[Jennifer31057]

It seemed to me, in the months leading up to the year 2000, a great many fundamentalist Christians were convinced that the Y2K computer bug was going to send society into turmoil. I had noticed some ads in Christian publications and on Christian cable channels which advocated building bunkers, stocking up on weapons and supplies, etc. My elderly neighbors were frightened to death of the coming of the year 2000 because their preacher (Baptist) told them repeatedly that they should make certain preparations for Y2K, even advising them to take large amounts of cash out of their bank account (and they did) - which I found to be extremely irresponsible of him.

Were any other religions this fearful of the year 2000? Why were Christians, specifically, so afraid? Is it because of the idea of an apocalypse?

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Name : Jennifer31057, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Unitarian, Age : 32, City : Marietta, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : Advertising executive, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Mel W.]

The entire Y2K=Apocalypse idea is not really the viewpoint of most Christians. I personally do not think that an 'apocalypse' is any more or less likely to happen this year, so I did not make any special preparations for Y2K, and neither did any of the other Christians I know. However, most Christians do believe that eventually there will be a series of events, including political upheavals, wars, and maybe technological failures, etc, leading up to the return of Christ, which is what I guess your neighbor's pastor was expecting(and I agree with you, that was irresponsible of him to try to panic people like that), but once again, most Christians believe that this could happen at any time and that there is no way to prepare for this except to be Christian.

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Name : Mel W., Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 20, City : Gunnison, State : CO Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Dan]

Well, the year 2000, in my view, is an arbitrary date that is anywhere from 6 to 11 years off (the Millenium happened anywhere between 1996 and 1988), as it was miscalculated in the 6th century due to lack of available documentation and evidence (which has since become available). Also, Jesus said that even He didn't know the date or time of the end, only the Father does. In other words, it's a suprise. However, there was the Y2K hype of blackouts and planes falling from the sky and ICBMs flying free, and certain preachers might have interpreted it as the beginning of the end. As you know, nothing like that happened. But these certain circles of believers do not represent all of Christendom. For instance, TBN does not illustrate the whole global Church, just like Mtv does not illustrate the whole world of music (ever seen Tchaikovsky or Dead Kennedys on Mtv?).

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Name : Dan, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : na, Race : Chicano, Religion : Pentecostal Christian, Age : 21, City : Los Angeles area, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[alfred-mccabe]

There is a volatility in significant dates with regards to belief in world's end . You have to realize that the preachers have been hitting on the significance of the ' millenium ' for awhile now .There's nothing better than fear to stimulate your clients . The end of the world has not happened on many foretold dates ;it is a gripping concept that is inherent in many cultures/religions .It is probably also one of those ' arch-type ' concepts in our collective soul.

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Name : alfred-mccabe, City : mississauga, State : NA Country : Canada, 

[Risdon H.]

It seems to me that there are several reasons for such paranoia. Fundamentalists have been looking for the end for the past several hundred years. New demoninations have been based on the end being near. There is some ignorance involved here. Many actually think that it has been 2000 years since the birth of Christ and have plotted the history of the world as they understand it by 1000 year periods. They do not seem to know that Dennis the Little made a four-year error when he split the calandar into B.C. and A.D. and that the 2000 years since the birth of Jesus passed four years ago. They also don't seem to understand the the entire calandar system is a human not divine creation and the the Gregorian calendar, for example, was only accepted for use in the United States in the late 1700s. The entire fundamentalist concept of prediction of the end time is in error. However, their books were bestsellers in '99. People love to be frightened for some reason.

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Name : Risdon H., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 61, City : Bartlesville, State : OK Country : United States, Occupation : Retired engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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