A reader writes:
You wrote:
"But how do those who are ready to live in this modern world coexist with those who still believe that it is not only misguided but evil? And, of course, vice-versa? There is only one way."
In fact, there is another way, the way chosen by the Mennonites and the Amish: to turn away from some, or even most, elements of the modern world, rejecting them as tools of the Devil, and to live in communities of like-believers allowing at most few contacts with outsiders. Of course, in doing so, that community surrenders any pretensions to remake society at large in their own image. They have to settle for the old fashioned strategy of influencing others to their point of view by persuasion, and let the Devil take the rest. I don’t think the theocons would ever settle for that, of course.
Agreed. I think that’s where Rod is headed and I respect anyone who chooses it. But it is not a political solution for the whole. It is a spiritual one for the part.
The Dish 