--- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> They don't handle snakes and speak in tongues at the megachurches,
> do
> they? Aren't we talking about two different social sets and
> religious
> practices?
No, they don't, and yes, we are talking about two different social sets - that's my point. The "white trash" snake handlers talking in tongues are not the ones fueling the Rapture myth as we are talking about in this context. Does it come up? Yes. But not that often. I've been to those churches, the tent meetings, the baptism in the river meetings. "Rapture" and apocalypse is not the center of their life, and they haven't turned it into a politicized form of near mass hysteria that can be marketed on TV as a cross between church and Meet the Press (a la Robertson). Many of the mega churches do, though, and they fuel it.
And hey, ChuckO, regarding Methodists being liberal, it depends on the individual denomination and geography. For example, the California UMCs have a very liberal faction, but as the last few UMC General Assemblies have shown, the denomination has had to face rumors and threats of breaking off into two separate denominations over such issues as the acceptance of gay ministers and gay marriage - serious threats. Some say it may still happen.
We can't generalize the Protestant denominations. The fact is, there are wide variations in each denomination vis a vis individual congregations or locations. To say all Episcopalians or Presbyterians are moderate, liberal or just boring isn't going to work anymore, as the "evangelical" movement has marketed itself as something for almost everyone, hence the rise of these "jus' christian" congregations that Kelly describes.
- Deborah