What’s happening in the United States? The country is supplying F-16 aircrafts to Pakistan and F-18s to India, while trying to spread democracy in the Middle East by passing legislation in the Washington-branded in Iraq National Assembly. Probably these are the topics that are of interest to the Pakistanis and other non-Americans. The changes that are taking place within the United States, however, have far more serious implications than the F-16s and F-18s sold to Pakistan and India. In fact, these changes could be even far more serious than a nuclear attack.

This was the topic of New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s column on March 29. Although Krugman was not writing anything that had not been mentioned in the past, his focusing on these changes was still significant. He points to the growing awareness in the United States that American society is moving fast toward religious extremism. If Krugman’s and my prediction turns out to be true, the day is not far off when independent and open minded politicians will have to worry about their lives the same way that Florida judge George Greer did, after delivering a verdict against the demands of religious extremists in the Terry Schiavo case.

While blowing the Schiavo case out of proportion, Congressman Tom Delay (R-TX) said that God sent us Terry Schiavo so that we may see for ourselves what is going on in the United States. The religious extremists wanted to use this case as a pretext to introduce theocracy in the United States; the country’s judiciary, however, have blocked these efforts for the time being.

American politicians have gone too far in appeasing religious extremists. According to a report in the Miami Herald, in his zeal to appease the religious right, Florida Governor Jeb Bush (the president’s brother) sent the security agents to the hospital with the order to bring Terry Schiavo to the governor’s house. Commenting on this report, Krugman writes that in the future fear of religious extremists will grow while the writ of law will fade away.

To emphasize this trend, Krugman points to a recent survey by the National Science Teachers Association that indicates that 31 percent of the teachers are forced to present creation-related material and to pharmacists who are refusing birth control pills to a large number of women due to fear of religious extremists; the pharmacists say that they are acting in accordance with their religious beliefs. The day when they refuse other medicine to women may not be far off. Already several states have legislation that allows a doctor to refuse treatment to patients.

Krugman blames liberal politicians of being silent spectators in the present situation. The United States has not reached the point where politicians are assassinated like in Israel. However, that day may not be far off either. Like in the United States, religious extremists were tolerated in Israel because no one was expecting that the things would reach that far. Krugman did not mention the Muslim or Hindu extremists who are trying to build an extremist society both inside and outside the parliament.

Those living outside the United States may not notice the rising tide of religious extremism here, but America’s contradictions in its pledges and actions must be visible to them. On one hand, the Washington Post splashes a big headline that the United States has imprisoned a German citizen without any charges at the Guantanamo Bay, while on the other, the State Department accuses Pakistan and China of human rights violations.

Was it coincidence or machination that this news was published at the time of the release of the State Department report that quotes secret documents that indicate that a U.S. military panel had cleared the German national of any wrongdoing? By the way, this innocent man is still in detention on the lame excuse of suspicion. It is astonishing to note that while the stories of gross human rights violations of the United States are published every now and then, the U.S. government and the American people still believe that America has the best human rights record.