re: #1 Romantic Heretic

Indeed. I think people feel better, or rather more in control when the “bad guys” are someone easily identifiable as “other”: Blacks, Asians, Jews, Muslims, whatever.

I’ve heard countless times, “Well, Christianity had the Reformation and the West had the Enlightenment.” Presumably, this means that Christianity has been “defanged” and Christians in the West are therefore no longer capable of being violent extremists, so the only thing we really need to be worried about are those barbaric Muslims and their pernicious religion.

Muslims have certainly been responsible for a lot of terrorism in recent decades, and I’m sure it’s comforting to stuff all your fears in one little box and slap a label on it that says “Islam/Muslims”, but it’s just not realistic. Our civilized behavior is a pretty thin veneer, IMO. I don’t believe it wouldn’t take much to undo it, especially when we don’t have to look too many decades into the past to see some really hairy stuff, like people smiling during hideous lynchings as if they were at a picnic (Duluth, 1920).

Anyway, the far-right is still being monitored, as the following report from West Point’s CTC (Combating Terrorism Center) demonstrated earlier this year. The page loads kinda slow, so be patient.

Challengers from the Sidelines: Understanding America’s Violent Far-Right

In the last few years, and especially since 2007, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of attacks and violent plots originating from individuals and groups who self-identify with the far-right of American politics. These incidents cause many to wonder whether these are isolated attacks, an increasing trend, part of increasing societal violence, or attributable to some other condition. To date, however, there has been limited systematic documentation and analysis of incidents of American domestic violence. […]

It is important to note that this study concentrates on those individuals and groups who have actually perpetuated violence and is not a comprehensive analysis of the political causes with which some far-right extremists identify. While the ability to hold and appropriately articulate diverse political views is an American strength, extremists committing acts of violence in the name of those causes undermine the freedoms that they purport to espouse.