COLUMN: Question before giving into apocalyptic beliefs
Welcome Statesman readers to 2012. After a semester of the worst grades I’ve ever gotten, I’m returning to school with renewed vigor and a resolution to graduate before the world ends.
It is going to end, right? According to many new-age believers, 2012 marks the period of potential cataclysmic change — positive or negative — including Earth’s collision with a black hole, humans undergoing a spiritual transformation and any other number of doomsday scenarios. Although all of these claims have been dismissed by scholars in multiple fields, the idea of the world ending has incited both hope and terror in millions of people across the globe.
For those with a trivial amount of critical-thinking skill, the idea of the world suddenly coming to an end is laughable. But the reactions of those who do believe in such an idea are unfounded and often dangerous.
One such particular group was founded in 1986 by a man named Joseph Kony, who reorganized a movement originally based on fighting the oppressive Ugandan government. Kony dubbed this new group the Lord’s Resistance Army, based on the Ten Commandments and designed to overthrow the government using apocalyptic Christian views.
Because he lost support rapidly, Kony began raiding villages and abducting children as soldiers for the LRA. He often forced the children to kill and rape family members, thereby making it impossible for them to return home. Then the children are marched to camps where they are indoctrinated for any number of useful occupations under Kony’s management, including sex slavery and combat. More information on this can be found at warchild.org.
Although this despicable behavior has been carried out by Kony for more than 25 years, nothing has been actively done to bring it to an end. Several organizations are trying diligently to raise awareness, but unfortunately, without military aid there’s not a lot citizens can do to fight against weapon-bearing children.
October 2011, President Obama announced his intention to send over a small group of soldiers to Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with these countries’ permission. This number will gradually increase as the soldiers seek to capture or kill those in charge of the LRA, according to ABC News.
While everyone with even the slightest bit of knowledge about this crisis is relieved that something is finally being done, Rush Limbaugh, the world’s most intelligent radio talk show host, broadcasted his personal opinion about the LRA shortly after Obama’s announcement.
Without bothering to do any research, Limbaugh hounded Obama about sending troops to fight a “Christian” organization.
“Now, up until today,” he said, “most Americans have never heard of the combat Lord’s Resistance Army. And here we are at war with them … (the) Lord’s Resistance Army are Christians. It means God.”
If by “most Americans,” Limbaugh means himself, then yes. The ignorance he displayed would be laughable if the situation wasn’t so serious. And it wasn’t until the end of the show — after millions of listeners heard Limbaugh accuse Obama of killing Christians — that Limbaugh mentions receiving information about the LRA’s true nature.
It seems that a topic of this nature would call for a bit of research, especially from such a popular political pundit. But Mr. Limbaugh seems to think that just because something is plastered with the Christian appellation, it doesn’t merit any real background work. It’s not exactly difficult. If you simply Google LRA, multiple hits from websites are retrieved that tell this tragic story of child abuse. Videos can be found on YouTube of adolescents candidly telling stories about watching people being dismembered.
Attitudes like Limbaugh’s are exactly the problem with apocalyptic thinking and scenarios. Extreme behavior can masquerade as religious belief and evade criticism by world powers — even though Kony and his henchmen have been wanted for war crimes for more than five years, Obama’s administration is the first to do anything.
This is why it is so vitally important to expose the intentions of those who claim to know the world is coming to its end. Rather than read apocalyptic scenarios, do the research and find out why they aren’t true — and then use that information to educate those around you. Unless the apocalypse is human induced — at this point this possibility seems more likely than ever — the end of the world is literally impossible at the close of 2012. And until everyone knows it, insanity, like that of Kony, will be able to continue.