[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by GlennD

There's lots of right-wing, conservative, Christian folks who are quite accepting of other world-views and belief systems.

Yes, there are. They are not the people who are labeled "Christian Taliban". That term (and please note that I was not the one who used it) is applied to the people who demonstrate complete intolerance of other people's beliefs: the minority (but a very vocal and politically active minority) who want to make the United States into a fundamentalist Christian theocracy.

The fact this reader/reviewer is a Christian doesn't automatically make him/her a close minded bigot.

Nope. Fortunately, nobody is saying that it does. That should save a lot of argument.

The fact that he blew up all over an author because he seems to expect that book, or maybe all books, to endorse his political/religious beliefs, on the other hand, is fairly significant.

Here's the description from Amazon:

As Hurricane Walter, the worst hurricane ever recorded (at least so far), reshapes the overdeveloped East Central Florida coast, swallows condos up whole, and ushers in a world-wide disaster-filled era spurred by global warming, Mia Gionfreddo Fine crouches in the crumbling newsroom of the (let's face it) crummy newspaper she works for, listening to the publisher sing Broadway show tunes.

Set in the near future (maybe tomorrow), NEW COASTAL TIMES is a seriocomic romp through a not-so-brave new world where religious fanatics wait for Jesus in the Okefenokee Swamp, martial law rules in the still existing cities, the government sets up free-love communes for displaced youth, and a group of intrepid travelers—including former so-so reporter Mia, her adorable dedicated doctor husband, his avuncular tenor mentor, a good-hearted baritone pimp, and the show-tune-singing publisher (an aging soprano) make their way from Florida to New York in the New Coastal TImes Performing Arts Center van. Because, when you get right down to it, there really is no place like home.

Now, when I read this, I do not see any indication that it might be a religious-themed book; in fact, the bit about religious fanatics in the swamp hints that it might be the opposite. I do, however, see -- in the part that I bolded -- a very strong indication that it's going to involve global warming and climate change.

Since it's pretty strongly indicated that this book is not part of the "Christian fiction" genre, assuming the reviewer wasn't simply too stupid to read or understand that description, he must think all books should endorse and promulgate his particular variety of Christianity. That's what makes him a appear to be a fanatic, and that's what people are reacting to.