Online Program Book

Statistically speaking, American Evangelical Christians are uniquely attracted to apocalyptic conspiracy theories when it comes to the topic of climate change. Since Evangelicals constitute a powerful voting/lobbying/shopping bloc, it is worth asking why this might be the case, and what might be done about it. To this end, my study considers two major cultural tributaries to American Evangelical pop apocalyptic culture. In the first section I argue that biblical apocalyptic culture naturally entails conspiracy-theory thinking, as a powerful tool for the definition of identity and community. In the second section I argue that in modern pop apocalyptic productions, the image of the elect as the persecuted and powerful bearers of special knowledge continues to fascinate audiences with the offer of somebody special to be and somewhere special to belong. I conclude that apocalyptic questions of crisis and conspiracy have a sociological function, as means to the end of defining social identity. Understanding this concrete function of conspiracy-theory thinking in Christian apocalyptic imagination can help, I conclude, in assessing and addressing the phenomenon of climate denial.