Some of this concern is based on religious apocalyptic thinking tied to the Christian calendar. Reflecting these concerns, Israeli officials last week detained and said they would deport 20 members of apocalyptic Christian groups cited as threats to public safety. Thirteen of the 20 are Americans. This is the third group of Christian zealots ordered out by Israel, which is concerned about potential troublemakers drawn to Jesus' birthplace at the end of the millennium. Three recent incidents seem to bear this out.
Experts see a pattern in such attacks.
Mass. Armageddon as a race war against nonwhites and Jews is prophesied by many white supremacists, including Richard Butler, head of the Aryan Nations group in Hayden Lake, Idaho. The book is thought to have inspired Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh as well as the 1980s extremist group known as The Order. Some groups thought to be potentially dangerous see the significance of the new millennium in political rather than religious terms. Probably the most consistent theme has been a survivalist one, with ideologues warning that people must prepare for the worst. And entrepreneurs around the country have leapt to take advantage of these fears, offering for sale everything from dried foods to underground bunkers.