For Democrats, it's been easy to break out the popcorn as the Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives declared holy war against fellow Republicans and sought to purify conservative ranks.
After all, the GOP is reaping what it sowed. Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas; recruit zealots, be devoured in the end.
In an earlier life, I would have gloated even more, because I used to think fundamentalism was purely a Republican problem. But then I started working, as a progressive, for education reform and started getting all these weird fundie flashbacks from my side.
Let me explain.
I spent my first 22 years among evangelicals — and yes, we're talking the no-drinking-no-dancing-go-to-church-four-times-a-week kind. My parents taught at a Baptist college. As part of their job benefits, I received free tuition at a handful of conservative Christian schools, which is how I ended up at Wheaton College in Illinois, as one of its rare liberals.
At the time, Wheaton was a school so politically conservative, its president once told me he didn't believe "anyone could have an authentic relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ and still be a member of the Democratic Party."
How to respond? Smile and nod. Get the degree. I graduated in 1979 — the same year Jerry Falwell launched the Moral Majority, a political group that symbolized the merger of the Christian right with the Republican Party.
Even then, I knew that marriage wouldn't end well. Healthy politics require people who can adapt to a changing modern world, embrace new ideas, accept new data, listen to foes and find compromise.