NPR has been running a series about end times religious thought, or “eschatology” from the perspectives of different religious traditions.
Particularly interesting was the Iranian belief in the messianic return of the 12th Imam as a precursor to Armageddon and how Christian thought regards this appearance of the “Mahdi” as the “anti-Christ”.
Another interesting detail: the Pentagon’s “Operation Straight Up”, which attempted to provide the American troops in Iraq with proselytizing material advocating a rapture type religion from the Left Behind book series–before publicity killed the deal. Troops were set to receive religious “taken up” materials in Arabic and a “left behind” type video game whose object is to kill non-born-again civilians.