From bbfd7e57e7457cbab01614ba626f08accf1fab9f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joe Carstairs Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2026 16:53:00 +0100 Subject: chp2: incorporate pre-millenialism into discussion of fatalism --- chapter2.md | 93 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------------------- 1 file changed, 58 insertions(+), 35 deletions(-) (limited to 'chapter2.md') diff --git a/chapter2.md b/chapter2.md index 1847bdf..058a69b 100644 --- a/chapter2.md +++ b/chapter2.md @@ -93,47 +93,70 @@ Paleontologists speculate about the causes of historic mass extinctions: volcanic eruptions, asteroid strikes, cyclical climate fluctuations gone rogue? One thing's for sure, there's nothing the dinosaurs could have done to stop it. -'Apocalypse' is also a fatalistic concept. This fatalism is obvious whenever -someone counts the days til doomsday. This begins with the prophet Daniel, who -reports that 'seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and thy holy city, to -finish the transgression' (Dan 9:24) and that 'from the time that the daily -sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, -there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.' \[MORE DEMONSTRATION OF -FATALIST MILLENIALISM\] - -\[EXAMPLE OF SCHOLAR SAYING THAT APOCALYPSE/CATASTROPHE IS FATALIST\] - -A fatalistic outlook may, at best, lead to what Kvandal & Levy call -'ritualistic' behaviours: 'behaviours characterized by rigidity, compulsion, and -goal demotion.' [@kvandal-2025] That is, people feel compelled to act in rigidly -specific ways, even though they don't have a clear grasp on the practical -outcomes of their behaviour. Calling on the cognitive science of religion, the -authors assert that 'there is a general consensus that human beings tend to -ritualize more of their behavior when they lose agency under conditions of -stress, uncertainty, or hazards more generally.' They note the example of Greta -Thunberg sailing across the Atlantic in a zero-carbon vessel to speak at the -United Nations. The huge effort involved in that act seems disproportionate to -the small impact had on greenhouse gas emissions. The authors also raise -examples of civil disobedience motivated by climate pessimism. Fatalism might -lead to politically productive behaviours. But the fact that ritualistic -behaviours are severed from practical outcomes makes it a pretty bad bet: +Some apocalyptic movements and worldviews have also promoted fatalisms. One +notable contemporary movement is the modern pre-millenialist movement in the +USA. Pre-millenialists believe in the 'Rapture,' based on an interpretation of +Thess 4:17: 'then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together +with \[the dead in Christ\] in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.' + +While pre-millenialists have traditionally been notable for rejecting the +apocalyptic vision of the USA as the New Jerusalem of Rev 21, and therefore +been at times able to point out distortions and injustices belonging to +mainstream American patriotic ideology [@unveiling-empire, pp. 3-15], the +pre-millenialist outlook is inescapably fatalist. As a result, when the 'social +gospel' movement took off in the late nineteenth century, some +pre-millenialists condemned the movement for failing to trust God's plan to +redeem the world in the end-times and trying to redeem the world by inferior +and vain human efforts instead [@unveiling-empire, p. 10]. Wes Howard-Brooke +and Anthony Gwyther have observed this contradictory situation: + +> \[…\] in the 1950s-1970s, pre-millenialists were also taking frequent aim at what +> they saw as other U.S. cultural signs of the approaching End. Among their +> targets were television \[…\], consumerism, advancing technology, changes in +> gender roles in the family and workplace, the advent of the New Age movement, +> rock and roll, and homosexuality. One thing was certainly true about +> premillenialists: they were willing to look American culture in the eye and +> not flinch. Of course, they had no desire to repair the damage or heal the +> wounds; such malignant forces were simply further evidence that the Second +> Coming was getting closer and closer, and hence, the Rapture of the true +> believers. [@unveiling-empire, p. 14] + +In the case of the green movement, a fatalistic outlook may, at best, lead to +what Kvandal & Levy call 'ritualistic' behaviours: 'behaviours characterized by +rigidity, compulsion, and goal demotion.' [@kvandal-2025] While this may not +serve as an adequate account of ritual behaviours in general, the authors' +point is this: green activists who hold a fatalistic outlook feel compelled to +act in rigidly specific ways, even though they don't have a clear grasp on the +practical outcomes of their behaviour. + +Calling on the cognitive science of religion, the authors assert that 'there is +a general consensus that human beings tend to ritualize more of their behavior +when they lose agency under conditions of stress, uncertainty, or hazards more +generally.' They note the example of Greta Thunberg sailing across the Atlantic +in a zero-carbon vessel to speak at the United Nations. The huge effort +involved in that act seems disproportionate to the small impact had on +greenhouse gas emissions. The authors also raise examples of civil disobedience +motivated by climate pessimism. Fatalism might lead to politically productive +behaviours. But the fact that ritualistic behaviours are severed from practical +outcomes makes it a pretty bad bet: > By not allowing for hope that the world can be salvaged, this form of social > activism provides outlets in which activists alleviate anxiety by obtaining a > (simulated) sense of agency in the face of an uncontrollable threat. > [@kvandal-2025, p. 701] -Action directed at making you feel better might lead to change in your own life, -but it is not necessarily going to solve the problem that made you feel anxious -in the first place. Juli Gittinger has shown that fatalistic climate narratives -have driven some people in the US to join the 'prepper' movement, accumulating -stockpiles of essential goods, building emergency shelters, learning 'survival -skills,' and collecting weapons to defend your family's patch from desperate -outsiders. [@american-apocalyptic, see esp. chp. 3, 4] 'Prepper' culture (which -owes its existence to Cold War fears of all-out nuclear war -[@american-apocalyptic, pp. 48-56]) might be a minority pursuit, but it is a -response to the same apocalyptic storytelling which is a widespread phenomenon -in mainstream American media: +Action directed at making you feel better might lead to change in your own +life, but it is not necessarily going to solve the problem that made you feel +anxious in the first place. Juli Gittinger has shown that fatalistic climate +narratives have driven some people in the US to join the 'prepper' movement, +accumulating stockpiles of essential goods, building emergency shelters, +learning 'survival skills,' and collecting weapons to defend your family's +patch from desperate outsiders. [@american-apocalyptic, see esp. chp. 3, 4] +'Prepper' culture (which owes its existence to Cold War fears of all-out +nuclear war [@american-apocalyptic, pp. 48-56] and is sometimes also pursued as +a result of certain pre-millenialist beliefs [@unveiling-empire, p. 5]) might +be a minority pursuit, but it is a response to the same apocalyptic +storytelling which is a widespread phenomenon in mainstream American media: > The theme of _impending catastrophe_ \[…\] frames the news story > as more apocalyptic and therefore often becomes more sensationalized or highly -- cgit v1.2.3