On Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:04:27 -0500, Gene
wrote:

On Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:04:56 -0500, John H
wrote:

So all those children to which you refer aren't from 'around here',
i.e. around you.

How literally do you want to take this? The folks in my immediate
neighborhood (houses I could see from my roof) go to that church.
Three miles to the east of me is a Primitive Baptist Church, three
miles to the west is some sort of "independent" Pentecostal church.
Those kids won't be doing Christmas.

Let me give you the numbers. This county covers 366 sq. miles, 6 miles
of that is water, so we have a total of 360 sq. miles of land that is
"potentially" habitable, though much of that is forested or farmed
land. There are at least 162 recorded congregations (the "independents
probably won't be counted). So, every church gets their 2.6 sq. miles
of followers. Obviously, that isn't terribly accurate, because the big
churches get more land.... leaving the small churches even smaller
patches of land to draw from. Small numbers make for isolationism and
that makes for some pretty weird, uh, "interpretations" of
scripture...

Do you maybe begin to see why this is called the Bible belt? Maybe
this place isn't like DC? I spent a LOT of time in Lanham and,
frankly, I didn't see this stuff, either. Maybe you've never BEEN
there? Ever been to a church where music was considered the devil's
work? Even been to a church where they don't pass a collection plate,
but palm the "tithe" to the pastor on the way out? Have you ever even
*heard* of shaped notes, or know why they are necessary? Ever been
*expected* to call the folks in your church "brother" or "sister"?
Have you ever been told that a member of the congregation is to be
shunned until the Pastor says otherwise?

Maybe you think these are things that happened "a long long time ago
in a galaxy far far away." Nope, seen all of these things with my own
eyes. Different, now? Nope... I've got similar horror stories for when
my son was in a Baptist School...... I know you would like things to
fit neatly into that tidy box.... fact is, they don't.

Very nicely explained. My answer to most of your questions, above, is
'no'. And, although it would be great if everything, including Iran's
nuclear ambitions and the belief the country will go bankrupt
'without' government health care, fit in a nice little box, I
understand that it doesn't.

I've been associated with only a few individuals from the 'radical'
Christian organizations. I've seen no reason to get as familiar with
them as you are. When the hard-core Bible thumpers come banging at my
door and persistently refuse to get the message, I ask them two
questions: Do they believe, literally, in Noahs Ark? When they answer
in the affirmative, I ask them who cleaned up all the crap in the
bottom. That works.
--

John H