It has happened many times before: someone claims to know the date of the "end of the world." They manage to convince others - sometimes just a small handful, sometimes quite a following. Inevitably, they are disillusioned and discredited when the date and time they predict passes and nothing happens.

After Hal Lindsey came out with his book, "The Late Great Planet Earth" in 1973, many never expected to see 1980. The book made sense and the end of the world seemed all the more possible as we observed world events - a global nuclear war seemed not just possible, but likely.

In the 90s, a new generation embraced the "Left Behind" books and movies. As we raced toward the new century and the new millennium, interest in "the end of the world" increased like never before. There was talk of a secret "Bible Code." Some calculated dates and crunched numbers and came up with the year 2000 as being significant. And anxiety was increased by the "Y2K Bug" - a technological gliche that was supposed to affect computers when the clocks rolled over to the year "00." So concerned were we, that major corporations spent billions of dollars to have their computer systems tweaked - literally, in a rush against the clock. It was feared we would lose our heat, water and electricity in the dead of winter. Some were frightened about their money - would the banks stay afloat? Would we have access to our funds from ATMs? And what about the food supply? Doomsday prophets urged us to stock up on canned goods and bottled water for our "Y2K" shelters.
Of course, when the clocks did strike midnight, this old world crossed quietly into the new millennium with relative ease and tranquility. In short, nothing happened.

Since that time, we have had no shortage of tribulation, and the signs of the end continue to become more and more obvious. In our post-9/11 world, the threat of terrorist attacks by followers of Islam is a real danger, both here in America and around the world. Those who embrace that so-called "religion of peace" love to blow things up, and it doesn't matter to them if they're killed in the process, as long as they can kill, maim, and destroy as many innocents as possible. When explosives are not available, these human devils are pleased to use swords, knives or anything else that may be handy to savagely shed the blood of those who do not follow the false god they call "allah."

This past week, we heard new reports of chemical and biological weapons

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