Karen Armstrong says that, “I'm slightly down on cleverness” but then classifies herself as a “Freelance monotheist”—whatever that means. She then not so artfully dodges the interviewer’s question on whether she believes in God with the appropriately condescending answer “No, because people who ask this question often have a rather simplistic notion of what God is”. And does she consider herself a religious person? “Yes. It's a constant pursuit for me. It's helped me immeasurably to overcome despair in my own life. But I have no hard and fast answers”. This is all after pooh-poohing Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris as monomaniacal religion haters; two scholars I might add that don’t have particularly fast answers--but do have hard ones.

Karen Armstrong finds it difficult to deal rationally with secular humanists like Richard Dawkins (who she characterized as “Very, very one sided”) because the so called ‘other side’- which she is obviously invested in- is largely smoke and mirrors; affectations that help her “overcome despair” in her own life.

Is it really Dawkins and Harris that have the ‘pathologies’ Karen?

I like a little gossip as much as the next guy. But since Salon is a fairly intelligent website and those of us who subscribe to it generally have IQ’s over a hundred, I would like to throw out the humble suggestion that certain people--most of whom are of absolutely no interest to Salon’s readership-- never be mentioned again in the Fix feature. My suggestions to head this list are:

Paris Hilton

Brittany Spears

Michael Jackson

Lindsey Lohan

Madonna

Anything to do with American Idol

Christina Agul…what’s her name

Mariah Carey (or however you spell her name)

This is just a start (and it obviously reflects my biases) but readers can add to this list if they like.

I don’t mean to be a gossip fascist but there are people that just don’t matter and whose names should not be conjured under any circumstances.

Chad

"…they are not represented by even one national political figure,and therefore have no serious political power."

You’re correct, the Dominionists do not have one national political figure. But their larger and not much less dangerous inbred cousin mainstream fundamentalism does. In fact one of those Jethros sits in the Oval Office!

"Until they do, I'm not going to worry about them."

That’s a good idea. I’m sure that the bulk of the German population thought the same thing in 1928.

The quest to build a genuine Theocracy really is a pipe dream of the Dominionists. However, this mutated strain of religion is grown in the same soil as the garden-variety fundamentalism that is so popular and growing right now. To marginalize them a wacko’s is dangerous because what they are articulating is just an extreme form of what a good portion of Americans have a very unhealthy sympathy for: more God everywhere!

I’m not worried that Jerry Falwell is going to become a fascist dictator in the ‘Republic of Jesusland’ or that Bob Jones University will become the new Harvard. I’m worried that Roe vs. Wade is going to be overturned, public education dismantled and what’s left of the social safety net turned completely over to private organizations. In other words I’m worried about what’s happening right now- and it’s these fundamentalist elements (whether of the small Dominionist or very large Southern Baptist variety) that are becoming the key lobbying block on these issues.

So no, I’m not really worried about the ‘Dominionists’ per se. I’m worried about the Bible thumping guy next door who shares even an iota of their sentiments and will join them in slowly helping to erode all the progress this country has made in the last half century.

And no, I’m not going to ‘lighten up’. It’s lightening up that put the God-squad in the White House.

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

Sinclair Lewis

BrianWiliam, The providence of legislation is often hard to follow and besides, this “dominion stuff” is just a small part of a much larger religious movement that has put many a politician in office. I’m not worried about these particular KKK goons gaining substantial political office but I think you would be surprised at just how many Americans think that Justice Moore got a raw deal just because he wouldn’t move his 2.6 ton ten commandment slab. That’s all it takes to get that slab rolling.