The harbingers are abundant and clear. Conservative Christians have repeatedly attempted to prevent the teaching of evolution in the public schools, while it never occurs to the scientist to forbid the teaching of creationism in the churches. Finally, the Lord's wrath, we are told, will be loosed upon our country if we do not restore prayer in the public schools, thus requiring, once again, that some children hear or even utter prayers to a Deity that they and their parents do not recognize. After all, the other fellow is a human being like ourselves, and equal before the law, and who's to say, he may just know something that we don't. A belief that the Lord God favors our religious community above all others, can lead to some truly bizarre, and, I suggest, morally outrageous, beliefs and behavior.
Examples are abundant in history, literature, and even the current news reports.
However, for my sole example, I prefer to state a case from my own experience. One day, when I was in my early teens, a very intelligent, well-educated corporate attorney, a man of absolute and uncompromising faith, told us of the time that he was scheduled to present a report to his company. Desperate, he fell to his knees and prayed the Lord God to help him. He reported that a great peace fell over him, and that he was led to understand that if he retired immediately, he would awake refreshed in the morning with the energy and presence of mind to complete the assignment. Everyone in the congregation was duly impressed and their faith validated by this story.