Jesus said, "You MUST be born again"..
I would enjoy a discussion of the “born again” concept, but it does seem we’ve already strayed far from topic here. I don’t wish to keep this thread floating based solely on that, but you are older (join date) than I so if you think it appropriate I will give my opinion regarding it on this thread.
We could, I suppose, claim the gods of Time and Chance have caused the debate to “evolve” thus slyly persisting the relevance of our topical negligence.
Speaking of your FR seniority (hell, I’d not even heard of FR in ‘98), I forgot to mention that I clicked on your username.
Two of the three branches on your “Reading Material” tree are dead. Apparently they were linked to FR articles that have become virtual victims of some sort of unnatural selection.
Also, of your listed quotations, the H.L. Mencken one is my favorite. While I certainly don’t agree with everything he wrote, that particular quote regarding the politics of fear is quite applicable still nearly a century later as many of today’s headlines would attest.