March 10, 2000

The Importance of Accuracy in Attacks on the Literal Point of View

To the Editor:

Reading Vincent Crapanzano's essay reminded me, believe it or not, of reading Pat Robertson ("Literalism in America," Opinion, February 11). In the course of writing a book on Robertson's political organization, the Christian Coalition of America, I had the truly onerous task of reading all of his books. ...

For all their differences, Robertson and Crapanzano adopt a common strategy: Identify a "them," an oppositional other, in whom a