# Do you believe that "Judgment Day" will happen on May 21? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939 "2011-04-27T20:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/41 "2011-04-28T13:48:11Z")
I recently sent this email to a colleague I’ve been doing overtime for: > [@](#): > > Hi Ian, > > You’ve got me down for a shift on May 21. Something’s come up on that day, would you be able to find someone else? I’m still OK for April 30 and May 7 and 14. He probably now thinks I’m one of _Them_. 😃 (It’s actually a friend’s stag night, so come the morning of the 22nd I may wish it was all over.) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/42 "2011-04-28T14:05:27Z")
Instead of Judgement Day, can’t we just have a Fun Day? I mean, the guy hasn’t given us a day off in “6000” years. And I know he doesn’t want to do an all-out celebration for us all, because we’re unworthy sinners etc. But just like a day out to the next inhabited world. With ice cream. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/43 "2011-04-28T14:28:20Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > [pedant] > > What does ‘the world ending’ even mean? All life wiped out? Well, the world would still be there, wouldn’t it? A giant meteor smashing into the planet? Less than three weeks out, and no one has noticed it? I doubt it. The planet somehow simply winking out of existence? Someone explain to me how that would ever > > [/pedant] Sun going supernova? Scientists invent and then lose control of a singularity? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/44 "2011-04-28T14:30:29Z")
You left out “No, because it’s already happened a long, long time ago” ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/45 "2011-04-28T14:46:11Z")
Will this wind be so mighty, so as to lay low all the mountains of the earth? No. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/46 "2011-04-28T15:06:40Z")
> [@Astroboy14](#): > > So I officially now believe! Goodbye cruel world! That’s crazy. > [@](#): > > Goodbye cruel couch. You’re off your rocker. > [@](#): > > Goodbye cruel toaster oven. Cuckoo! > [@](#): > > Goodbye cruel venetian blinds. How does one sign up for your newsletter? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/47 "2011-04-28T16:26:13Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > There will be no judgement day. Even if the world ends (which it won’t), no one will be judged by any person or fictional character. Oh yes they will. People judge other people all the time. I judged someone last night because they had a Stanford alumni license plate holder, and were driving like a jerk. [pedant][pedant] > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > [pedant] > A giant meteor smashing into the planet? Less than three weeks out, and no one has noticed it?[/pedant] That _could_ actually happen. The problem is that there are an awful lot of asteroids out there. We haven’t found all the big ones that could cross the Earth’s orbit. The other problem is that a lot of asteroids are dark-colored, so they’re not easy to see. We could also get hit by a comet, but in that case we’d probably get a few months or years warning. Not that that would help anything. > [@OpalCat](#): > > Sun going supernova? Can’t happen. It’s not nearly massive enough. It _is_ slowly getting brighter, and will cause all the water on Earth to evaporate away in about a billion years. This will wipe out most, if not all, life on Earth. [/pedant][/pedant] > [@Mijin](#): > > Instead of Judgement Day, can’t we just have a Fun Day? > > I mean, the guy hasn’t given us a day off in “6000” years. > > But just like a day out to the next inhabited world. With ice cream. We get this, in Judaism. This is what Shabbat is supposed to be about. It’s even supposed to be a foretaste of the “World to Come”, the good Jewish afterlife. Not necessarily with ice cream, but we do get wine. > [@spark240](#): > > But He Who was seated on the Great White Throne, from Whose Presence earth and sky fled, missed the memo. Wrong, it’s _She_ Who was seated on the Great White Throne. Earth and sky flee from my presence when I’m sitting on the great white throne, at least when I’ve been eating beans. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/48 "2011-04-28T17:46:30Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > That _could_ actually happen. The problem is that there are an awful lot of asteroids out there. We haven’t found all the big ones that could cross the Earth’s orbit. The other problem is that a lot of asteroids are dark-colored, so they’re not easy to see. Which, as a matter of fact, is why I will be going before Congress next week to argue in favor of the upcoming “Spray-paint All Near-earth Asteroids White” act, which I predict will sail through when it comes up for a vote. Saving the Earth, giving NASA something to do once the shuttles stop flying, and a jobs bill, all in one! ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/49 "2011-04-28T18:09:52Z")
God is a big picture guy, he’s not really into the exact numbers. > [@](#): > > At least the World will end, an event anticipated with great joy by many. It will end very soon, but not in the year 2000, which has come and gone. From that I conclude that God Almighty is not heavily into Numerology. > Kurt Vonnegut, Hocus Pocus ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/50 "2011-04-28T18:57:27Z")
If J Day doesn’t happen on the 21st, I’m available for the judging panel anytime after Memorial day weekend. ---
