Is America a Christian Version of Iran?
Now that America's nightmares focus
on Islamism rather than Marxism,
it's odd that we haven't seen a spate
of movies depicting idyllic Midwestern towns
under control of a Muslim theocracy,
as Osama bin Laden envisaged in his latest video
Perhaps the problem is that it would be
much harder to depict the culture shock
of such an alternative reality than it was
to show the communist hordes sweeping
across the Land of the Free
The US is, after all, a profoundly religious nation,
so praying five times a day
wouldn't be much of an imposition
It's a country that suffered a collective aneurysm
at the exposure of a pop star's nipple,
and more recently suffered
similar traumas over visible underwear
Making the burqa compulsory would solve
these problems at a stroke
Christian Extremism
After every terror attack by Islamists, fears are raised in conservative circles about "Islamisation" of our culture with the presence of hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the UK and millions across Europe.
Despite what the selective reading of some surveys might suggest, most western Muslims share the same liberal values as the rest of society and radical Islam appeals only to a small minority.
Political Islam can and does pose a threat to secular values - but in Muslim countries, not here. In Europe, we need to look west for our religious menaces.
As the creationism debate clearly demonstrates, the USA is home to a well-organised and motivated movement with intelligent designs on power.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to write off Christian fundamentalism and other conservative Christian groups - aka the Christian right - as some kind of loony fringe as its agenda "Christianises" the mainstream.
It is no accident that just about every single presidential hopeful in the US has asked God to endorse his or her campaign.
One Nation, Under AllahI was watching The Atomic Café the other day.
Originally released in 1982, in the glory days of the Reagan "Let's bomb Russia" presidency, it's a documentary concocted from archive footage that expresses the odd concoction of smugness and paranoia that fuelled the United States from the beginning of the cold war to the end of the Eisenhower years.
One of the most startling segments, from 1947, depicts a small town in Wisconsin where the inhabitants "went Communist" for 24 hours to show their compatriates the horrors of the Soviet system.
The shots of awkwardly grinning cheeseheads pretending to march in honour of Stalin and stand in line at soup kitchens must have sent a chill down the spines of Godfearing Americans.
Of course, this "what if it happened here?" idea wasn't new even 60 years ago; in 1942, Alberto Cavalcanti's Went the Day Well? had depicted a bucolic English village under the control of Nazi paratroopers.
And the Commies-in-Anytown-USA idea was still going strong in 1984, when Patrick Swayze made the world safe for consumer capitalism in Red Dawn.
Now that America's nightmares focus on Islamism rather than Marxism, it's odd that we haven't seen a spate of movies depicting idyllic Midwestern towns under control of a Muslim theocracy, as Osama bin Laden envisaged in his latest video message.
Perhaps the problem is that it would be much harder to depict the culture shock of such an alternative reality than it was to show the communist hordes sweeping across the Land of the Free.
The US is, after all, a profoundly religious nation, so praying five times a day wouldn't be much of an imposition.
It's a country that suffered a collective aneurysm at the exposure of a pop star's nipple, and more recently suffered similar traumas over visible underwear; making the burqa compulsory would solve these problems at a stroke.
Giving up pork might create a few problems in bar-b-q country, but remember, this is the land that gave us artificial bacon bits.
Under Muslim polygamy rules, Rudy Giuliani wouldn't have needed to divorce his previous wives, and Mitt Romney's Mormon heritage wouldn't look nearly so strange.
Indeed, it seems a scenario well suited to a Republican hegemony; who best to lead a newly dry nation than a teetotal president?
However, politicians of all stripes could take a few tips from their Muslim counterparts.
Iran's President Ahmadinejad has long exhibited the same combination of belligerence and imbecility that won the last two US presidential elections for Bush.
He's even begun offering coded hints to American candidates on how best to deal with awkward stump questions.
Asked where he or she stands on gay marriage, a White House hopeful can just deny that homosexuality exists, thus making the question academic at best.
Still, even if it doesn't happen in reality, Hollywood should be able to concoct the paranoid fantasy.
I reckon on a browned-up Jeremy Irons as the bad guy in the kefiyah, with Ashton Kutcher and Paris Hilton as the underground freedom fighters. I just hope the audience knows which side to cheer for.
It's so true even Campbell, who worked for the most overtly christian PM
we've had in living memory said when asked "we don't do god" So to us
godless europeans America's obsession with religion which used to be quite
quaint is now quite scary. With the rise of the christian right America
appears to be becoming as radical and extreme as any muslim theocracy.
Religion is the opiate of the masses and as in all things Americans have to
consume more than everyone else....Fucking junkies
"the US is, after all, a profoundly religious nation"
Yes, I cant even remember any politician that succeed in elections being
out of any from hundreds religious confessions . I wonder if hundred years
later will be a dominant religion that will unite American spirit.
