Well it's important to identify the distinct dangers between the two groups. Through empirical evidence we can safely conclude that the group currently containing the most extremists is Islam. (Extremists being those who not only foster fundamental and violent views, but are also willing to bridge the gap between those views and action, as opposed to people who, for example, believe homosexuals should die, but are unwilling to kill them).
I completely agree with you that the acute danger comes from the likely chance - and continual willingness - that Muslim extremists will carry out an extremely destructive, relatively isolated one-off attack. However, for someone like Hedges who has probably been completely desensitized to the violence of war and of terrorist attacks, the fear the rest of us have in the back of our minds no longer lingers in his, which allows him to see perhaps the most destructive danger facing the United States.
Think about it: Chicago gets nuked, the economy crashes, we go Hulk on all countries harboring Muslim extremists, we start back with our lives (well those who weren’t within 100 square miles of the city), the economy comes back up, life goes on and the U.S. survives.
Now what could completely destroy the U.S. as we know it? The danger, as Hedges understands, lies with the connection of Christian iconography with American nationalism; a U.S. Christian Theocracy, or some form thereof. As much grief as Obama gets from both sides* for trying to mitigate multiple cluster fucks, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that someone like Palin or Huckabee get elected in 2012.
[*That’s a big difference between conservatives and progressives, the former, who is pretty use to making decisions based on little evidence, rarely questions or criticizes authority of the same “party,” yet, the latter will shoot themselves in the foot because they are typically of the more rational persuasion and will criticize and hold leaders of their “party” to the fire until Jebus comes back with a bunch on those horses. ]
It’s bad enough that during one of the Republican debates when the panel was asked if they rejected evolution, three of the candidates raised their hands and they all agreed that intelligent design (creationism) should be taught alongside evolution. I listed just two quotes, but there are countless quotes that just reek of ignorance, intolerance and an unwillingness to learn facts.
These are the same people who think that the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation even though there is not a single word of relation in the constitution and while some of the framers were relatively fundamental, most at best were deists and according to historical consensus, the majority were cultural Christians while holding agnostic or atheist views (even though agnosticism is being an atheist). These are the same people who waste more moral time and energy on the rights of a 150-cell blastocyst while refusing to promote technology that could relieve the suffering for billions of actual HUMANS. These are the same people who have been responsible for the very real stagnation of scientific and moral progress as a result of their dogma. These are the people who think the burden of proof is on us and claim WE are the intolerant, dogmatic, arrogant ones even though THEY are the ones that claim their “book” is so profound that it was written under the direction of an omnipotent and omniscient super-being, even though WE are just simply the ones who have considered their claims, have read their books and have made the rational deduction that their claims are absurd.
When you divest yourself of the acute fear Muslim extremism brings, you can clearly see what we should be worried about and continue to fight.
PS: There are 20-500 million sperm cells per milliliter per 2-6 milliliters per ejaculation. Jesus Christ, how many living cells (ie, potential human beings) have I destroyed with just my involuntary ejaculations (ie, nocturnal emissions, monthly through my urine due to natural production and renewal of sperm cells), not to mention my voluntary ejaculations?! The simple answer is trillions and trillions of potential human beings have been put to death through natural processes that I cannot control. Since I am made in God’s image and I have murdered trillions to the power of trillion potential human beings… well… God must be a dick (no pun intended).
