marichiko

I can't quite figure out Coyne's math, but whatever. According to what he says, one third of those who voted for Bush did so because of the "moral values" thing. Without the evangelical vote, Bush would not have won. I don't see how anyone can dispute this. Coyne treating one third of Bush's supporters as if they were merely some splinter group that is sheltered under the vast conservative umbrella is ludicrous, especially when the president shares the same values as that group.

Perhaps it is easy for people who live in the sophisticated metro areas in the eastern part of the US to write off the evangelicals as a minor voice - I don't know. I live too close for comfort to one of the country's religous right strongholds - Colorado Springs- home of Focus on the Family, etc., etc. The intolerance and prejudice evangelicals display toward members of different faiths is astonishing.

Some examples: I am friends with a man who runs a little Tibetan import shop in Colorado Springs. He carries a large stock of Buddhist related items. The last time I dropped over to see him, he related a story to me of how a woman had come into his shop in a rage and told him that his people and his religion did not belong in the US and that he should go to hell back home.

I took the daughter of a male friend of mine with me when I went to visit another shop in Colorado Springs. This one carried New Age books and items. When the girl's evangelical Christian mother found out about this, she went into hysterics and told her daughter that if she ever went to that place again, the girl was going straight to hell.

I was sitting in a coffee shop in Colorado Springs and fell into a conversation with a stranger who was sitting at the table next to mine. I mentioned the name of the town where I live, locally known as a Pagan hangout; and the man turned hostile at once. "I wouldn't keep staying up there if I were you," he said. "God is going to take care of all the witches up there, and the streets will run with blood!" I got up and walked away.

These are not isolated incidents. I could write down many, many more. Do not underestimate the religous right. They certainly are not cutting any slack to anyone else.