Cliven Bundy is an Idiot, but it Doesn't Really Matter

My dad was raised in a religious cult, and he implemented a lot of those brainwashing techniques in his own parenting style. Although he left his church cult behind when he grew up, he held on to the tenets of Christianity, and passed on his beliefs to his wife and kids. My childhood was very religious, but not in the way my father's parents were religious, so I didn't consider it terribly weird.

Living in the Bible belt assisted greatly in normalizing and reinforcing the things I was taught by my parents and by my own church, a conservative Presbyterian congregation in Metro Atlanta. The Jesus I learned about was a kinder, gentler version of the vengeful trinity my dad grew up with. For example, both of our churches symbolically ingested the blood and flesh of Christ, but my dad's church presented such rituals in a sadistic light, while my church somehow evaded the macabre aspects of symbolic cannibalism. 

My dad and I were both taught the Bible is God's living word, and that God is the ultimate authority of everything. Therefore, if something can be justified in the eyes of God, it has to be followed. What can and cannot be justified in the eyes of God is the source of endless debate among the different factions of Christianity, and has historically been at the center of both literal and figurative wars.

This absolute faith in a book written by human beings is dangerous. Citing the Bible as the ultimate authority, it doesn't take much work to come up with arguments and conclusions and presumptions and outright bullshit that can link ANY behavior to a foundation in God. If a behavior or belief can be linked to God's approval, actual or perceived, believers have been taught to defend it to the death.

The Bible teaches Christians that their faith will be tested over and over again, and that to fail any of these tests reveals a weakness in them. There is a shame assigned to failing to stand up for your beliefs. It is a victory for Satan, a slap in the face to Jesus, and a lost battle in the war over souls. The Bible teaches Christians that it is better to die than to deny their faith.

And people are ready to die. American militias are largely populated by fundamentalist Christians, and they have rooted their beliefs in their faith, and they are READY TO DIE. It is the Christian version of Jihad, and it will erupt on a larger scale in the United States within my lifetime, I am sure.

I don't know if Cliven Bundy is a fundamentalist Christian, but I do know what it looks like when you have a person so entrenched in their own beliefs they are willing to die - and to kill others - rather than consider any alternative reality.

At this point, there is no real benefit in arguing whether or not Cliven Bundy and the fools backing him are right or wrong - they believe they are right, and they are ready to die defending what they believe. There is no discussion beyond that, only war. There is no reasoning with someone ready to die for their cause. That is what makes them so frightening.