Black Hole Sun, Won’t You Go Away
On Monday, April 8 the world experienced a solar eclipse. While here in Whittier, Calif. only experienced a partial eclipse, a large majority of the southern and midwestern states experienced a total solar eclipse. Hundreds of people flocked to states such as Texas, Illinois, and Arkansas and booked out hotels and AirBnb. Schools canceled classes in order to allow students to watch the eclipse which won’t pass over the United States until Aug, 23 2044. For an entire four minutes and 28 seconds the whole world paused and silently watched the moon cover the sun.
Are we all familiar with the sun? The giant, explosive, ball of gas that sits at the center of our galaxy? I would have to assume that at least every person on earth has seen the sun, or at the very least felt its warmth on their skin. All it does is hang in the sky and yet many people attempt to attach some sort of major significance to it. From Jesus freaks, to Astrologers, and my own superstitious mother, everyone is absolutely fascinated with this astronomical phenomenon.
According to a Washington Post eclipse calculator, I’ll experience 58 more total eclipses in my lifetime, assuming that I live to be 100-years- old. At 21-years-old, there have been 14 total eclipses in my lifetime. All this to say, these eclipses are not that rare. And yet, there are so many people (too many in my opinion) who scream “end of the world” whenever the next eclipse starts rolling through their town. Eclipses are not the most mysterious galactical phenomenon. Eclipses are simply when our moon happens to momentarily line up with the sun. You get the same effect by putting your hand in front of a flashlight. You know what’s actually crazy? Black holes. But no one is making conspiracy theories about those.
With the most recent eclipse, many Evangelical Christians on TikTok and Instagram started claiming that the eclipse was actually a sign that Jesus Christ would be returning and thus initiating the rapture. However, being able to predict the rapture breaks rule number one of the rapture. No one knows when Christ is going to return, it says it in the Bible (Matthew 24:36).
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene — an infamous Christian nationalist — took to the app X (formerly known as Twitter) and posted, “God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens.” Of course this makes sense because, the United States is God’s favorite country and he only wants to warn us! But, the eclipse came and went, and unless we all got left behind, I don’t think the rapture happened.
While the majority of the conspiracy theories were fear mongering, there was one extreme case of eclipse mania that led to a fatal ending for one family. Astrology influencer, Danielle Johnson, took to X to warn her followers about spiritual warfare and asked them to protect themselves and their hearts from the upcoming eclipse. At three in the morning the day of the eclipse, Johnson took the life of her partner, Jaelan Chaney, and her 8-month old daughter.
Johnson also attempted to murder her 9 year old daughter by throwing her out of a moving car. Luckily, the child sustained minimal injuries. Johnson then took her own life by crashing her car into a tree. Authorities have assumed that the eclipse had disturbed Johnson into initiating these violent acts.
In a time where anyone can say anything, we have to be extra cautious of not letting the constant fear mongering get to our heads. Not every natural event can be seen as a giant neon sign for the end of the world.
We can’t keep placing all of our fears and expectations on the planets. They’re just massive rocks spinning in the sky. The signs say that it’s time for us to focus on our own rock and the things that we can actually control.
Photo Courtesy of Texas University A&W
