Recently I was visiting my pastor’s house and he was watching a rather apocalyptic video proclaiming that in the year 2000, the world’s computer and information systems would crash. Massive upheaval would follow and the foundations of Western society would be severely shaken. Having heard numerous declarations of impending disaster, I took the video with a grain of salt. However the following day, I received my copy of Life Advocate magazine. The cover story dealt with the same crisis. I thought this story might warrant some concern.
What exactly is the problem? According to an Ottawa-based consultant, many computers have not been designed to deal with the date change from Dec. 31, 1999 to Jan. 1, 2000. These computers could either malfunction or crash since they are not capable of handling a century shift. The Economist magazine has described this prospect as “the biggest industrial accident in modern history.”
What does this mean for pro-lifers? While we are not God and we can’t say for sure, perhaps our land is now heading for some form of judgment because of the slaughter of millions of innocent babies by abortion. Scripture tells us that no nation can remain in apostasy and shed innocent blood without judgment. And our nation has been worshipping the God of secularism for almost 30 years now. Pro-life prophets have warned of this situation, but have either been ignored or put in jail.
While the media has been largely ignoring the century shift problem, computer journals are not. In recognizing that a problem exists, however, we shouldn’t panic. Our Lord reassures us, “Take courage, I have overcome the world.” However this is not a call to complacency either. Perhaps the Christian church is developing a greater awareness of this situation because God is preparing His people for the oncoming judgment.
No one knows for sure what is going to happen or how long it will take to resolve the problem. One bit of advice is simple: “Be on the alert” (Mk. 13:37).
(Bill Whatcott is a Toronto-based pro-life activist.)
