Reply #7: Thanks. It also rankles the American sense of individualism [View All]

[PurityOfEssence]

In the most jaundiced way of looking at it, hope, is a hand-wringing and somewhat forlorn desire for salvation; this flies in the face of the American sense of the steadfast individual. The concept of the lone cowboy on the prairie is a blessing and a curse: it glorifies personal responsibility and pioneering spirit, but it also dismisses others and rewards selfishness. Still, it's part of our collective self-identity, and it is in stark contrast to the dewy-eyed longing for somebody else to come along and save us.

It's a problem that believers often have: they just can't see why others don't get the same fulfillment they do, and they just bring up the volume of the joy. The problem is that this very frenzy and giddiness is precisely what turns many of their would-be allies off cold.

If he's the nominee, this can be a very dangerous thing.

I'm off to work now, so won't be able to thread-tend for the next 14 hours or so, but thanks for the kind words; it's nice to know you're out there.