The End of the World As We Know It: Faith, Fatalism, and Apocalypse in America PDF
Preview The End of the World As We Know It: Faith, Fatalism, and Apocalypse in America
The End of the World As We Know It T H E E N D O F T H E WO R L D A S W E K N OW I T Faith, Fatalism, and Apocalypse in America DANIEL WOJCIK a NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London Copyright © by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wojcik, Daniel. The end of the world as we know it : faith, fatalism, and apocalypse in America / Daniel Wojcik. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN---(alk. paper) . Millennialism—United States—History—th century. . End of the world—History of doctrines—th century. . United States— Religion—- I. Title. BR526.W .—dc - CIP New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. Manufactured in the United States of America Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Reel shadows of indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again; but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? —William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming” Contents All illustrations appear as a group following page 124. Acknowledgments ix Approaching Doomsday: The Contours of American Apocalyptic Belief The American Apocalyptic Legacy Signs of the Endtimes: Hal Lindsey and Dispensationalist Prophecy Beliefs Apocalyptic Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in New York City Secular Apocalyptic Themes in the Nuclear Era Fatalism and Apocalyptic Beliefs The Transformation of Apocalyptic Traditions in the Post–Cold War Era Emergent Apocalyptic Beliefs about UFOs and Extraterrestrial Beings Conclusion Notes 217 Bibliography 233 Index 257 vii Acknowledgments Researching this book has been a lengthy process, and I have many people to thank for suggestions and words of encouragement along the way. I am indebted to Robert A. Georges and Michael Owen Jones of UCLA, who offered guidance during the early stages of this project and helpful insights as my research progressed. I am grateful to Paul Boyer, whose semi- nar at UCLA on nuclear weapons in American culture helped inspire this pro- ject and whose ideas have informed my thinking on contemporary apocalyp- tic beliefs. I also wish to thank Robert P. Flaherty (whose influence is reflected in chapter ) for our memorable discussions of apocalyptic topics. Mysincere thanks to Sharon Sherman, Susan Fagan, and Robert Howard at the University of Oregon for reading portions of the manuscript, and to the following colleagues and friends for their contributions and suggestions: Don- ald Cosentino, Diane Dugaw, Bill Ellis, John Gage, Regan Lee, Steve Poizat- Newcomb, Leonard Norman Primiano, Mike Stamm, Donald Ward, Bren- nan Washburn, and Catherine Wessinger. I am especially indebted to Niko Pfund, director at New York University Press, whose initial interest in my research and ongoing encouragement helped bring this book to fruition. I also am grateful for an Individual Research Grant from the American Academy of Religion, and the support provided by the University of Oregon in the form of a Summer Research Award from the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and a Junior Professorship Development Award from the College of Arts and Sciences. I would like to express my appre- ciation as well to the artists, authors, and publishers who granted permission for the use of their illustrations, photographs, and quoted material. Finally, I am grateful for the support and patience of my family: my mother, Beatrice; my father, Gerald; my brother, James; and especially my wife, Wieslawa, and my son, Konrad. Portions of this book have appeared in the Journal of American Folklore (),American Folklore: An Encyclopedia(),Western Folklore(), and in my monograph, Punk and Neo-Tribal Body Art(). ix
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