Robomatic said: I don't blame millions of Americans who are balking at the future.

Is fear of the future not the gist of what prompts many people to join fundamentalist movements? The future implies change, yet there is a natural human tendency to resist change. Fundamentalism provides a static world view where a believer can shelter his psyche from forces which are attempting to force change upon him.

And we're not talking about the "digital revolution" or anything like that. Technology is merely as a tool, not the paradigm shift many people believe it to be. With the exception of a handful of technology-rejecting groups like the Amish, fundamentalists have adopted modern technology to the same extent as the population at large. The changes that we're talking about are things like absolute equality of the sexes, accepting that nationalism is no longer a viable world view in a world laced with global interdependencies, that our entire economy is based upon a finite energy source that will run out. It's easy for many people to hide in a belief system that tells them women are intrinsically inferior to men, that their nation is founded upon principles ordained by God, and that God will miraculously provide for their needs. It's hard work to see those types of changes as inevitable and lay the groundwork for a world where they, not medieval hocus-pocus, are the fundamental guiding principles.