This article first appeared in the December 1997 issue of Phactum, the newsletter of the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking. It is copyright (c) PhACT, 1997. All rights reserved. "Making Sense of the Millennium." a meeting report by Eric Krieg On October 18th we were treated to a talk by Ted Daniels, the director of the local "Millennium Watch Institute." He described an ironic epiphany (I assume he was serious) where he felt some ineffable calling to provide the world with a central repository for information on millennial claims. Along with that calling came a since fulfilled prophecy that the world would soon become more fixated on end-of-world-claims. A millennium is simply a period of 1000 years with no particular regard to the calendar convention it adheres to. People like order and look for significance -- a number of zeros lining up on a date implies significance to many people. Ted remarked that, "Even you proud skeptics have some sense of awe when your car odometer gets a string of zeros." Ted further defined millennialism as belief in some sort of catastrophic apocalypse where good and evil would clash in a colossal sense and lead to some kind of paradise. Ted feels that both Hitler and the communists were millenarian. In both cases there was a powerful belief in a final conflict with evil which, if won by good, would usher in a golden age. Eastern philosophies (which mark time as cyclic rather than linear) do not seem to have an end-times myth. Once past 1200, Ted lost count of the number of different groups espousing a belief in the end times. Many of these groups come into being, pollinate some ideology and then fade away. The media doesn't pay much attention to the phenomenon until a group like the Branch Davidians turns to violence. It is a common evolution for fringe cults to have an escalating disaffection with society, leading to separation and eventually the painting of mainstream society as being contaminated by, and in league with, the devil. The extreme result of cultic isolation is the pathetic end of the members of Heavens Gate. It is a common human frailty to fall prey to the exciting belief, "All human history has led to this time, this chosen group will be at the crux of the fate of humanity." Of course many believers would cherish a lead role in such a climatic period of history, even if it meant death. People seem to be drawn to apocalyptic predictions during times of uncertainty and unrest. It is a message that can certainly motivate members to action -- if only to help proselytize new recruits. Ted described the mind set of such cult leaders. Many turn out to be women who have undergone a total personality change which appears miraculous. The leader has a unique role, insisting on unquestioning belief and dedication from followers. A scientific education is not necessarily a defense against such irrational belief. Ted pointed out that the poison gas wielding Japanese guru had a "minister of science" who was an astrologer with an astrophysics degree from a leading university. We of PhACT agree with Ted that the coming millennial change will continue to flush strange groups out of the woodwork. For more information, you can request Ted's newsletter from: Millennium Watch Institute, PO Box 34021, Philadelphia, PA 19101. (215) 662-5677 mpred@pipeline.com http://www.channel1.com/mpr NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS FROM A CONVERSATION ABOUT THIS ARTICLE WITH TED: >=================== Millennial meeting ==================== > >On October 18th we were treated to a talk by Ted Daniels on "Making >Sense of the Millennium" >Ted Daniels, Ph. D. is the director of the local "Millennium Watch >Institute". He described an ironic epiphany (I presume he was serious) >where he felt some ineffable calling to provide the world with a central >repository for information on millenial claims. I think this both under and over states that difficult experience. It was an inspiration more than an epiphany--as I said, there was no sense of anything divine involved. > Along with that calling >came an already fulfilled prophecy that the world would become more >fixated on end-of-world-claims A millennium is simply a period of 1000 >years with no particular regard to the calendar convention it adheres >to. People like order and look for significance - a number of zeros >lining up on a date implies a need for significance to many people. Ted >remarked that, "even you proud skeptics have some sense of awe when your >car odometer gets a string of zeros". Ted further defined millenialism >as believing in some sort of catastrophic apocalypse where good and evil >would clash in a colossal sense. >Ted feels that both Hitler and the communists were millenialist - In >both cases there was a powerful belief in a final conflict with evil >which if won by good would usher in a golden age. For some reason, >Eastern philosophies do not seem to have an end times tenant. I think you mean "tenet" here. > Ted has >lost count past 1200 of the number of different groups out there >espousing a belief in the end times. Many of these groups come into >being, cross pollinate some ideology and then fade away. The media >doesn't pay much attention to the phenomenon until a group like the >branch Davidians turns to violence. "Branch" > - Ted is surprised that direct >violent conflict does not happen more often. It is a common evolution >for fringe cults to have an escalating disaffection with mainstream >society, leading to separation and eventually painting mainstream >society as being contaminated by and in league with the devil. The most >extreme result of cultic isolation can be the pathetic end for the >members of Heavens Gate. It is a common human frailty to fall prey to >the exciting belief: "all human history has come down to the time in >history and this chosen group will be at the crux of the fate of >humanity". Since that's not exactly what I said, I think it shouldn't appear in quotes, though it's a perfectly good summary of my views. > Of course many believers would cherish a lead role during >such a climatic period of history even if it meant death. > It's a message that certainly can motivate members to action - if only >to merely help proselytize potential new recruits. Ted described the >mind set of such cult leaders. Many leaders of such sects turn out to >be women. The leader has a unique role of insisting on unquestioning >belief and dedication from followers. A scientific education is not >necessarily a defense against such irrational belief. Ted pointed out >that the poison gas wielding Japanese guru had a "minister of science" >who was an astrologer with an Astro-physics degree from a leading >university. > >For more information, you can contact Ted (maybe ask for his newsletter >at: > Millennium Watch Institute > PO Box 34021 Philadelphia, PA 19101-4021 USA > 800/666-4694 > 215/662-5677 > mpred@pipeline.com > http://www.channel1.com/mpr > > >once again, thanks for coming - when I have my review on a web page, >perhaps you could give a link, Sure. I think it would help your review if you said more about my talk's usefulness (or lack thereof) in achieving its purpose: making sense of the millennium. > >eric >-- > >http://www.voicenet.com/~eric > > >ekrieg@kns.com >eric@voicenet.com > Ted Daniels, Ph. D. Director, Millennium Watch Institute PO Box 34021 Philadelphia, PA 19101-4021 USA 800/666-4694 +1215/662-5677 http://www.channel1.com/mpr (that's "channel one", not "channel ell")