Left Behind

I was fascinated by the part in Amy's article about how Apocalypticism in the USA grows from the outsider areas, the agrarian areas.  This is intriguing to me because it seems to echo the American idea of frontierism, of forming your own separate identity and making beliefs based off your ability to live freely.
What's really cool though is how she later discusses how these beliefs in Apocalypticism, especially in the idea of the second rapture and the years of Tribulation (I had no idea that those were kind of uniquely American) later led to backlash against the movement for becoming too separatist and too opposed to being modern.  Usually, we see the US as being incredibly innovative and up to date.  To see this movement gaining so much power and influence in the sphere of people's lives, I find it odd.  There is a lot of contradiction to my idea of the "national identity" and what it means to be an American person.  I suppose that the idea of American Evangelicalism changes over time, but I find its roots to be strange in that they emerge from such extremist ideals.  Ultimately though, I guess that's what is an American idea.  Outsider movements growing to extreme modes, and changing identities, changing ideas.