Free Republic

“Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America.” Perhaps you remember that pearl from Rosie O’Donnell, the perpetually agitated former co-host of The View. While few had put it quite so brusquely, O’Donnell’s sentiment was hardly a novel one. A steady stream of books and films had for years demonized conservative Christians, attacking their rising influence in politics and on broader American life as heralding the establishment of a Christian theocracy. It was against this backdrop of anti-Christian paranoia that CNN recently aired “God’s Warriors,” a mini-series that investigated what animates the most fervent...

The temptation to comment on the sleaze currently oozing out of Washington in the battle for control of Congress, tainting the guilty and the innocent alike, is almost irresistible. It can wait. A much more important story unfolded last week in an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania, a tale of forgiveness and grace that brings into sharp focus the clash of cultures in which we are now engaged. We have heard repeatedly over the last five years that Islam is a "religion of peace hijacked by radicals." The President of the United States, in a vain attempt to appear evenhanded, has...