The end of the world

[Zenith]

I guess the point is to frighten people and make them convert so they would not go to hell. And to fascinate the gullible christians that thirst for fantasies.

Possibly, but when that exact date comes & goes with nothing happening, do you think these recent converts are going to keep taking you seriously?

Well, if you've not succeeded indoctrinating them enough until then, they would flee. Otherwise, you'll have to find some excuse for the fact that nothing happened (which, oddly, seems to work - there are preachers and stuff setting an end of the world, and after that date, people still believe those preachers).

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And the money comes from the state :). Isn't that 'nice'? :))

Wut? How do you figure that?

It's easy: there are thousands (or more, in a country I mean) of pastors and priests and bishops and archbishops, and I don't know the protestant hierarchy, which should have followed. Anyway, all they do is preach and receive money. Question: from where do they receive money? They don't have separate job, to earn their money from there. Answer: The priests have been paid by the state since antiquity, and they are still paid now (along with any religious leader of any christian denomination, islamic denomination, jewish denomination, etc. that is accepted as "official religion", i.e. religion recognized by the state). As you have teachers being paid by the state to is teach, the same way you have preachers being paid by the state to preach. And it is very probable that the maintenance of the religious buildings (i.e. churches, mosques, etc.) to be paid by the state as well.