This Is The Shit Happening where I Live

[stromboli]

http://www.charismanews.com/us/51946-people-of-this-religion-is-stocking-up-amid-fears-doomsday-could-come-in-september

People of This Religion Are Stocking Up Amid Fears Doomsday Could Come in September

Mixing a brew of biblical prophecies, the Hebrew calendar, a volatile economy, world politics, and astronomical occurrences, hordes of Utahns have become convinced that calamitous events are imminent â€" maybe by month's end â€" and are taking every precaution.

They are called "preppers" and are buying up food-storage kits, flashlights, blankets and tents. Some are even bracing to leave their homes,  if need be.

At American Fork's Thrive Life, which sells mostly freeze-dried food, sales have shot up by "500 percent or more in the past couple of months," says customer-service representative Ricardo Aranda. "There is a sense of urgency, like something is up. A lot of people are mentioning things about September, like a financial collapse."

Jordan Jensen, a salesman at Emergency Essentials, said his Bountiful store has been "crazy busy, sales up by definitely a large amount."

Those 72-hour emergency kits are "almost impossible to keep on the shelves," Jensen says, "and we get a shipment every day."

A lot of customers, he says, believe "this is the month it will all happen â€" with a 'blood moon' and a currency collapse and everything."

Here's how the doomsday scenario plays out: History, some preppers believe, is divided into seven-year periods â€" like the Hebrew notion of "shemitah" or Sabbath. In 2008, seven years after 9/11, the stock market crashed, a harbinger of a devastating recession. It's been seven years since then and Wall Street has been fluctuating wildly in recent weeks in the wake of China devaluing its currency.

Thus, they believe, starting Sept. 13, the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days, there will be another, even larger financial crisis, based on the United States' "wickedness." That will launch the "days of tribulation" â€" as described in the Bible.

Sept. 28 will see a full, red or "blood moon" and a major earthquake in or near Utah. Some anticipate an invasion by U.N. troops, technological disruptions and decline, chaos and hysteria.

Some of these speculations stem from Julie Rowe's books, A Greater Tomorrow: My Journey Beyond the Veil and The Time Is Now.

Rowe, a Mormon mother of three, published the books in 2014 to detail a "near-death experience" in 2004, when the author says she visited the afterlife and was shown visions of the past and future.

Though Rowe rarely gives specific dates for predicted events, she did describe in a Fox News Radio interview "cities of light," including scores of white tents where people will live in the mountains and sometimes be fed heavenly "manna." She she saw a "bomb from Libya landing in Israel, but Iran will take credit."

And "Gadianton robbers" of Book of Mormon infamy, meaning secret and corrupt leaders, are "already here."

Her purpose in speaking out, Rowe told interviewer Kate Dalley, was "to wake more of us up. ... We need each other as we unify in righteousness and continue to build a righteous army. When we need to defend the [U.S.] Constitution, we will be ready."

For the past year, the popular writer has been sharing her experience and visions at Mormon venues nationwide, drawing crowds of eager â€" and worried â€" listeners. Her two books have sold more than 20,000 copies apiece.

In a rare move, officials with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent a memo to administrators and teachers in the Church Educational System, saying, that although Sister Rowe is an active member of the LDS Church, "her book is not endorsed by the church and should not be recommended to students or used as a resource in teaching them. The experiences ... do not necessarily reflect church doctrine or they may distort doctrine."

Julie Rowe is a local celebrity and still an active member of the church, but that is because (A) her husband is a lawyer and (B) the church currently is dealing with other issues and keeping a hands off approach on it.

This is all over the ex-Mormon forums I contribute to, and until now pretty much unknown outside prepper and exmo circles. The irony is I used to be a prepper, to the point of being heavily armed and trained in survivalism.  Goes along with Mormonism because they used to preach openly to have a 2 years food supply and "be ready". To this day I can identify every water source in the area and know the location of every edible wild plant. This is Utah, ladies and gents.

[TomFoolery]

Goes along with Mormonism because they used to preach openly to have a 2 years food supply and "be ready". To this day I can identify every water source in the area and know the location of every edible wild plant. This is Utah, ladies and gents.

