The total solar eclipse is leading to some totally wild conspiracy theories
One of the most common claims that has been circulating online in the past couple of months is that the solar eclipse will pass over six, seven, or eight (depending on who you ask) towns named Nineveh in the United States and Canada. TikTokers have even produced maps that claim to show the path of totality going over these towns.
Nineveh was a town visited by the biblical figure Jonah, a Hebrew prophet who lived in the 8th century BCE. And some social media influencers believe an eclipse took place when Jonah was in the town of Nineveh, meaning the same thing will happen to modern-day Americans on Monday.
In reality, the path of totality isn’t going over six, seven, or eight towns named Nineveh. The totality is passing over just two towns named Nineveh, in Ohio and Indiana, which certainly makes the claim that this is a sign from God sound less ominous.
The totality will also occur in places like Santa Claus, Indiana. Does that mean Christmas is coming early this year? How about Ding Dong, Texas, which will also be in the path of the totality? Will God deliver chocolate cake snacks? Or what about Booger Hole, West Virginia?
Another thing that social media creators seem fixated on is the possibility of electrical systems going down, along with cellphone infrastructure.
“They’re saying be ready for like power outages and stuff like that. Cell service disruptions. Buy necessary groceries, look,” one TikTok creator said in a recent video while pointing at screenshots of various articles.
There are also more secular-focused predictions about the end of our world, as some people insist the biblical prophecies being spread around are tied to the collapse of our “simulation.” The comments are related to the belief that everything in our universe is actually akin to a computer simulation and we simply don’t know it. The creators use strange mathematical calculations to supposedly prove we live in a simulation because of the timing of eclipses.
https://qz.com/tiktokers-solar-eclipse-c...1851372686
One of the most common claims that has been circulating online in the past couple of months is that the solar eclipse will pass over six, seven, or eight (depending on who you ask) towns named Nineveh in the United States and Canada. TikTokers have even produced maps that claim to show the path of totality going over these towns.
Nineveh was a town visited by the biblical figure Jonah, a Hebrew prophet who lived in the 8th century BCE. And some social media influencers believe an eclipse took place when Jonah was in the town of Nineveh, meaning the same thing will happen to modern-day Americans on Monday.
In reality, the path of totality isn’t going over six, seven, or eight towns named Nineveh. The totality is passing over just two towns named Nineveh, in Ohio and Indiana, which certainly makes the claim that this is a sign from God sound less ominous.
The totality will also occur in places like Santa Claus, Indiana. Does that mean Christmas is coming early this year? How about Ding Dong, Texas, which will also be in the path of the totality? Will God deliver chocolate cake snacks? Or what about Booger Hole, West Virginia?
Another thing that social media creators seem fixated on is the possibility of electrical systems going down, along with cellphone infrastructure.
“They’re saying be ready for like power outages and stuff like that. Cell service disruptions. Buy necessary groceries, look,” one TikTok creator said in a recent video while pointing at screenshots of various articles.
There are also more secular-focused predictions about the end of our world, as some people insist the biblical prophecies being spread around are tied to the collapse of our “simulation.” The comments are related to the belief that everything in our universe is actually akin to a computer simulation and we simply don’t know it. The creators use strange mathematical calculations to supposedly prove we live in a simulation because of the timing of eclipses.
https://qz.com/tiktokers-solar-eclipse-c...1851372686
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
