Does this mean I'm a big-league blogger now? Baptist Bushiites story spreading fast

It's been awhile since I lived there but some of the contacts I made and cultivated in the curious lil' burg of Asheville paid off bigtime last night. Got to share the thing about East Waynesville Baptist Church and how its pastor excommunicated nine people because they were Democrats, and SEVERAL hours before most newswires picked it up. Granted, WLOS, the ABC affiliate in Asheville was the outlet that first broke the story, but looks like at least mine was one of the first blogs to pass it along.

So it's out there now, the Asheville Citizen-Times just posted a story about the situation and a little while ago WorldNetDaily made it the top story. Meanwhile I'm hearing that this Chan Chandler guy is nowhere in sight but is sending statements defendings his actions as justifiable according to the Bible. Ummmmm ooh-kaaaay...

If no one minds my saying so, that part of the state is... well, strange anyway when it come to spiritual issues. I was a reporter there when the local churches had the big "We Still Pray" rally in 2000 and then a few weeks later at the same high school football stadium when area witches and warlocks held their own "We Still Work Magic" gathering. The Asheville area is one-third New Age mecca and one-third ardent Christian fundamentalist, with the last third being anyone and everyone in between. Can be a helluva fun place to spent a year or so of your life when you're young and adventurous and want to see a lot of nutty stuff happening. Makes me wish I was back there now while this is happening :-)