It just occurred to me what may be fueling some of that fearful conjecturing.

At the urging of family members I read one of the 'Left Behind' books; couldn't stomach any more than that. This is a series of thrillers written by two men, LeHays or somehing like that is the name of one of them. Their premise is that at a certain time the 'Rapture' occurs wherein the 'saved' are caught up and spirited away (literally- their clothes are left in a neat pile. It appears that clothing offends God. *g) while those 'left behind' are temporarily abandoned to face the 'tribulation'.

The Anti-Christ is a charismatic young man who has fooled almost everyone into believing that he is the hope of the world; the good guys struggle against him and his evil regime.

This Anti-Christ is postulated to have been born in the Middle East. I think he is born in the 1960s.

I don't know when the first of the series came out- at least 10 years ago.