So once again, the religious folks are certain that the world is about to end. This is not the first time this has happened, of course, and it will not be the last. Why, this web page alone chronicles 44 failed end-of-the-world predictions between 30 and 1920 CE. And that leaves out most of the last century, the turn of the milenium, and every faith that isn’t just Christianity. So many religious traditions teach that an end-of-times is going to happen, and when it does, only those who bought what they were selling would be free and clear.

Me, I’m a science geek. I’m a big fan of things like using a theory to make testable predictions. And that is ultimately what all of these end of the world scenarios are. You take your theory (that there is a God in heaven who divinely inspired a book of absolute or relative truths) and you create a hypothesis for something it suggests. Then, you have to wait and see to determine if the hypothesis was accurate or not. If it isn’t, then you need to figure out whether or not there was an error in the methodology or if in fact the whole thing was just bunk.

The fine Christian folks from Family Radio Worldwide are absolutely certain that Christ is going to return on May 21, 2011. That would be this Friday. And if I read it correctly, it is going to happen at rolling intervals at 6:00 pm. So if you live in Greenwich Mean Time, your rapture will come earlier than those living in Mountain like me. Clearly, the Lord likes a schedule.

Of course it is ridiculous and silly that anyone would believe this hokum. We can say that the earth will definitely end at some point due to any number of possible factors from the sun going supernova to an as-yet-unknown comet shattering it into billions of pieces. We can also say that life on earth could well end long before that happens from literally millions of possible directions. We could change our climate enough that the world becomes uninhabitable. We could wage an all-out nuclear war that destroys everything. Dolphins could evolve into super dolphins and kill us as we did our prehistoric cousins. Anything is possible.

Most Christians do not believe that Friday is going to be the end of the world. Jesus is going to return, that part isn’t silly, but he isn’t going to return yet, not when local sports team has a shot at the big prize this seasons. I would assume that most Christians see movements like this as just an annoying part of the landscape.

Sadly, I don’t agree. To me, this is the perfect example of why we have to stop letting faith of any kind have a say in our politics, education, public and private sector, the whole kit and caboodle. I don’t care what you believe. You have every right in this free country to believe that women should be dominated by men, that Jesus is the son of God and is coming back to kill everyone, that black people are genetically inferior to whites, or that Sasquatch is real. So long as those beliefs do not impact the rights of others, you are welcome to them. But why are we lending credibility to them?

Anything worth respecting should have the simple requirement of being right, or at least stand a decent chance of being right. And all faiths have proven time and time again that they are not correct. Whether it is using the Bible to figure out when the world is going to end, finding evidence that Saddam is the third tyrant predicted by Nostradamus, or implying that Io created Ranginui and Papatuanuku, they are all wrong. Apologists and revisionists can claim all they like that what we now know about creation works with the religious traditions, but they are just fudging their information. The bible’s creation story bears no arguable semblance to the Big Bang.

Am I saying that the Big Bang is absolutely true? No. I am saying that it answers the question, provides testable predictions, and is (at least at present) the best possible answer for what actually happened. Is it possible that new evidence will be found that modifies or even theoretically proves it to be wrong? Of course. Science is open minded and embraces evidence, even if that evidence turns pre-existing opinions on their ears.

Christianity, and all systems of faith, do nothing but confound issues, and it is high time that we as a society choose to put them in their proper place. I am not saying that their proper place is the garbage bin; that is entirely for the faithful to decide. But religion’s impact on the public lives of all of us has got to end.

Friday at 6:00 pm, I plan on telling the world that once again, Christianity has failed to offer a single testable prediction. It’s over, Christianity. It’s time to take your seat on the bench next to the Greek pantheon and the Great Spirit. People can still believe in you, but you just can’t keep leaning over and spitting on legitimate policy. Your influence has got to go because you bring nothing to the table besides superstition, fear-mongering, and pain.

Jim