Extremism in religion and politics contains the seeds of its own destruction. The self-destruction of political extremism is already upon us. The Tea Party faithful force GOP candidates into ever more ridiculously extreme, and often self-contradictory positions that make it impossible for that candidate to win a general election. Nevertheless, the “base” continues to demand more extremism, and candidates fall in line, becoming both more hypocritical and unelectable.
The instability of religious extremism may be an even better illustration. The premise of the “Rapture,” for example, the idea that the end of history is upon us and the very few true Christian believers are about to be taken directly up into heaven, was much in the news in 2011.
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