2012: The Crackpots Were Right! – Movie Review

The Crackpots Were Right!

Government officials and renowned scientists are taken off guard by the unpredictability and rapidity of the global catastrophe unfolding before their eyes. It is not just climate change or the depletion of the ozone layer or the wide spread leveling of the rain forest. It is the destruction of EVERYTHING—the entire world inundated by a cataclysmic flood, a deluge unlike any in human history!!! It is 2012—the movie.

While Noah’s Flood is mocked by scientists, scoffed at by educators and historians, pooh-poohed even by liberal theologians, 2012 provides a glimpse into where secular culture turns for hope.

Archaeologists tell us that the Mayan calendar abruptly ends on December 21, 2012, indicating the end of the world. Scientists have studied an approaching comet that is, also, hurtling toward the earth in that same time frame. Capitalizing on people’s fear of impending doom and destruction, Hollywood has produced a roller-coaster ride of a blockbuster.

Yet, behind the computer generated special effects, which are terrifyingly realistic, lies an even more horrifying set of false assumptions that drive the plot:

                        1. Whereas in the Bible a prophet publicly warns the entire world of impending judgment, in 2012 an elite group of scientists and politicians secretly alert a select set of “clients.”

                        2. Whereas Noah proclaims God’s truth and salvation available to all, in 2012 politicians lie to the general public and sell salvation only to the extremely wealthy.

                        3. Whereas Noah trusted God to decide the fate of the wicked and the righteous, in 2012 man determines who lives and dies based on who is genetically pure and/or financially well off.

                        4. Whereas the Bible proclaims Jesus Christ is “the Way, the Truth and the Life,” 2012 focuses on the generosity of Buddhists and Hindus whose worldview teaches that suffering, pain, death are merely illusions.

                        5. Whereas the Bible reflects that all men are greedy and selfish, 2012 paints humanity as generous, kind-hearted and selfless.

 As the cataclysm unfolds before them, one scientist recalls seeing wild-eyed people on street corners holding cardboard signs proclaiming, “The end is near. Repent!” Smirking, he turns to another scientist and utters, “Isn’t it ironic to know that the crackpots were right.”

Just like that old “crackpot” Noah, Christians should be just as diligent in telling others about the impending wrath of God and also of God’s mercy and grace available to them through faith in Jesus Christ. Just don’t wait until 2012 to do so.

Bill Jack is faculty advisor for , a Christian leadership-training program for students. Contact www.worldview.org.