Are you and I cult followers?

I found the following quote from the LA Times (Susan Jacoby, April 20, 2008) as printed in Discipleship Journal, Issue 167 (p. 12):

The American public [demonstrates] increasing reluctance to give a fair hearing -- or any hearing at all -- to opposing points of view... Whether watching television news, consulting political blogs or (more rarely) reading books, [we] have become a people in search of validation for opinions that [we] already hold... Ironically, the unprecedented array of choices, on hundreds of cable channels and the Web, have contributed to the [problem]. No one but a news junkie has the time or the inclination to spend the entire day consulting diverse news sources on the Web, and the temptation to seek out commentary that fits neatly into one's worldview... is hard to resist.

I've become increasingly of the opinion that today's political campaigns are almost like (well, maybe they are) encouraging cult-like followings based on personality and charisma. It goes for all sides of the political spectrum. If a person is a "believer" then it doesn't matter what the issues are, what problems there might be on the side that is believed; he or she accepts that their side is "right" and the other side is "wrong" regardless of any evidence. It's a religion. It really is. It's blind faith in a political religion. It closely resembles a cult -- and I think it is a cult. The leaders are cult leaders and the "believers" are cult followers. Would it be too far a stretch to say that observations seem to show that the most "religious" in the regular sense might also have the tendency to become the most "religious" in a political cult? (I say this because I observe similar attitudes on both sides of the spectrum: the religious right as well as the religious left.)

Sometimes I wonder if politics isn't the new American religion... It is in which many seem to seek their purpose, meaning, and identity. If politics is the source of meaning, purpose, and identity for a person, it's quite obvious that anything contrary to their political worldview would be threatening and they would vehemently fight against it. I really do think this is at least partly to contribute for the extreme polarization that we are seeing today. I don't think this is a good thing.

Christians ought to be the ones who are the most detached from making politics a source of life purpose, meaning, and identity. Christians ought to remember that Jesus taught that His kingdom is not of this world. Christians ought to be the most charitable and gracious when dealing with those that hold differing views. Christians ought to be the ones who do their best to not offend those that don't see things their way. Christians ought to participate in politics primarily as a means of distributing love and mercy. Christians ought to oppose any political methods that are deceptive, manipulative, and coercive. Christians ought to be the most suspicious of any worldly system, method, or ideology.

Christians ought to review the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7) during this heated political season.