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Maya demand an end to doomsday myth
Phys.Org ^ | October 25, 2012 | Staff

Posted on 10/29/2012 1:59:47 PM PDT by Red Badger

Guatemala's Mayan people accused the government and tour groups on Wednesday of perpetuating the myth that their calendar foresees the imminent end of the world for monetary gain.

"We are speaking out against deceit, lies and twisting of the truth, and turning us into folklore-for-profit. They are not telling the truth about time cycles," charged Felipe Gomez, leader of the Maya alliance Oxlaljuj Ajpop. Several films and documentaries have promoted the idea that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts that doomsday is less than two months away, on December 21, 2012. The Culture Ministry is hosting a massive event in Guatemala City—which as many as 90,000 people are expected to attend—just in case the world actually does end, while tour groups are promoting doomsday-themed getaways.

Maya leader Gomez urged the Tourism Institute to rethink the doomsday celebration, which he criticized as a "show" that was disrespectful to Mayan culture. Experts say that for the Maya, all that ends in 2012 is one of their calendar cycles, not the world.

Gomez's group issued a statement saying that the new Maya time cycle simply "means there will be big changes on the personal, family and community level, so that there is harmony and balance between mankind and nature." Oxlajuj Ajpop is holding events it considers sacred in five cities to mark the event and Gomez said the Culture Ministry would be wise to throw its support behind their real celebrations. More than half of Guatemala's population of nearly 15 million are from indigenous groups of Mayan descent. The Mayan calendar has 18 months of 20 days each plus a sacred month, "Wayeb," of five days. "B'aktun" is the larget unit in the time cycle system, and is about 400 years. The broader era spans 13 B'aktun, or about 5,200 years. The Mayan culture enjoyed a golden age between 250 AD and 900 AD.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Mexico
KEYWORDS: guatemala; maya
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1 posted on 10/29/2012 1:59:48 PM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

2 posted on 10/29/2012 2:00:36 PM PDT by Red Badger (Why yes, that was crude and uncalled for......That's why I said it..............)
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To: Red Badger

At first I thought it was an “Onion” headline.


3 posted on 10/29/2012 2:03:19 PM PDT by lbryce (BHO-"Now, I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds" by way of Oppenheimer at Trinity, NM)
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To: Red Badger

Tell them to stop whining and wait seven weeks.


4 posted on 10/29/2012 2:05:00 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (You can't have IngSoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: Slings and Arrows

I’m a FReeper of the epoxy clips with a December 21st sign up date.

When the other 3 arrive, we ride.


5 posted on 10/29/2012 2:12:08 PM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: Red Badger

bingo - you hit the nail on the head, and spoke (in image form) more truth on the subject than even the protesting Mayan expert


6 posted on 10/29/2012 2:15:06 PM PDT by Wuli
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To: Red Badger
How To Survive 2012

There's a bit more going on than a few amusing cartoons. Let's revisit at the end of Dec 2012 and June 2013.

7 posted on 10/29/2012 2:15:48 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: Red Badger

Just Maya-noise being spread around.


8 posted on 10/29/2012 2:16:20 PM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have to be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: Red Badger

I’ll believe them on December 22nd 2012.


9 posted on 10/29/2012 2:18:12 PM PDT by Personal Responsibility (In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act - Orwell)
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To: Red Badger

Thought Maya Angelou had an issue with the end of the world


10 posted on 10/29/2012 2:18:53 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch (the mature Christian is almost impossible to offend)
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To: Red Badger

Just for the record, I didn’t know there were modern Mayans. Have they bothered to update the ancient calendar? If so, they should just publish it on the web and tell the doomsday folks to take a 20 foot walk off a 10 foot pier if they want, but they have no intention of going anywhere anytime soon.


11 posted on 10/29/2012 2:19:48 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (cat dog, cat dog, alone in the world is a little cat dog)
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To: Red Badger

How can present day Mayans possibly know what their ancestors were thinking?


12 posted on 10/29/2012 2:22:24 PM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud dad of an Army Soldier who has survived 24 months of Combat deployment.)
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To: SoldierDad
How can present day Mayans possibly know what their ancestors were thinking?

Maybe it's in book form... something like "Dreams of Our Fathers"

13 posted on 10/29/2012 2:24:25 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: Myrddin

I remember reading a while back that the Maya prophecies and calendar, which did not predict massive natural disasters at the end of 2012, were taken by some Westerner years ago and made to look that way. Wish I could find that info again so I could post it here.


14 posted on 10/29/2012 2:34:18 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
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To: InvisibleChurch

Christians shouldn’t worry. God promised that the natural universe wasn’t going to conk out on us until the apocalypse, which in turn is scheduled so secretly even the Son did not know when on earth (He might know now, but isn’t telling).


15 posted on 10/29/2012 2:34:54 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (cat dog, cat dog, alone in the world is a little cat dog)
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To: InvisibleChurch

She’s probably got a poem just for the occasion:

The world will end on a cold hard day in December.
A day nobody will remember.
And though Obama made everyone go Galt,
It’s still, now and forever, Bush’s fault!................


16 posted on 10/29/2012 2:50:25 PM PDT by Red Badger (Why yes, that was crude and uncalled for......That's why I said it..............)
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To: Myrddin

Odd, my desk appointment calendar doesn’t go beyond December..............


17 posted on 10/29/2012 2:52:41 PM PDT by Red Badger (Why yes, that was crude and uncalled for......That's why I said it..............)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Mayans in the modern world are called Real Estate investors. The pitch is keep buying cause our ancestors didn't understand that the anointed one will save the world.
18 posted on 10/29/2012 2:53:09 PM PDT by shadeaud ( “Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8”. Just doing my duty a Christian)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Christians as well as other groups of people have been predicting the end of the world over and over and over again for hundreds if not thousands of years. But guess what? The Earth and universe just keep right on going despite the silliness.

The Earth has suffered at least five major planetary-level disasters in long-distant past but the Earth survived and renewed itself.

The whole 2012 thing is going to be just like the Y2K non-disaster leaving

Here’s how the world is really going to end.
http://www.endofworld.net/
(warning: bad language!)

46 failed end-of-the-world predictions that
were to occur between 30 & 1920 CE, but didn’t.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/end_wrl2.htm

List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events

A Brief History of the Apocalypse
The early days: 2800 BC - 1700 AD
http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm


19 posted on 10/29/2012 2:53:16 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

“The whole 2012 thing is going to be just like the Y2K non-disaster leaving”

everyone emotionally and financially involved in this lie looking like the Boy Who Cried Wolf.

Yes, we always need to be prepared for disasters that may come our way but mankind, Earth, the solar system, and the universe are going to keep rolling onward through time.

Get rid of the fear and live life to the fullest.


20 posted on 10/29/2012 3:03:31 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
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