But if you die and enter the celestial kingdom, wouldn't that be preferable to popping in a log and shooting squirrels for two years?

[stromboli]

But if you die and enter the celestial kingdom, wouldn't that be preferable to popping in a log and shooting squirrels for two years?

Sadly too late. I am now by definition a "son of perdition" and I am doomed to hell. And I was a Christian after that, so also an apostate. Pretty much screwed religiously.

[Hydra009]

The irony is I used to be a prepper, to the point of being heavily armed and trained in survivalism.  Goes along with Mormonism because they used to preach openly to have a 2 years food supply and "be ready". To this day I can identify every water source in the area and know the location of every edible wild plant.

I'll be sure to swing by Utah during the zombie apocalypse, then.  You're officially the Daryl of the team.  :P

But seriously, those people are nuts.  And saying that they're amassing a "righteous army" to "defend the Constitution" is a chilling statement.  Let's hope they keep to themselves and don't cause any trouble when inevitably, their predictions do not come to pass.

[josephpalazzo]

WTF

Get the fuck out of Utah just so you can keep your sanity intact.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

These end of the world panics happen so often, I could probably make a decent business selling shit to people who believe this stuff.

[Munch]

Thing that pisses me off most about this, I'd settle for saying let the lunatics believe what they want and when it comes to it believe that 'gawd saved the world this time!', as they always do... but the fact these asshats are buying out food, and storing it for nothing more then this pretense, when that food could go to homeless shelters or charity drives, to actually help people.

[Termin]

  Buy as many and you can and then sell them at a profit :)

[jonb]

They are called "preppers" and are buying up food-storage kits, flashlights, blankets and tents.

Are the wrong people being blamed? Might this not be the fault of religious people at all?
Could this just be a conspiracy by food-storage kit, flashlight, banket and/or tent manufacturers to shift more product?

[stromboli]

In this case it is Julie Rowe selling books and the inbuilt paranoia of Mormonism fueling the fire. The cult has always had that "us vs them" mindset from the early history (largely hyped) of persecution, just like the xtian martyr thing. The church in Utah was built on that premise. There is also a belief by some that polygamy will be reinstated.

In the 60-70's they went through a change of trying to blend in more and becoming just another xtian church, giving blacks the priesthood and whatnot, but the old school mentality is always there. Part of their prophecy involves building a temple in Jackson County Missouri per Joseph Smith's prophecies. Opportunistic people take advantage of that paranoia, seen it before and it will happen again.

this is the fun stuff I grew up with. You have no idea.

[Youssuf Ramadan]

These end of the world panics happen so often, I could probably make a decent business selling shit to people who believe this stuff.

Is it wrong to profit from people being dumb shits, or would that just make us as bad as the churches? 

[peacewithoutgod]

Thing that pisses me off most about this, I'd settle for saying let the lunatics believe what they want and when it comes to it believe that 'gawd saved the world this time!', as they always do... but the fact these asshats are buying out food, and storing it for nothing more then this pretense, when that food could go to homeless shelters or charity drives, to actually help people.

Religion is the ultimate expression of selfishness by the sanctimonious hypocrites of the world.

[stromboli]

Is it wrong to profit from people being dumb shits, or would that just make us as bad as the churches? 

Hard to say. The religious profit off of each other and do so knowingly. Amway anyone? The latest is DoTerra, which is huge here in Utah. Basically essential oils from flowering plants like Lavendar. The believers suck this stuff up like crazy. You want to take advantage, I personally wouldn't rat you out.

[Cocoa Beware]

Every time this comes up I think it would be a great idea if:

We urged them to donate their assets/property to charity (and a sports car for me while you're at it). Its not like it matters at this point if they truly believe the end is nigh.

I always wonder if that would test their resolve, and they would be like: "Oh, you want us to give away our stuff? Wait a minute... umm... yeah... Actually, we were just bullshitting. In truth we all think the world is going to be just fine."

[stromboli]

Last time they had a big to do over this in 2012, I found a website of true believers and did just that- challenged them to test their faith by offering their vacant homes and cars, saying it was for the homeless. Nobody bit. So I question their true belief.