And now for a break from the usual programming...

Woohoo! I'm so excited! Well, not really, but for a while now, I've been wondering what is going to replace the Mayan-inspired 2012-is-the-end-of-the-world craze that is due to expire in three months time.

We've had Y2K, an obvious bust, and 2012, which is about to go out with a whimper, but what's next? The only date that I could think of is around 2030, which would be the 2,000th anniversary of the Jesus's ministry and/or death and resurrection--approximately, of course, but there will be no end of people who will claim to know the exact dates in the years ahead, mark my words.

Now, that's still around 18 years away, and such a long lead time might not be good for the apocalypse business, but I'm at a loss for an intermediate date (preferably around 10 years from now, not too far, but not too near) that would mark a significant event that could double as the end of the world. The next computer-related date that makes any sense is 2038 when time runs out on the old 32-bit Unix clock (well, ticks over to zero), but there probably won't be any 32-bit Unix systems left by then anyway.

So, for the moment, we're stuck with 2030, which will undoubtedly be a big draw for conservative "Bible-believing" Christians everywhere, especially those of an eschatological bent.

Anyway, that was my own conclusion a few months ago, and I had to laugh earlier today when I actually heard someone on the radio confirming my hypothesis. Now, this was not on a religious radio station--it was one that specialize in crackpot conspiracy theories related to the New World Order, including 9/11 being an inside job--but the presenter was babbling on about some nonsense to do with increasing earthquake activity (an old, long debunked favorite of the religious right) which segued into talking about the End Times and his theory that it would happen within the next 20 years, to coincide with--you guessed it--the ministry and death and resurrection of Jesus!

Jackpot!

Of course, this is not the most pressing problem related to the religious right in America, not by a long shot, but it will be interesting to see what happens in the months and years ahead. I suspect the pattern will be this:

1. The lunatic fringe -- those who are not particularly religious, probably not even churchgoers, but who specialize in stuff like Nibiru (Planet X) and "earth-changes", i.e. the same folk who have been peddling the Mayan calendar 2012 connection -- will be the first to start marketing this as the next end of the world. They need something new to start writing books about and making their living on right away, and I've come to understand that while they don't really share the same beliefs and passions as the religious right, they are more than willing to accept Christian history and conservative Christian mythology as valid source material for their nonsense theories.

2. The fringe religious right -- i.e. the one's who are not currently at the center of the political fight over who runs the country, will latch on to it and publish their own detailed timelines of the End Times, pinning down the date to between around 2028 and 2033.

3. Finally, probably not for a few years yet, the belief will become widespread within the conservative religious community. The continuing "horrors" of socialism and rampant homosexuality in America will convince them that the End Times are approaching (as always), and finally, there will be a date near enough that most of them can look forward to seeing it (but not too close to shut up shop just yet). But I doubt there will be a huge bout of public date setting (too easy to be wrong). The fringe element will do that, but the rest will probably stick to "soon," at least in public, while they continue to lap up theories about the date in private.

Thinking about it, perhaps the late 2020s isn't too far away for it to be the next big date in the calendar of apocalypse-delayed. I wouldn't rule out an earlier date (around 2020) just yet, but if nothing else crops up by the end of next year, I think it's all but certain that around 2030 will be our next appointment for the end of the world.

The way things are going environmentally, let's just hope we all get to live long enough to see that one get canceled too.

James Dobson devoted two half-hour radio shows to his post-Obama victory thoughts along with a cadre of six other religious conservatives.  Here is a brief summary of their discussion...

Republican operatives and religious conservatives are ecstatic over Sarah Palin.  Most of all, they are ecstatic that she is a "pro-life" mother who chose not to have an abortion after she found of she was carrying a Down's Syndrome baby.

She chose?  Really?  

Well, that didn't take long.  All the speculation about Alan Keyes finding a home with the rabidly right-wing Constitution Party has quickly come to naught as the CP convention picks radio talk show host, and former CP vice-presidential candidate, Chuck Baldwin, as their nominee for 2008.

The finally tally wasn't even close: 384-126.

So, the even the Constitution Party wasn't buying what Alan Keyes was selling and now they both go their separate ways back into irrelevance.

James Dobson continued his trip around the corridors of Republican punditry this week with a two part interview with Michael Medved, a radio talk show host and regular outspoken critic of American popular culture.  Is a dinner date with Rush Limbaugh far behind?

Promoted from the diaries -- fc

In a remarkably candid interview with The Jewish Week Rev. Louis Sheldon admitted that he and "a lot" of other people had known about Ted Haggard's homosexuality for "a while" before the story broke:

James Dobson dedicated the Monday morning edition of his radio show, Focus on the Family to the Ted Haggard affair.  He and three guests, Albert Mohler, Ravi Zacharias, and H.B. London, discussed the fall-out of the scandal and its impact on Haggard, his family, his church, and the wider Evangelical community.

For once, I am not going to comment on what Dobson and his pals said.  It's what they didn't say that is the most illuminating aspect of their conversation.

UPDATE: Holy Cow! That didn't take long. Ted Haggard has already resigned. He still protests his innocence but I can't believe he would have stepped down if there was no substance to the story.

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A sleazy story certainly, and, for now, we only have the word of the accuser that it is true, so we should not rush to judgement.

The accuser does claim to have evidence (taped conversations and a letter) but it's still too early to know if this actually happened or is just someone acting out of spite or frustration at Haggard's virulent anti-gay polemics.

We shall have to wait and see...

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_1 5_5112770,00.html

Well, James Dobson's finally doing what, apparently, all self-respecting Republican talk show hacks must do eventually--invite Anne Coulter on to the Monday edition of his Focus on the Family radio program.

William Bennett visited the Focus on the Family studio this morning for a congenial chat and liberal bashing session with James Dobson.

Bill Bennett, who has a new American "history" book out: "America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War" offered up a new, and bizarre defense of Bush's disastrous execution of the Iraq War...