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Comment by jontayesp | Hacker News Reader

Also, don't discount the role religion plays on fear (yes I am a Christian.) The popular idea in the church is that we are currently living in the end times and the world will progressively become more sinful/dangerous until the earth is destroyed and recreated by Jesus. This is a relatively new idea since the 19th century, but represents the current theological and emotional state of the church today. Look at Islam and you will see a similar expectation of the apocalypse. I think a lot of fear and paranoia in our culture stems from unhealthy religious belief systems.

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Isn't this mostly a Protestant idea? Most all Catholic/EO christians that I know dismiss 'end times' theology.

Yes I should clarify not all denominations believe this, but it is the most dominant view within Protestant circles (see Left Behind, etc).

I wouldn't consider it the dominant Protestant view at all. Maybe amongst Evangelicals ( a subset of Protestants). Even amongst Evangelicals I doubt such literal Millinialist views as expressed in Left Behind are the overwhelmingly majority.

You would likely be mistaken. An overt goal of pro-Israel fundraising by Evangelical groups is to accelerate population of the Holy Land (Levant) by the Jews in order to fulfill end-of-days prophesy [1].

Does anyone have any information whether this viewpoint was significant in the early U.S. foreign aid support of Israel (1930-1970)? I am uneducated in this segment of U.S. history.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Zionism

Or just US Evangelicalism, perhaps? I've never heard that the traditional European Protestants (Lutheran etc) would be preaching the end of times being here.

Right; I wasn't sure if this was a Puritan/Calvinist view, so I cast the net a bit too broadly.

Yup, mostly evangelicals believe this.

Catholics/Orthodox and even more traditional protestants (Anglican, Lutheran) dismiss it, and these groups make up the vast majority of Christendom.

Millennialism has been popular in the U.S. for hundreds of years [1]; for a long time postmillennialism (1000 years of peace will precede the second coming of Christ) was the predominant ideology. Much social change, including the abolition of slavery, was justified by religious groups trying to bring in this 1000 year peace.

I agree with your overall point that a different apocalyptic view is becoming the mainstream in religious circles: that the end-times is imminent. I disagree that the religious systems are the cause; I believe that these viewpoints are becoming more popular as anxiety increases among these groups. Rural (Evangelical) Americans are genuinely experiencing decreased economic opportunity; young Muslims in Europe also experience an inability to be accepted in society and are locked out of the job market far worse than Christian youth.

I don't disagree with your analysis but I thought I should add some more information because I think it's interesting.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennialism#Reformation_and_...

You're implying that all Christian denominations believe this by your blanket use of the term "the church". I don't know where you get that idea from.

I can't think of a church in my area that you would hear a hell-fire sermon in. I was raised in a Vineyard church, which mostly revolves around small groups and community outreach. There's little time to worry about the mark of the beast when you're building fences or working food drives. I go to a smaller Crossroads now where we study Timothy Keller or GK Chesterton. I feel relief when I go, not fear.

If you want a fear based church, there's still some that handle snakes in Kentucky (despite being illegal). But these are closed-set churches, that some poor souls are born into. We don't see growing attendance or large community involvement in these places.

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