by Chris_F » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:10 am
Bible Belt Christianity is the predominant form of religous fundamentalism in the US (though the Salt Lake City Mormons would probably be competitive). It's got all the hall-marks of religous fundamentalism we find in other countries: terrorism, political control to the point that religous persecution is effectively legal, etc.
Luckily the geographic scope of their control is rather limited. It's typically only found in rural areas, and usually the political/legal power doesn't extend much beyond a group of towns (it doesn't go to the state level).
I don't know about the specifics of the story you mentioned but my assumption is the children were allowed to not pray in school. But the mom probably received her fair share of visits from the local police department: super-strict law enforcement, periodic searches of her property, frequent arest then release without being charged, all the stuff that's not supposed to happen in the US.
I've visited that area of the country. You do NOT want people to find out that you aren't Christian. If they think you are Christian they're instantly your best friend and will take a bullet for you. Once you're branded a non-Christian you're assumed to be a theif or murderer. I'd assume it's similar in some areas of the middle east.
Wow, I'm WAY off topic.
