Reply #16: It's a fact vs. belief problem not easily untangled.

[sofa king]

We have the exact same problem in our politics, which is that most people are not rational enough to make an informed decision. Instead, they rely upon authorities to tell them what to think, make judgments for or against the person presenting the facts rather than the information and arguments offered, and generally make a mess of things because they're so easily deceived.

They're constantly deceived, in fact, because their perception of the world is based upon a completly defective method of understanding it.

So with that in mind, the answer seems to lie in finding a way to punish right-wing leaders who refuse to tell their flocks what's really going on. It should be pointed out that the leaders are largely suckers, too. They can be deceived, ripped off, discredited, and relegated to church basements on Friday nights with relative ease compared to, say, a clever and greedy sociopath of the Cheney/Rove cut.