book of revelation angelOn Friday with the Asian Philosophy class, I was discussing apocalyptic Buddhists, such as the followers of Shoko Asahara who attacked Japanese subway passengers with poison gas in an attempt to bring about the apocalypse.  I have a friend who repeatedly mentions that some individuals in Israel have been trying to breed an all red calf for just the same reason in accord with the Book of Revelation.  It later dawned on me that, whether or not we believe in religious prophecy or the apocalypse, that the dream in the Book of Revelation may simply be revealing a possibility, and not a certainty.  It could be argued that the dream is a warning of what may happen, but need not, if we clean up our act.  Perhaps those who wish to bring about the apocalypse and those who think it is an inevitability should be presented with this possibility.