Those Americans who feel compelled to rewrite our collective
history as the emergence of an avowedly Christian nation are
fond of quoting scripture. Take the seemingly noble sentiment in
John 15:13, where Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” I say
“seemingly noble” because even the Devil is good at quoting
scripture. Consider the fringe Christian apocalyptic group
called the Hutaree; there this motto blazes their website just
above the image shown above. Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney
General announced the arrests of nine individuals accused of
“plotting to kill law enforcement officers in hopes of inciting
an antigovernment uprising, the latest in a recent surge in
right-wing militia activity,” as the New York Times reports. The
plan is right out of what is often called the Al-Qaeda playbook,
one played out in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan on almost a
daily basis: kill a police officer and then when there is a
funeral procession, set off an i.e.d. Wer