There is an American expression for something that is utterly obvious but not, for some reason, noticed. “Hiding in plain sight“, the Americans call it, and the expression came to my mind as I sat in Kansas City airport waiting for an ice storm to pass…
Creationists, for instance, keep up a constant low-level guerrilla war in this state and, if that is insufficiently odd for you, try going to Topeka to see the Reverend Fred Phelps and his flock at the Westboro Baptist Church…
The “burning at the stake” wing of America’s Christian churches – the wing that stresses vengeance over love – is in trouble. The gentle, Nativity-scene crowd are the ones on the up…
Opinion polls suggest that younger evangelical Christians are falling out of love with the “big causes” their churches have championed in recent years, in particular with opposing abortion and supporting the Iraq war.
I have come to town to speak to these people about whether they still support the Republican Party but that is a minor issue, it seems to me, compared with the much bigger question of how they still support God.
Hidden in plain sight this Christmas, is the softening of evangelical America.
Interesting article and more detail inside – obviously written for non-Americans. There are a lot of positives that may be just “hiding in plain sight”.
We need a logic and science based world view. Something that contains the ideas of René Descartes, Frances Bacon and Ben Klassen.
I always thought the phrase “tolerance” was ironic. Their is an assumption that we are resistant to “tolerate”. What exactly, a picture does it say a thousand words?
‘softening of evangelical America’?
Thx anyway, but I’ll see it when I believe it.
I learned long ago that society is nothing more than a pendulum. The problem with the press is that it only points out where a trend is swinging, completely ignoring the fact that it’ll eventually swing back.
I, for one, welcome the moderating attitudes in the new generation of Christian overlords.
I am a Kansan. There is a new “brand image” campaign in Kansas, and we tax payers dumped a few million on a marketing firm to come up with the slogan “Kansas – as big as you think.”
One of the popular bumper stickers in Lawrence (home of the Jayhawks) is “Kansas – as bigoted as you think.” I am hopeful that will change. It is possible.
with all the corruption and Pedophiles, and the Major Church covering for those IN’ the church..you need to understand. It wasnt ALL in the Major churches. There were a few in the lower churches and people are PISSED.
You put your faith in the Church, AS IF, you are putting your life in the hands of God, then you find that one of Gods fingers SMELLS, abit interesting.
But, i dont forget the Human condition, and put NOTHING in front of HOW humans ARE.
Between this, that, and the CHURCH becoming a Political BEING. And not attending to the crop of souls they are responsible for.. THINGS are getting abit STUPID.
This article would be okay except someone should inform him and his editor that the Kansas City ariport isn’t even in Kansas….It is in Missouri.
Some 35 years ago when I moved to New England from a southern state the natives let me know how racist and bigoted the south was compared to “them”.
South Boston was a prime, but not nearly the only example of open, tolerated bigotry in the north that I used to remind those ‘holier than thou’ critics of my home state.
Are Kansas people bigoted? I’ll bet not a bit more than those in New Hampshire or Vermont.
Use of the Bible to justify extreme beliefs is not restricted to Kansas, or Oklahoma, or Mississippi or ????
Lighten up! We are all more alike than different.
Culinary is not a term we use for food here. There is bbq and side dishes. My favorite bumper sticker I’ve seen in Kansas is the fish with legs. That has got to send the average 710 am listener into memetic-dump.
Another VERY misleading headline from lazy editors of DU!!!
Headline should have read “We can only hope so.” the single “?” contradicted by the end line just doesn’t reflect the idiocy of the referenced article.
Lets start with the telling post #7. Just too perfect. Some guy flies into town, sees ONE AND ONLY ONE pastor who lost his post because he was the most extreme of the most extreme, and now he gets published to inform us that there is a change in Kansas?
Please! Why is huckleberry on the advance in Iowa? ((and just as revelatory, why is he declining nationally?))
You can’t build a faith on love, fear and hatred are more readily available motivators.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Kansas churches and have found them to be fairly backwards thinking (i.e. conservative Republican.)
This doesn’t make them horrible people — even the very conservative ones are often more generous and giving to poor minorities, specifically, than you probably are.
In my opinion, they are victims of right wing media. You can drive all over that part of America and get nothing but one right-wing ranter after the next.
It’s no wonder they have such a narrow, naive world view. Many — believe it or not — actually believe Bush is doing ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC in the “war on terror.”
But this is what all their media is telling them — with no opposing views, whatsoever.
These churches have to do something quickly, their government grants are running out now that the Democrats control congress.
Ed….this was from one of the Time’s of London’s America columnists. I don’t remember if it was Baker or the other guy. You must have missed it, it was about 2 or 3 month’s ago.
#7….it’s unlikely that a British columnist would know that. Hell, I’ll bet there are Kansan’s who don’t….. 🙂
#12..GregAllen….guess what? There are also **conservative Democrat’s**…they are from the mid-west, or south, or northeast, hispanic, and older black’s. Take your broadswipe brush elsewhere.
#13…Milo….really??? hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Lack of leadership.
This is an opportunity for a new religious leader to emerge to seize the wandering minds of the Kansas market. The threat is very ominous for middle America. There must be SOMETHING evil out there to throw the bible at.
Blacks? Communists? Gays? Abortion? Sex? …. need something better. Arabs? tough call. Illegal Aliens? Interesting. Canadians? Do we dare? Venezuela? Oprah? Rap music? Sagger pants?
#14, Guess what!!! There are also asswipe trolls from Arizona. That doesn’t mean every troll from Arizona is an asswipe or every asswipe is a troll, but, …