You are asking me to critique a group he considers having a fatalistic view.
No, he mentions multiple groups: Christians, Muslims, and zionists, essentially any group with messianic and/or apocalyptic aspects to it.
He is seeing the dream of eternal life with the Lord, which happens after death, as a longing for death when these groups are looking forward to life.
No, he's not addressing merely life-after-death beliefs. He's specifically addressing eschatological, apocalyptic, and messianic religions. And yes, even Zionism of both the non-orthodox and atheistic varieties are messianic because they believe that only an exclusionary Jewish state can save the Jewish race. So Zionists replace God as savior with a Jewish government as savior.
I think the notion "people are looking forward to Armageddon" is hyperbolic; borderline foolish. If I were to ask 100 "religious people" if they are looking forward to Armageddon I doubt I'll find a yes among the group. People want an apocalypse?
It's possible that 100 of your closest associates don't believe in the evangelical apocalyptic vision. I personally don't know any Protestant Christian who disavows the idea that the world will end (sooner rather than later) but that they will be "okay" due to their devout faith. But to your point, people are complex, and most people don't wear their eschatological views on their sleeves, nor do they dwell on it. This is where cognitive dissonance plays a role. Yes, most believers, like non-believers, are largely attached to their lives, families, friends, occupations, possessions, hobbies, etc. BUT (and here's the point that Hitchens would make, as would I) they also mitigate their worries about the future by means of theology. This translates into a kind of sloth regarding injustice, environmental abuse, wars, and other overwhelming issues that seem too large to tackle. When pressed, as I often like to do, they will actually say something like, "Well God will sort it all out." It's this kicking the can down the road and expecting a messiah (or someone else “greater” than them) to fix the biggest problems in the world, rather than accepting their is no one else other than us humans. Or just the opposite happens ... rather than inspiring helplessness their beliefs inspire extremism, such as "breaking a few eggs" for “the greater good,” or to ethnically cleanse a strip of land your ancestors were exiled from thousands of years ago, because your god said way back then that that land belonged to your “people.”
Now you're just misusing the term. To be
fatalistic means that you believe the future to be fixed and predetermined, which undermines your agency to affect change. Hitchens was most certainly NOT fatalistic.
On a side note, has anyone seen Dune 2 yet? The way it portrays prophesy is very illuminating as it pertains to this discussion.
