thomasbarnett

I’m moved by this because it speaks to my own feelings about government: Email exchange :: Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog:

A lot of people out there convinced they are completely powerless in this world and that we’re being sucked into wars with no forethought. It’s a sad commentary on where we are right now as a nation that average citizens are so distrustful of their government, believing that it suppresses intelligence or doctors it, sensing that debates are being squelched or hidden from public view when they shouldn’t be—just a strong sense of betrayal.
As somebody who’s worked all over the national security community over the past 18 years, meeting more people than I can remember, I know there tends to be wings and factions on every issue, and that, under normal conditions, they duke it out in the best interest of the country. Average citizens tend to see too many movies and not read enough material that accurately describes the day-to-day workings of things, so their images of decision-making tend to be very dark and nefarious. Nixon’s administration had created a lot of that bad feeling—that sense of hopelessness. It’s sad to see people feeling this way again. It’s depressing.

I continue to enjoy Barnett. He’s writing a third book. I suppose given how much I think about his ideas, and pass them along, I should read one of his darn books!

Previously, previously, previously, previously.

I have mentioned before how much I esteem Thomas P.M. Barnett. In a recent blog post he points out a USA Today story about a new term in American Islam: Sushi

The quote from the USA Today story:

He calls himself “Sushi,” the popular term for a combination of Sunni and Shiite. Once the glib nickname for the children of intermarried couples, it has become shorthand for Muslim who blur sectarian lines.

Here’s TPMB’s comments:

Gotta love “Sushi.” Yet another example of Japan’s successful cultural exports! Seriously. A term people choose for themselves because the word strikes them as cool.

None of this is to suggest that America grows less religious, because just the opposite is true. But don’t confuse rising religiosity (more faith and more practice) with rising religion (the institutions and hierarchies and sectarianism that come with them).

The rule set on religion gets looser in America even as people get more intense about it. It becomes more personalized and direct and about “the book.”

And it becomes non-denominational as a result.

Read Stephen Prothero’s history of faith in America in his Religious Literacy, and you’ll see the argument plain as day.

Yet another reason why I do not worry about losing any “Long War.” The outcome was never in doubt. Just our belief in ourselves.

That book “Religious Literacy” looks pretty good.