Every generation of Christians thinks the world has fallen so far and things are so bad that its times are the end times. So this doesn't surprise me in the least.

There are "some Christians in every generation ... " There are some non-Christians who ... "
It doesn't take a Christian to be a doomsday prophet.

But my observation is that Christians believe disproportionately to other groups that the world has "gone to hell" in their lifetimes, and that it is so bad that it will all be over soon. And historically, it started with the first generation of Christians, who thought that it was all done for. Jesus had been killed, and they were to live out their lives and then the end would come.

Its also my personal observation that it becomes more of an obsession than an idle thought for many Christians as they age and they feel nearer to the termination of their own stay on earth. To be fair, I doubt many of us care to contemplate everything just going on as normal without our valuable, important selves. But I still find it to be far more prevalent a conviction in the christian community than outside it. And in addition, I would say there is a difference among claiming Christians, where it appears much more often and in stronger doses in the fervent church adherents than among the vaguely faithful.

Could be wrong. The historic record is pretty clear we Christians always think the end is neigh. But maybe everyone else does as well. Ive not researched that. But, either way, I was not at all surprised by the op survey results.

But the earth will keep turning just the same without us here

Just as Creationism and Evolution have elements in common, once you get away from the 24-hour-day "science". There may potentially have been many Big Bangs along the celestial time table.

At least it helps me with the RWers.

the fault can't be what WE are doing to the planet.... Nahhhhh...

Not sure whether they should be encouraged to fleece this flock or not.

Survey | Americans More Likely to Attribute Increasingly Severe Weather to Climate Change, Not End Times

http://publicreligion.org/research/2012/12/prri-rns-december-2012-survey/

But this one is much better at making theists look bad.


I'm not sure that a clear distinction can be made between climate change and end of times if one is a biblical literalist, as was the case for 75% of the non-white protestants.

I didn't look at the original study.

The conservative Christians whose beliefs I am most familiar with, and who would be considered literalists by most people, believe that many end-of-times "signs" are the result of sin, i.e. "missing the mark." In the case of climate change it would be less about God causing/punishing and more about humans "missing the mark" in terms of environmental responsibility.

So, yeah, the ones I'm familiar with would consider climate change a result of human activity, but would also view it as a sign of the approaching end of time.

EDIT: Must try to remember to write in complete sentences...

pretty much based on what you are describing.

That's a good thing.

It's the ones who just throw their hands up and say, "God's will" that are the problem.

It's a hobby of sorts for me, comparing various leads for the same story. I have a single page set of headlines from different sources - BBC, NYT, LAT and the AP items via Yahoo. Some are amazingly divergent at first look (which is often all some read) until you actually read the articles.

stereotypes that spark controversy.