  This was too funny not to share,  from P. J.  O'Rourke,  in Atlantic Monthly,  on primary fever in New Hampshire:
 Although John Edwards was held in high esteem,  only the most ardent admirers of his " Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"  favored him at the polls.  Of course,  Jonathan Edwards was a famous American preacher in the 18th century and is still studied today in American Literature classes around the country.
 He was probably most famous for his sermons on the wrath and judgment of God,  the most famous of these being "  urlLink Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God "  A highlight from that work:  Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead,  and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell;
 and if God should let you go,  you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf,  and your healthy constitution,  and your own care and prudence,  and best contrivance,  and all your righteousness,
 would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell,  than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock.  Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God,  the earth would not bear you one moment;  for you are a burden to it;  the creation groans with you;
 the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption,  not willingly;  the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan;  the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts;  nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon;  the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals,
 while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies.  He's really a very wonderful writer,  and even if you aren't religious or are and don't subscribe to his particular brand of religion,  his sermons are worth reading for the language and imagery of them.  I really like the passage above.  Not all of his sermons are hellfire and brimstone,
 however.  There's this for example,  from "  urlLink A Divine and Supernatural Light "  This spiritual and divine light does not consist in any impression made upon the imagination.  It is no impression upon the mind,
 as though one saw anything with the bodily eyes.  It is no imagination or idea of an outward light or glory,  or any beauty of form or countenance,  or a visible luster or brightness of any object.  The imagination may be strongly impressed with such things,  but this is not spiritual light.
 Indeed when the mind has a lively discovery of spiritual things,  and is greatly affected by the power of divine light,  it may,  and probably very commonly does,  much affect the imagination,  so that impressions of an outward beauty or brightness may accompany those spiritual discoveries.
 But spiritual light is not that impression upon the imagination,  but an exceeding different thing.  Natural men may have lively impressions on their imaginations,  and we cannot determine but the devil,  who transforms himself into an angel of light,  may cause imaginations of an outward beauty,
 or visible glory,  and of sounds and speeches,  and other such things.  But these are things of a vastly inferior nature to spiritual light.  I know what you're thinking:  all of this just because I read some thing in a magazine and thought it was funny.
 It IS funny,  because O'Rourke's piece ( sorry -  I looked on urlLink Atlantic Online and it wasn't there yet)  is all about how he didn't run into any real enthusiasts in New Hampshire for any candidate except for Dean.  It is also funny because it is not surprising that a bunch of New Englanders would think of Jonathan Edwards when hearing about some random Southern Senator named John Edwards.
 There are too many people running around ( past and present)  with variations on this name:  the preacher,  the Senator,  that psychic guy John Edward.
 Go here for urlLink more sermons and info about Jonathan Edwards .
