Continuing my unable-to-not-read-it exploration of fanaticism (I don’t know why this is so fascinating to me right now; I turned into an apostate a long time ago), I found a Rolling Stone article online about born again Christian Zionism–that is, evangelicals who believe the end times are near and a holy war with the Middle East is imminent (and necessary for God’s plan). It’s not unbiased, of course, but it’s funny and it’s thought provoking and so very scary. The quote of the day from it:
“It occurred to me that over the past decades, any number of our prominent political leaders (from Jimmy Carter to Chuck Colson to W himself) had boasted publicly of their born-again experiences, broadcasting to Middle America an understanding of their personal relationships with God. But whereas once these conversions were humble things…the modern version might very easily be this completely batshit holy-vomitus/demon-exorcism deal. The thought that any politician could claim this kind of experience and not be immediately disqualified from public service seemed utterly terrifying.”