HAVE A NICE DOOMSDAY

Journeying to the dusty heartlands of America's Bible Belt, NicholasGuyatt goes in search of the truth behind a startling statistic: 50million Americans believe the apocalypse will take place in their ownlifetimes. They're convinced that, any day now, Jesus will snatch up hisfollowers and spirit them to heaven. For the rest of us, things are goingto get very nasty indeed: massive earthquakes, devastating wars, not tomention the terrifying rise of the Antichrist. But true believers aren'tjust sitting around waiting for the Rapture. They're getting involved indebates over abortion, gay rights and even foreign policy.Are they devoutor deranged? Why do they seem so cheerful about the end of the world? And,given the disturbing involvement of a leading presidential candidate, doestheir influence stretch beyond the Bible Belt ...perhaps even to the WhiteHouse? Strange, funny and unsettling in equal measure, "Have a NiceDoomsday" uncovers the apocalyptic obsession at the heart of the world'sonly superpower.