Let's not confuse statistics from surveys where dubious questions are asked with the reality of how many people ARE deep into this sort of scary nonsense. 59% is kinda high.....but 25% would be scary enough....and I suspect that a still smaller % is involved actively and not just nodding agreement. I would imagine that the activists want you to believe that they are in the majority, and that you really oughta 'get with the program'.

Sure...they are out there. I grew up in Kansas, and I met them. The difference is now that the handling of the 'movement' has become more sophisticated and insidious. You don't get wild-eyed preachers on soapboxes as much as you get seemingly 'reasonable' guys like those who write the "Left Behind" books and the Mel Gibsons, producing emotional movies and the evidence that evangelical extremists have managed to get partial power in the political arena....with agendas that go WAY beyond trying to save your soul!

The whole process is like being nibbled to death by ducks...or the metaphor about "how to cook a frog" by raising the temperature in the pot until it's too late.

I find myself in an awkward position of trying to maintain respect for the concept of "freedon of religion" for those who simply choose a personal faith and practice it quietly, and trying to resist an insideous attempt to control what *I* do and to inject their political/religious/moral adenda into the world community...often with force and lies....using the might of the last 'serious' superpower to influence events.

....and it's really fascinating to see how the Christian Radical Right is getting HELP from the Islamic fanatical right by now having a clear enemy and target to point at!