MB Civic

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111306H.shtml

The word “messianic” comes up a lot in the European view of our adventures.

To try to see that situation more clearly, one must look in hindsight at the development of American political culture. It has always been torn between two great tendencies. The first comes from the very origin of the United States, a country founded by religious sectarians breaking off from Europe, and where space is such that the notion of social density, that is, the totality of interactions between individuals living in society, doesn’t seem to be relevant. It’s that tendency that forms the foundation for the radical religious messianism of which the present president is the representative, but also of an economic liberalism frequently pushed to extremes…

The deep roots of religious extremism in the United States are a reality that must be taken into consideration. It is expressed not only in the discourse of “creationists,” who want to chase Darwin out of schools and universities. It can be measured in the success of television series that appeal to supernatural explanations for the world. It is the foundation for a good many Americans’ adhesion to the idea that their country is not like others, but a “new Jerusalem,” called upon to guide all nations.

Yeah right .. guide everyone off a cliff.
-MAB