the whole of time as being 24 hours) away from destruction. 

Link – https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/ (accessed January 2019)

Video

Please note this is a video from a group with a specific perspective on life. Myfishbites does not necessarily agree with their conclusions but this is here as a discussion starter.

2016 Doomsday Clock from www.thebulletin.org on Vimeo.

(Accessed January 2019)

Questions

I wonder what you think about what the Doomsday Clock video is saying? I wonder what you think the biggest issues are in the world at the moment and whether they could lead to the destruction of the world?

I also wonder what you’d do if you knew the world was going to end any minute. I wonder whether it would make you do things that were good or maybe do things that were bad. 

True Story

There are some extraordinary stories of what people do when they know that they are going to die. 

The life of the incredible Stephen Sutton from Staffordshire is one example. On May 14th 2014, Stephen died aged 19 from an incurable cancer which was diagnosed when he was 15. But knowing he was going to die, he set about fulfilling some dreams and raising money for charity – namely the Teenage Cancer Trust. He played drums in front of 90,000 people at Wembley before the Champion’s League Final and skydiving. By the time he died, he had raised over £3.2 million for charity and impacted the lives of thousands of people for good.

Link – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27408818 (accessed January 2019)

End Thoughts

I don’t know what you think about the world. But as a Christian, the Bible tells me that this world will end one day and that it will be quite dramatic. In fact, the Bible tells us that this world is winding down, with things decaying over time. But there is also hope which I believe in as a Christian – the Bible tells me that one day, God will make all things new and make all things right. My part is simply to believe in Jesus.

Whatever you do or don’t believe, the truth is that we are all going to die one day. But what will make us really happy is if we make a positive difference in this world and help make the world a better place. You have a choice – are you going to live a life that is all about you? This seems good but you can store up all the riches in the world but you can’t take it with you when you die! Or will you live a life for good – helping others, caring for others, loving others and making a difference. Just like I believe Jesus did – going around doing good and healing all who came to him. And like people like Stephen Sutton did.