My problem with the Left Behind series that Kevin defends in relation to snotty liberal secular attacks is that it is bad theology. Many evangelicals reject the end of the world is on us crap and indeed, it is the subject of many o’debate on fundamentalist radio. Dispensationalism is sort of the fundamentalist wedge issue…
As far as policy connections to fundamentalist thought on the end-times…from Time’s July 1st issue:
The election of Ronald Reagan brought "Christian Zionism" deeper into the White House: Lindsey served as a consultant on Middle East affairs to the Pentagon and the Israeli government. Interior Secretary James Watt, a Pentecostalist, in discussing environmental concerns, observed, "I don’t know how many future generations we can count on until the Lord returns." Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger affirmed, "I have read the Book of Revelation, and, yes, I believe the world is going to end–by an act of God, I hope–but every day I think time is running out." It was no accident that Reagan made his "evil empire" speech at a meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals.
While Kevin might be right to be leery of Bush himself believing this stuff (Methodists aren’t big on dispensationalism), the influence on many conservative politicians is quite clear (Salon Premium). John Ashcroft, James Inhofe, Tom DeLay, and Dick Armey are just a few who use Revelations to argue for specific policies towards Israel and the world as a whole.
Kevin is also correct that all evangelicals shouldn’t be treated as the lunatic fringe. A part of the problem that secular individuals have with understanding these distinctions is they don’t have enough of a religous background. Even many liberal Christians are very underexposed to fundamentalists and Dispensationalists. Evangelicals come in many shapes and certainly all evangelicals aren’t fundamentalists. Some evangelicals are liberal–evangelical only signifies those who try and evangelize Christianity. However, Dispensationalists do have dangerous ideas and they should be fought when they try and have those ideas put into public policy. Having read the book review, I took the dark overtones to only apply to dispensationalists and not evangelicals as a whole. And as a somewhat liberal Christian—yeah I’m worried about them. Very worried.
Now, if they were to undergo a second great withdrawal from politics as they did early in the 20th Century, that is fine. Their beliefs would be no more dangerous than the Heaven’s Gate Cult.
Tolerance of all sorts of religious beliefs is a good thing. However, I do not think that making fun of silly beliefs is the worst thing in the world. I make fun of Scientologists, Heaven’s Gates types and Dispensationalists as well as an assortment of other strange groups. I only get concerned when any of these type of groups gain political power, and Dispensationalists are the only ones who really fit that category.