I was intrigued by the headline of an article from Monday's Washington Times: 'Burning Man' gets religion.

It starts out with a look at the feelings and experiences of a Muslim man who attends Burning Man. Interesting enough, so I kept reading.

The first page of the article is rather innocuous; it merely talks about what Burning Man is, about the mostly "spiritual but not religious" people who attend, and about how out-of-place Muslim convert Jack Fertig is there. All fair and true enough. But then, it gets to the meat of the article for me.

First, let me say a few things.

1. I have a bunch of friends who attend Burning Man. They are good people. Most are liberals; however, one of them is a rare sight at Burning Man: a Republican, bible-believing Christian person who counts himself among the ranks of the 'Burners' each year.

2. I have never been to Burning Man. I have heard many tales and hours of first-hand descriptions of what goes on there, what it's like, and much of what its community rules are. Thus, I am not totally lacking in knowledge about what it's all about and the kinds of people who, by-and-large, attend this event, though 'tis true that I myself have not attended.

3. I am fascinated by some elements of Burning Man: specifically, the art displays and the self-contained survival ethos at work therein, for the duration of the event. If I weren't married with a 22-month-old child and working 90 hours most weeks, I would have attended one by now. I would really love to see all that amazing art. The music and lights would be cool too. The drugged-up party elements, I could certainly do without, but were I a single man, I would surely put up with those to experience the good aspects.

4. I have a certain respect for some of the other characteristics of the event. For example, they try very hard to protect the environment of the playa. After the event is over, there are people who remain behind for weeks, picking up every last scrap of paper, confetti, and lint from the alkali floor. As someone who wants, generally, to see our wild spaces preserved, I appreciate their attention to cleanliness and environmental protection. Of course, overall, the environmental footprint of the event is quite heavy, in that a lot of preparation is done well in advance to allow for the self-sustaining nature of the event. Lots of carbon emissions occur and extra resources are used before the event, but at least they leave the place clean when they go. Now granted, some of the attendees probably believe that they have charted some sort of new ground in enviro-friendly living, forgetting the resource-intensive advance preparations, but we'll let that alone for now.

All of that said, there's one thing I know for sure. MOST (not all, of course, but either a majority or at least a plurality) of the attendees fall into a general category of people. By-and-large...

• they are politically left-of-center (Democrats, "progressives," socialists, Greens, neo-Marxists, ext.)

• they consider themselves to be "spiritual, but not religious" (A few will dabble in Buddhism, Wiccanism, Kabbalism or any other "alternative" religious traditions, i.e., anything that isn't mainstream Judaism or Christianity.)

• they are creators or connoisseurs of art (Some will raise questions about how wide a net one should cast when defining "art," but that is a separate matter.)

• they are mostly libertine in their views of social conduct and norms (not all, by any means, but many)

• they can afford to attend (Attending Burning Man requires supplies, equipment, and preparation. There is nothing on the playa but alkali sand and raw beauty. No water, no shelter, nothing. So, while you don't have to be a millionaire to attend, you definitely have to have some means: RVs, good camping gear, survival equipment, etc. Of course, I have heard tell of the attendees who have none of this; they survive on the charity of those who do. This category also happens, almost invariably, to be persuasively attractive young women. Ignoring the hottie moochers, the rest of the attendees have to have at least some means. Most of them, I'll warrant, aren't among America's poorest and neediest.


Put this all together, and what have you got? Excuse the following generalization, but this means that most attendees are libertine, pseudo-spiritual, artsy, lefty elitists. Anyone who has lived in a major city, attended a university, or read the editorial page of any major newspaper knows exactly the type. (And again, there are those who do not fall into this category; If that's you, then I am not talking about you.)

If there's one thing I've known about this particular category of American, it's that for all of their talk of tolerance, they are among the nation's most intolerant creatures. Among their most hated targets are Republicans, conservatives, Christians, and non-liberal Jews...and most of all, blacks who are also conservative. The venom, calumny, and even threats and occasional violence visited upon these groups by members of the lefty elite goes little-reported in the mainstream press, but is actually quite shocking, and puts the lie to their general professions of tolerance, peace, and love.

Enter the article from the Washington Times. As I was saying, the first page is innocuous enough, but then you get to the meat of it all. And, as happens to me every day, I wake up hoping for reasons to mitigate my distrust of the left, and find that distrust reinforced by noon. Read this:

In an attempt to find other Muslim "burners" to commune with, Mr. Fertig, who does traditional prayers five times a day, inside his tent or just outside, posted a notice on the Burning Man online message board earlier this year. He was surprised at the result.

"Not a single Muslim responded, but I got lots of very weird hate responses," he says. "You sort of expect that on any kind of Internet discussion, where you have less intelligent people writing bigoted stuff. But I didn't expect that from the Burning Man community."

Jess Michalik of New York, a recent graduate of Harvard's Divinity School and a devoted Christian, has created art projects for the last two years and says he does it to "show people that there is more in the world, something bigger than ourselves and our material belongings."

In 2005, part of his project involved reading some Christian Gospel.

"In general, people were very receptive and ready to experiment and experience new things," he says. "But one woman came up and said people don't want to hear about religion at Burning Man. We understand that some feel uncomfortable with that."

For that reason, Mr. Michalik avoids direct mention of Christ in many of his projects, though to him, Burning Man is definitely a religious experience.

Some of the most religious folks even take part in the crazy costumes that are a hallmark of the event. Catherine Gacad has attended the fest for the past six years and volunteered at the art planning and support center — "the ARTery" — for the last two years.

This year, she donned a cute, white bunny suit one day — but never told fellow burners that she prays nightly as a devout Catholic.

"I don't get on my knees or clasp my hands together — it's just in my head. But if I did those things, I would certainly make sure I was in my tent so no one would see me," says Miss Gacad, 32, whose parents are from the Philippines, a largely Catholic country. "There is this mind-set that Burning Man and burners are open and welcoming. That's true to a certain extent, but I find that people have to be spiritual and liberal to be accepted. I'm not spiritual, I'm just plain religious."

Miss Gacad found her first Burning Man a "life-changing experience" and looks forward to the fest each year. But she still struggles with the anti-religious sentiment she finds there.

"The other day, I was biking around and I saw someone who was hanging on a crucifix; he was being Jesus, and it was supposed to be funny," she says. "But he was saying to the crowd, 'I'll save you, but I won't save you,' and I thought, 'You know, that's not really what it's about.' But obviously, there are some stereotypes of what religion is, and everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. What can you do?"