Since the beginning of recorded time there has been a fascination, and for some, a preoccupation, with the end-of-times. The doctrines and theology concerning the end of times is called Eschatology and Israel sits at its epicenter for all people of the book: Jews, Christians, and Muslims. While most people consider that people who focus on the end of times as fringe, this group has the potential to cause the apocalyptic events they crave.

For instance, there are messianic Jews in Israel who want to raze the Dome of the Rock and build a third temple. I imagine that that might cause some reaction from a billion Muslims.

Eschatological teachings are widespread in the US religious right and these views have been accelerated by the founding of Israel and the invention of the atomic bomb. This group believes that any moment Jesus might gather up the true believers and, as prophesied, we would see the invasion of Israel by Gog and Magog, the rise of Antichrist, the final battle of Armageddon, and the establishment of a Kingdom of God’s Glory. The pious have no reason to fear. Most televangelists preach that the Rapture will save their flock from the imminent outbreak of nuclear war because it will be preceded, just in time, by the Rapture. Jerry Falwell used such theology to justify his opposition to a nuclear weapons freeze in 1983.

Christian end of times adherents have a disproportionally high representation in the US nuclear weapons command. One might imagine that they gravitate to it. For 20 years there was a course on “Christian Just War Theory” taught by chaplains at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to those who would turn the key should World War III break out. The training used passages from the Bible and religious imagery to demonstrate the moral justification for atomic warfare. Wars are common in the bible.

Falwell’s compatriots, including Jimmy Swaggart and Pat Roberson, have linked the second coming with the start of nuclear war. Indeed, some of their followers hope that the next, or next next, Arab-Israeli war will be that spark. These Christian fundamentalists don’t support Israel because they love Jews. They support Israel as ground-zero of the wished for Apocalypse, with its starring role for Israel. Here many Christians and Muslims agree.

The end-of-times narrative for certain of the Christian right impacts not only their view on nuclear war, but also on climate change. The denial of climate change is of course wrapped up in a support for fossil fuels and the destruction of the environment by big business, but for some Christians it is a non-question because the world can’t have other existential threats since the only existential threat is found in the prophecy of the end of times. Many Christians have been manipulated by oil companies, the Heritage foundation, and their supporters to deny climate change and its dangers on the basis that it will be God who will destroy the earth, not man-made climate change. Coming soon.

The end of times narrative is also used by terrorist organization such as Al Qaeda and ISIS. They not only believe that the end of times is coming, but that they have an obligation to hurry it along. This is their motivation for attacking the US, the “head of the snake.” They want to cause a reaction that will eventually cause a world-war. The US invasion of Iraq and our presence in Syria are steppingstones to that end. The more violent the US and European reaction, the more inflamed the reaction that they expect by the Islamic world and the closer we are to Armageddon. Russia and China are not immune. The recent ISIS-K bombing in Moscow was in part retaliation for Moscow’s support of Assad in Syria in that despot’s fight with ISIS.

Whether it is Christian or Islamic believers, a common theme is grievance. The unfairness of life, whether it is economic disadvantage, rising privileges for people other than your people, e.g., from dark skins, LGBTQ, other religions, secular sinners, or whatever “other” can be manufactured by religious and political figures to prove that you are not to blame. Blame the others. Grievance politics is ubiquitous in the US today.

In most religions, if you have done things that land you in prison you are likely on the path to Hell. In Islam, as taught by some prison Imams, there is an escape path you can use to get to heaven without a lot of effort—die as a martyr. It is your cheat-code to salvation. Today in European countries we have Muslims that go into prison as petty crooks and come out as terrorists, converted to jihadism by the religious figures who are confined to the same prison.

While Islamic jihadists don’t yet have nuclear weapons, Pakistan does, and Iran is on the threshold. Also, North Korea would be happy to sell their technology to other extremist regimes. We are in the age I call “nuts with nukes.”

Social media and encrypted communication help these fridge groups. Muslims can find on-line tutorials on how to “Make bombs in your mother’s kitchen.” Jihadists now know how to manufacture WWI-type poison gas and have schemed to use it on NY subways. We have seen that they also have a lot of expertise in bomb making. With the democratization of low-cost swarm delivery systems using drones and advanced fuse electronics, e.g., using cell phones, a group of non-state actors can have access to terrible weaponry. Iran seeds and supports these non-state actors. We are proud of the power of the US Navy, but it cannot even keep the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden open against the Houthis.

Suggested reading:

1. Nine Lives by Aimen Dean
2. https://aaronalford.medium.com/we-need-to-talk-about-the-politics-found-in-fringe-christian-eschatology-342e6f27b6ef
3. Google: “Eschatology, nuclear weapons, Israel” or any similar phrase.