**Author:** ![\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/eada6e/32.png) [@\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Undecided_Adrian)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/51 "2011-04-28T19:00:01Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > What does ‘the world ending’ even mean? All life wiped out? Well, the world would still be there, wouldn’t it? A giant meteor smashing into the planet? Less than three weeks out, and no one has noticed it? I doubt it. The planet somehow simply winking out of existence? Someone explain to me how that would ever happen. Here’s the site for you and any aspiring world-destroyer: [ [[QUOTE=qntm.org/destroy](http://QUOTE=qntm.org/destroy)] Destroying the Earth is harder than you may have been led to believe. You’ve seen the action movies where the bad guy threatens to destroy the Earth. You’ve heard people on the news claiming that the next nuclear war or cutting down rainforests or persisting in releasing hideous quantities of pollution into the atmosphere threatens to end the world. Fools. The Earth is built to _last_. It is a 4,550,000,000-year-old, 5,973,600,000,000,000,000,000-tonne _ball of iron_. It has taken more devastating asteroid hits in its lifetime than you’ve had hot dinners, and lo, it still orbits merrily. So my first piece of advice to you, dear would-be Earth-destroyer, is: do NOT think this will be easy. This is not a guide for wusses whose aim is merely to wipe out humanity. I (Sam Hughes) can in no way guarantee the complete extinction of the human race via any of these methods, real or imaginary. Humanity is wily and resourceful, and many of the methods outlined below will take many years to even become available, let alone implement, by which time mankind may well have spread to other planets; indeed, other star systems. If total human genocide is your ultimate goal, you are reading the wrong document. There are far more efficient ways of doing this, many which are available and feasible RIGHT NOW. Nor is this a guide for those wanting to annihilate everything from single-celled life upwards, render Earth uninhabitable or simply conquer it. These are _trivial_ goals in comparison. This is a guide for those who do not want the Earth to be there anymore. [/QUOTE] ]([How to destroy the Earth @ Things Of Interest](http://qntm.org/destroy)) ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/52 "2011-04-28T19:28:34Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Which, as a matter of fact, is why I will be going before Congress next week to argue in favor of the upcoming “Spray-paint All Near-earth Asteroids White” act, which I predict will sail through when it comes up for a vote. Saving the Earth, giving NASA something to do once the shuttles stop flying, and a jobs bill, all in one! I think the interview process for the position of asteroid painter should heavily favor people who drive like jerks. We’d at least be rid of 'em for a little while. If they drive the ship like a jerk and crash into an asteroid or burn up in the atmosphere, so much the better. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/53 "2011-04-28T23:12:26Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > [pedant] > > Lastly, if I understand Christian religious beliefs correctly, God creates an entire universe of nearly infinite extent, populates precisely one planet out of billions with life, knows at the time He made it that the whole experiment is not going to work, but rather than just cancel the whole thing right then and there, waits for the outcome that he knows is going to happen anyway, thus allowing billions upon billions of lives to suffer unimaginable pain and torment when He could have just not bothered to create the whole deal in the first place. > > Sorry, doesn’t make a lick of sense. > > [/pedant] I was looking for the exact quote by Nietzsche, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary for us to invent Him,” which dovetails nicely with my own philosophy that God did not create us in His own image; rather, we created God in OUR own image. An all-powerful being limited by his own venal emotions, easily influenced by the very beings He’s created. I used to have a bumper sticker that read, “Jesus is coming, and He is PISSED!” But I found a better one, more suited to the topic: “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” ~ Richard Bach ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/54 "2011-04-29T00:21:33Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Wrong, it’s _She_ Who was seated on the Great White Throne. Earth and sky flee from my presence when I’m sitting on the great white throne, at least when I’ve been eating beans. Hillary, is that YOU again? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/55 "2011-04-29T01:06:02Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Well, since God is American, figure it out! 😃 Oh, now if Dr. Manhattan is coming back, I’m interested! ---
**Author:** ![Cell\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Cell\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/56 "2011-04-29T01:43:47Z")
It better not end May 21. I have plans that day and my divorce trial doesn’t start until June 1. If I die as a married man I’m going to be pissed! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/57 "2011-04-29T03:35:44Z")
I hope so. I’m supposed to call in for jury duty on May 27. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/58 "2011-04-29T05:04:20Z")
I judge people _every_ day. No reason May 21 should be different! ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/59 "2011-04-29T22:40:29Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I hope so. I’m supposed to call in for jury duty on May 27. From what I understand, the end of the world is an acceptable excuse for failure to show up for jury duty, unlike the IRS which still demands that you pay your taxes anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939/60 "2011-04-29T23:13:42Z")
Oh come on. I think we will all be judging people really harshly on May 21st, especially the ones who thought the world was going to end. Every day is Judgment Day on the SDMB. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-believe-that-judgment-day-will-happen-on-may-21/579939.md?page=4)