The Grand Inquisitor Does Iraq

clipped from www.tnr.com Worse, the Inquisitor's dim view of human nature implies that the liberation of Iraq never had a fighting chance. Humans, he insists, instinctively yearn for "miracle, mystery, and authority." These are exactly the elements of Shiite Islam that Iraqis now rely on to escape the impossible expectation of building a civil society overnight. Miracle, mystery, and authority are all bound up in Shiite Islam's hidden imam, the spiritual guide who inexplicably disappeared hundreds of years ago and will return one day to rid the world of corruption and injustice. Why should mortals strive to create the conditions that only a Messiah can achieve? Far more rational to let chaos reign, precisely so that the Messiah will have an incentive to appear sooner. Still, is the Grand Inquisitor right about human beings? Is it inevitable that we are weak, fatalistic, and self-loathing? Enter Christianity's Messiah.

I don't think she has all the pieces together correctly on this, but I give her huge points for creativity and getting some of it at least warm. Cool.