By Mark Louie Bonayon

Independence Day, Deep Impact, 28 Days Later, War of the Worlds, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012. We might have seen these movies on the silver screen while gripping our seats as gigantic waves, fighting machines, virus infections, and burning comets destroy the Earth right before our very eyes.

All these films try to convince us that one day, the Earth shall be obliterated because of some bizarre reason—an alien infiltration or a collision of its seas and islands—thereby, annihilating the human race. Whenever we hear End of the World prophecies, our hearts pound against our chests.

The whole world held its breath when the last most talked-about prediction of The End was declared. The buzz was created by Family Radio, a California-based radio station group that reaches a wide range of households in America, led by their president Harold Camping.

Camping, also an American Christian radio broadcaster, predicted that the 21st of May 2011 will mark a five-month period of nonstop disasters, and on the 21st of October 2011, the planet we’re living in, humans included, will be wiped out. This prediction was based on certain excerpts from the Bible and some mathematical computations from Noah’s time. It was broadcasted through the radio and advertised in various parts of the globe, costing over US $100 million.

The campaign was successful, considering the number of ‘Harold Camping Campers’ who resolutely spread the doomed prediction. However, the campaign was greatly criticized by many religious sectors, even atheist groups. These dates harmlessly passed by and here we are, still doing our daily routines, experiencing no such End-of-the-World-Predictions-turned-to-Reality.

Over 200 dates have been declared as the End of the World. Are we still going to believe future Doomsday predictions?

As people celebrated the New Year, discussions on the 2012 Apocalypse based on the Mayan calendar resurfaced. In the meantime, we can do nothing but wait and see if the world really ends on December 21.

Why are people so fond of speculating when the Earth will be no more? Are we really looking forward to Judgment Day or are we just too excited to see how the scenes from our favorite movies will look like in real life?

The idea of a world nearing its end could, in one way or another, can change the way people are living now, pushing them to make each day precious. Sometimes, we tend to think that life on Earth is everlasting, but End of the World predictions remind us that we have to cherish life while it lasts.

Doomsday predictions may also be an awakening for us to start taking care of the planet we are living in. With the rise of modern technology, people are becoming the enemies of nature. Natural calamities occur as global warming continues to worsen due to lack of awareness and inaction on our part. We are supposed to live in harmony with our environment.

Others might just want to make a buzz out of it. The trend continues. A website, www.endoftheworld2012.net, is dedicated to content related to The Apocalypse, including videos, photos, articles, and an eye-catching digital countdown clock that ticks down to the predicted end of the world this 2012.

The end of the World remains a mystery to everybody. Who knows what will happen? You might play hide and seek with alien attackers, or dodge gigantic comets and asteroids, or kill the living dead and survive an infection, or run for your life as tall crushing tides chase after you. You may literally “party like it’s the end of the world” like Jay Sean, or “keep on dancing ‘til the world ends,” like Britney Spears.

Nobody knows, so for now, just live in the present.