Political fundamentalism can have great appeal. As the morals of
our culture deteriorate; as our economy falters with sustained
high unemployment; as even science becomes politicized; as
political stalemate paralyzes our federal government; as the
Obama administration fights with the Catholic Church over
practices repugnant to its core doctrines, unheedful of the
Constitution's bedrock guarantee of freedom of religion; as the
sweeping PPACA legislation was passed on purely partisan lines
in a hurried and unseemly fashion; as federal spending has
become unsustainable, people understandably search for answers,
for a way out of the mess we're in. Many yearn for absolutes in
politics. Although absolutes may be appealing and politically
expedient, in reality, answers to complex problems are rarely
simple. That is the danger of political fundamentalism gone too
far: It can lead to extremism and inflexibility. Good politics
cannot operate in a highly polarized environment like we see all
too often now. When people b