Religious Fundamentalism in Orwell and Pynchon

[Terrance]

Terrance wrote:
> 
> pynchonoid wrote:
> >
> > --- Terrance <lycidas2 at earthlink.net> wrote:
> > > Who are his born-again buddies and why have they an
> > > interest in this
> > > so-called holy war?
> >
> > I thought you followed the news and didn't need
> > anybody to fetch it for you? (If you'd like to learn
> > how to use Google, just let me know...)
> 
> Social conservatives and Christian Fundamentalist in the USA don't
> support Bush's foreign policy. They are not even too keen on a lot of
> the Ashcroft Patriot Act stuff because, being fundamentalists after all,
> they are a target. So you don't know what the hell you're talking about.
> What else is new?

The Karen Armstrong piece is a very good one. She says, 


As the primordial, archetypal fundamentalism, the American case reveals
important aspects of this religious rebellion. First, it always begins
as an assault on co-religionists, and is directed against foreigners and
outsiders only at a later stage. American fundamentalism began as a
battle for the control of the Protestant denominations, which were being
controlled by more liberal Christians. It remains primarily an
intra-Christian conflict. 



In the USA Fundamentalism remains intra-christian. It's a "crusade" as
John McCain liked to say when he was running against W, but not against
Islam or even terrorists like Osama, but against non-fundamentalists.
It's about "LIFE" and the "UNBORN" and MARRIAGE and MORALITY. The
supreme court. AIDS. Homosexuality. 

Sunday I went to Presbyterian church that is openly gay and courting
transsexuals and others ...  and so on. This is an example of one of the
battles in the   "religious war" in America. George W Bush is just
trying to get the stupid economy off it's ass so he can stay in power.
What he's been doing lately indicates that he's following his father's
pattern with a little Reagan and Clinton tossed in. 

The war on terror and the war on Iraq have not boosted profits. They
have both been a HUGE drag on the world economy. Productivity gains
(from technology) are actually hurting Bush's recovery too because they
are costing people in the lower end of the service economy their jobs. 
Bush needs to get the stupid economy off its ass so he won't have to
toss too many bones to the Social Conservatives. Thus far, he has  put
his money on the business plan. Not because he thinks this is going to
create jobs or boost the economy (tax cuts and dividend tax cuts are not
a bad idea but they won't create jobs or stimulate the economy), but
because if he gets the economy to roll again he won't need the Social
Conservative vote to win the election. 

Bush's co-called Born-Again Buddies are actually associates he has to
invite to the party but would rather not.