Editing Left Behind (section)

==== Apocalypticism, conspiratorialism, and militias ====
The series' focus on apocalypticism, totalitarian conspiracies, and militias has been noted by writers including [[Gershom Gorenberg]], [[Michael Joseph Gross]], and Andrew Strombeck. They note themes such as fear of [[One-world government conspiracy|one-world government]] (in the form of the United Nations led by the Antichrist), global religion, and global currency – fought against by militias "structurally equivalent to Christians".<ref name="Strombeck" /> Didi Herman places the series' depiction of the United Nations as an anti-Christian organization intent on implementing globalism, and thereby the New World Order, in the context of [[Christian right]] end-times scenarios, along with [[Pat Robertson]]'s ''[[The New World Order (Robertson book)|New World Order]]'' and [[Hal Lindsey]]'s ''[[Late Great Planet Earth]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buss |first=Doris |title=Globalizing Family Values: the Christian Right in International Politics |last2=Herman |first2=Didi |date=2003 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-0-8166-9517-1 |location=Minneapolis |chapter=Constructing the Global}}</ref> University of Notre Dame religion scholar Jason Springs regards the series' apocalypticism as one aspect that would later feed into the evangelical adoption of [[QAnon]].<ref name="Springs">{{Cite web |last=Springs |first=Jason |date=2021-06-16 |title=QAnon, Conspiracy, and White Evangelical Apocalypse |url=https://contendingmodernities.nd.edu/theorizing-modernities/qanon-evangelical-apocalypse/ |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=[[University of Notre Dame]]: Contending Modernities}}</ref>

Laurie Goodstein, writing in 1998 for ''The New York Times'', placed what she called the "''Left Behind'' phenomenon" in the [[calendar|calendrical]] context of the approaching year 2000. Goodstein noted a 'proliferation' of similarly apocalyptic texts appearing at that time, by authors such as [[Jim Bakker]] and [[John Hagee]]. Goodstein cited the opinion of University of Wisconsin historian Paul Boyer, who described such authors as "cashing in on the public preoccupation with the year 2000".<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodstein |first=Laurie |date=October 4, 1998 |title=Fast-Selling Thrillers Depict Prophetic View of Final Days |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/04/us/fast-selling-thrillers-depict-prophetic-view-of-final-days.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131044007/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/04/us/fast-selling-thrillers-depict-prophetic-view-of-final-days.html |archive-date=January 31, 2018 |access-date=January 29, 2018 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>