So Slate has this article about why so many right wing Christians believe we are living in the "end times." It's a pretty good article; Molly Olmstead does a decent job of outlining the various nuances of eschatological thought amongst the denominations. But she does leave out something basic, something a lot of people miss.
I've been a student of apocalyptic literature. I've read a lot of it. And I do need to remind people that "apocalypse" does not equal "end of the world." All it means is "revealed" or "unveiled." It's a type of literature. A lot of apocalypses have nothing to do with "end times." When I want to talk of the end time stuff, I'll use the pedantic word "eschatology" (last things), or I'll say "End of the World" or even EotW. There. That's my pedantry for the day.
But here's the thing: Every piece of EotW writing I have read has to do with the end of US. The book of Daniel is worried about the end of Us, which is the Jewish community in the face of aggressive Helenism. The Christian book of Revelation is worried about the end of Us, the scattered Christian communities around Asia Minor in the face of rising persecution. Other writings do the same. This holds with science writings about climate change (where Us is the humans and those organisms humans care about) or popular literature like zombies, where Us is the non zombie humans.
And if you're worried about Us, chances are good you'll need to sort out Us from Them. It's not easy: Them can be mighty deceptive.
Thus, EotW literature spends a lot of time on the Great Sort. Who will be saved? Who will (surprise!) not?
I am not surprised at all by current end times talk. For one thing such talk has been a part of the background of my very white life since the Voting Rights Act. ("Don't you think we're in the end times? At least we won't have to put up with Them much longer!") But I'm also unsurprised because right wing Christianity has long played on the Us vs Them theme. Even their evangelism has focused on making more Us, rather than on listening to Them at all. That is the dynamic at play now. A world where women of color can even think of being on the Supreme Court, much less challenge Us powerful men out loud, well that's a world where They are too much in control. We'll be glad when They are not saved.
So the next time you come across these EotW concerns, be sure to pay attention to where the speaker draws the line between Us and Them. Because that really is so much of what they are talking about.