It is not hard to see parallels between Glaber's account of the events preceding the year 1000 and our own times. For example, the appearance of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1996 was taken as a sign of impending apocalypse by groups such as Heaven's Gate, whose leader taught that the comet concealed a spaceship that would carry the group's followers to a higher realm. In March 1997, 39 members of the cult committed suicide in the belief that this would allow them to meet up with the spaceship. Some people believe that the rise of religious cults such as Heaven's Gate is itself an indication that the end of the world is near.
In recent years, many people have interpreted the Y2K computer problem as evidence that modern civilization is on the verge of breakdown or collapse. This belief has arisen because of warnings by computer scientists that the inability of some software to adjust to the date change in the year 2000 could cause breakdowns in utilities, tran
* In October 1994 authorities in Switzerland and Canada discovered the bodies of 53 people who had committed suicide. All of the people were members of a cult known as the Order of the Solar Temple, and the suicides were part of their belief that the end of the world was imminent. The following year 16 more cult members committed suicide in France.
Some people see these events as a faddish form of insanity, easily dismissed as the delusions of a few cult leaders and their followers. But it is hard to escape the conclusion that the historical legacy of millennialism has real implications for society.
Yet another factor is the prominence of millennial and apocalyptic themes in motion pictures, television shows, and popular songs. Examples include the song "1999" by the artist formerly known as Prince, the hit film Armageddon (1998), and the recently canceled television show Millennium.
Perhaps the most worrisome aspect of the approach of the millennium are inci
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