The title, "Y2K Alert! (But It's 1980)", caught my attention by surprise. I remember almost ten years ago the profound discussion of the "Y2K bug," supposedly our computers were going to collapse...I thought back then that that was just nonsense...just because we are going into a new millennium?! I could not understand the media's logic; even as a child it sounded so absurd.
This article is very fascinating...what a story! (I recommend that everyone reads it).
This article is about a group of a little more than one-hundred residents that live in a town called Stelle, located "rising out of the cornfields" in Illinois. The townspeople believed that on May 5, 2000, there would be violent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that would destroy the earth (obviously this did not occur). The people had a plan to build "lighter-than-air" vehicles so they would be able to float above the tumult and had for a new city in the Pacific that they would have called "Philadelphia." (I wonder why they would have called the city Philadelphia; the article did not answer this). Other than this strange prediction, the goal of the town is to "make it a safe place and be able to go back to the values that middle-class America came from." They think that society is now corrupted. Stelle was aware at the time that there had been so many false end-of-the-world predictions. The town does not want to be referred to as a cult (even though I, for example, feel they certainly are).
Many folks came to this town because they felt that the book "The Ultimate Frontier" written by the town's spiritual leader, Richard Kieninger, gave them the answers to the purpose of life and other such topics. The townspeople did not allow their families from watching TV, only videos. Mothers attend workshops that teach them how to "properly" raise their children. Children are expected to read by age three and write by age four.
However, Mr. Kieninger has made some false predictions that drew many people in 1977 to leave Stelle. He stated that the U.S. would not see its' 201st. birthday. When 1977 rolled around, many left.
I do understand the desire to live in a society that brings up their children well and in a place that is safe. Yet, it is contradictive when the town is run by one person's philosophies and therefore people revolved their lives around them. That is ridiculous! One of the most important things in life is to be open-minded. If I am not able to be a free spirit in a certain location, I'll pack my bags.
This article is very fascinating...what a story! (I recommend that everyone reads it).
This article is about a group of a little more than one-hundred residents that live in a town called Stelle, located "rising out of the cornfields" in Illinois. The townspeople believed that on May 5, 2000, there would be violent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that would destroy the earth (obviously this did not occur). The people had a plan to build "lighter-than-air" vehicles so they would be able to float above the tumult and had for a new city in the Pacific that they would have called "Philadelphia." (I wonder why they would have called the city Philadelphia; the article did not answer this). Other than this strange prediction, the goal of the town is to "make it a safe place and be able to go back to the values that middle-class America came from." They think that society is now corrupted. Stelle was aware at the time that there had been so many false end-of-the-world predictions. The town does not want to be referred to as a cult (even though I, for example, feel they certainly are).
Many folks came to this town because they felt that the book "The Ultimate Frontier" written by the town's spiritual leader, Richard Kieninger, gave them the answers to the purpose of life and other such topics. The townspeople did not allow their families from watching TV, only videos. Mothers attend workshops that teach them how to "properly" raise their children. Children are expected to read by age three and write by age four.
However, Mr. Kieninger has made some false predictions that drew many people in 1977 to leave Stelle. He stated that the U.S. would not see its' 201st. birthday. When 1977 rolled around, many left.
I do understand the desire to live in a society that brings up their children well and in a place that is safe. Yet, it is contradictive when the town is run by one person's philosophies and therefore people revolved their lives around them. That is ridiculous! One of the most important things in life is to be open-minded. If I am not able to be a free spirit in a certain location, I'll pack my bags.
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