Russia’s #2 man, Dmitry Medvedev (currently Security Council Deputy Chairman; former PM and President), has been waxing eschatological lately. Last year he warned that the horsemen of the Apocalypse might well be riding out (by the way, Newsweek: why do you capitalize “New Testament” but not “bible?”); and he stated that Russia’s war in Ukraine is part of its struggle against Satan. Last week he doubled down, claiming that “the prophecies of the Apocalypse are getting closer.” This echoes, albeit in more overtly Christian language, what Numero Uno Vladimir Putin says. Whether these two men are true believing Orthodox Christians, or deceptive opportunists, is debatable. (Although why couldn’t they be both?) But when the chaps in charge of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal talk like this, we need to take them seriously–not scoff at their beliefs (a phenomenon about which I was interviewed two weeks ago). The folks in our government and media who do so are making the same arrogant mistake they do with Islam and Muslims: “REAL Muslims (or Christians) wouldn’t believe or act like that. Those religions are PEACEFUL.” Can such types be any more ignorant, willfully or not, of religions in history?

“Ragnarök,” Wikipedia (Public Domain). Maybe Hela is the Sixth Horseman, er, Horsewoman?

Speaking of the world’s second-largest religion, there’s End Times news on that front, too. In Gujarat, India, some Muslims have been arrested for “targeting interfaith individuals” by “intercepting the couple” and then “thrash[ing] them in the name of moral policing”–after which they would upload the videos thereof to social media. This group called themselves the “Army of Mahdi.”

Of course, it could be a lot worse than just some “thrashing.” Mainstream Sunni and Shi`i commentators on the End Times believe that the Mahdi and Jesus (who returns as a Muslim) will give non-Muslims the Hobson’s choice of conversion or death. (When I attended a Mahdism conference in Iran in 2008, I sat through an entire panel on this topic. I refrained from commenting during, however.) The Mahdi may as well mount up and ride out with the Four Horsemen, then.

Russia’s Orthodox Christian leadership is simply warning about the intersection of geopolitics and their faith’s eschatological elements. Some Muslim leaders, however, especially in Iran, do seem to want to get the End Times timer counting down. It remains to be seen whether you can hotwire a horse.