See it for yourself. Parts of the article's argument, composed by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, can be read here. But here's what I think: Islamic fundamentalism in the Arab world makes much more sense than Christian fundamentalism in the US. It's easy to understand why a person, in say, Yemen believes in God, but it's not easy to understand why a person who lives this country does. Per capita income in Yemen is around $2,500; in the US, it's close to $50,000. In Yemen, the poor have little to no social security—food, health, income can come and go like the wind. In the US, there is too much food, incomes are high (if obtained), and a person's health is not continuously stressed by natural forces—poor nutrition, poor sanitation, poor policing, and so on. In Yemen, humans can't offer solutions to the major problems of life; in the US, they can. The question, then, is why are there so many Christian fundamentalists in the richest, most developed, most human country in the world? I answered that question in this post: Manufactured Existential Exposure.

The social production of fear and poverty that leaves millions of Americans with the feeling of existential exposure (this is my term). It's important to understand that the sources of the exposure will not be found in biology or nature but in politics. The number of believers in our society will remain high as long those who benefit politically from the production and reproduction of an environment of fear (fear of violence, fear of poverty) are in power.
The Newsweek cover contributes to this sense fear. One other thing, because poverty in the US is manufactured doesn't mean its is imaginary.
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