Fundamentalist madness continues

East Waynesville Baptist Church, in North Carolina, has excommunicated all its Democratic members. Here we see proof, once more, that the "born again" contingent -- for all their talk of love -- seethes with primieval hatreds, fear and resentments.

The wonderful Georgia10 of Daily Kos has initiated a discussion of this outrage. (By the way, if you scroll down on that page, you will discover that a participant has posted a remarkable series of church-issued propaganda advertisements which combine a call to Christ with military imagery -- i.e., soldiers holding guns. To sell Jesus these days, you need an ammo clip.)

People for the American Way has responded the East Waynesville insanity thus:

What have we come to when the doors of a church are closed to longtime members because of their political beliefs? When a pastor equates political support for the 'wrong' candidate with a sin before God?

I would say to Senator Frist and Karl Rove that this is what comes of attempts to manipulate religion for political gain. Americans simply will not accept the claim that ‘unless you accept my political beliefs, you cannot be a good Christian.

Coming on the heel of the Denver scandal -- in which the Air Force Academy has been found discriminating against non-fundamentalists -- this moral atrocity demonstrates the true nature of the peril facing democracy. I've said it before, and I'll repeat it here: Fundamentalists love to believe that they are the victims, when in fact they are the victimizers.

Is there a precedent for such behavior? I recall that, when Joseph Smith harbored presidential ambitions, the Mormons voted en masse for the Democrats. Even so, I don't believe that any leader of the church explicitly called for the excommunication of members who voted for the Whigs. Even the Mormons of the 1840s showed greater discretion, and less fanaticism, than has been displayed by certain modern Baptists.