My pal, Jason Errett, on the rise of Christian Fundamentalists in the U.S.:

I hate it when stuff like this happens. What we have is essentially one of America's great strengths, that of religious tolerance, being used against us. Because we're a tolerant nation, no one has stood up and said "Look... you people are absolutely fucking crazy. You cannot hasten the return of your saviour by destroying the world. Even if you read the bible cover to cover and take the stance that it's all literally true, that's a ridiculous conclusion to draw from it."

And so they grow, and grow, and grow. Throughout human history, the prize of immortality has been highly valued and used to drive all sorts of crazy enterprises. Whether you're talking Ponce De Leon and the fountain of youth, or Hitler and his reich that would last a thousand years, people who seek power have often sought the ultimate power of immortality. I think this whole end-times nonsense is driven by this quest, and that's what makes it powerful. These people don't want to have to rely on faith, they want the end to come, complete with trumpets and the return of Christ, so that they can be sure salvation and immortality exists. They're screechingly desperate to pull this off while they're alive so that they can go directly to heaven in the flesh, with no need to go through that scary and uncertain death thing.

That's really what it boils down to. So, what we have is a bunch of nutjobs who believe in what started as a really fringe Christian idea, who have siezed upon it becuase it offers a chance at finding proof of salvation and immortality. Their desire to pull this off is driven by the old basic fear of death. This is one of the strongest fears mankind knows, and so the motivation it offers is one of the strongest urges around. It's strong enough to overpower reason, common sense, basic ethics, and simple decency. It's strong enough to propel people to destroy the world. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being strong enough to drive some terrified mush-brained idiot, like the one we've got in the oval office, to nuke half the planet thinking that if this doesn't bring Jesus back, nothng will.

10:33:01 AM