> Part of what is driving the sales of "God is Not Great" falls under
> the concept of know thine enemy. Conservative-minded customers have
> been snapping up the book because they want to be familiar with its
> message, says Vivien Jennings, owner of Rainy Day Books in Fairway,
> Kan. "There is a very strong presence of the religious right, and
> they want to know what's being said and figure out how to move
> against it."
Jennings has a point, but even Kansas City has a strong and growing atheist movement. Our local independent radio station, KKFI, has the atheist talk show on Wednesday night. I see lots of Darwin fish ornaments on cars around town, although Jesus fish are much more prominent.
> "I'm weary of people cramming religion at me," agrees Duane Kelly, a
> self-described liberal and retired teacher who lives in Independence,
> Mo. He says he is reading the book and finds it interesting. "Maybe
> others feel the same way, and the success of this book is a
> backlash," he says.
Independence, Mo is the poor, white suburb directly east of Kansas City. Lots of Baptists church there, plus they have the Giant Mormon Jesus Slide.
I guess we'll see how selling atheist books goes over on our street of storefront churches. The infoshop doesn't have a big atheism selection yet, but I'm waiting to hear the reaction from the folks who opened "Thank You Jesus Ministries" across the street.
Chuck