I've been reading the Left Behind series, and I have to tell you it disturbs me - on multiple levels.
The first is that I can imagine these books having significant conversion capability for those with any religious inclination. The books do an incredible job of making it sound and feel like there is a personal God out there who has tangible, physical impacts on our planet and our lives. Of course there has never been any real, scientific evidence to back this up, but many people want to believe in a God and in something more meaningful than the lives they are living. Having the hope in a God and reading these books and feeling that connection could easily aide in the conversion of many otherwise skeptical people. Frightening stuff...
Now, I am very skeptical and rational and have a lot of confidence in my Humanistic stance - but these books were able to kindle (rekindle?) very old, base feelings in me that made me (ME!) want to believe. I have to give it to the authors (Tim F. LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins); they know how to invoke deep-seated religious feelings in a person and how to give a person hope that there is some truth to heaven and God and the possibility of a personal relationship with Christ.
If you are secure in your Humanistic (or Atheistic) beliefs, then read them just to understand the other side. If you have any religious tendencies, but don't want to be converted fully into religion, then stay away from them until you are secure in your beliefs.
