brilliant, brilliant interview – margaret atwood talks to bill moyers. the antinomian heresy: if u’re predestined to be the elect from birth, if u’re going to be saved no matter what, u can do the most atrocious things while still believing that u’re justified.
that kind of event (salem witch trials) replays itself in history when societies/cultures are under stress. people start looking around for human sacrifices. societies can give up their ideals, their freedoms, their values in almost frighteningly normal and rapid ways. fear sets in and people will trade their freedoms for someone who says: i’m a strong leader, i’ll take care of it – the trains will run on time. in order to preserve freedom, we have to demolish freedom. it’s amazing how quickly people rolled over for the patriot act.