I too hate a concentrated fundamentalist approach to issues, but I suspect the word "fundamentalist" was inadvertantly being used instead of "extremist", which sounds more accurate.

The problem I see though is that if someone feels they're at the epicentre of a hot issue, they're more likely to act irrationally. Acquiring territory, or defending your perception of god, would never be emotional issues to me, so I'm naturally willing to listen calmly to anyone giving their opinions (no matter how emotional they are).

If you want to put yourself in the shoes of a rabid extremist, take some small or even trivial issue that's important to YOU, and see to what extremes you'll go, in order to get your point across to others. I hear it all the time with people discussing sports. Hell, I DO it all the time, trying to get folks to understand that a wonderful world of music will open up to them if they "invest" in the origins of folk music rather than just what's handed to them by the mainstream. The difference is, that the scary extremist feels that "life and death" is at stake with their issues. The stakes are much higher, but the motives are the same.

My feelings on things like abortion or capital punishment are tempered by knowing that these issues will always be "political footballs", and used for political gain. Middle class and upperclass women will always be able to terminate pregnancy "mistakes" in relative safety, and poor women will face the dirty knives. Has it ever been any different? Do you really think it will? High-priced lawyers will usually keep their clients off death row, so what's new?

All I know is that I can communicate fine with someone like Doug R, who's obviously far more conservative than I am, because he makes his beliefs seem rational (if highly debatable!). I also think that if I presented a well-thought out arguement, he might be swayed on an issue. My experience has been that no amount of logic can make a zealot change their mind..but maybe they feel their "life depends on it".

Geez, five paragraphs of blah, blah, blah. Ahh shit, go play yer geetar folks!!

Rick