WHEN BAPTISTS GO MAD: "support George Bush" or be drummed out of church

Please bear in mind that my wife and I attend an independent Baptist church and we really enjoy the fellowship there. It's like the old saying here in North Carolina: "put two Baptists into an argument and you'll hear three different opinions". They come in all flavors, not all of 'em like the nutcases behind this lil' item...

Heard from a contact in Asheville a little while ago: a church in Waynesville (about 20 miles or so west of Asheville) has excommunicated nine members for - get this - being members of the Democratic party! I'm scanning the websites for the Citizen-Times newspaper and WLOS to get more word on this but apparently this ain't a joke by any stretch. But from what I understand, the pastor of East Waynesville Baptist Church let the nine go because they supported John Kerry or the Democratic party somehow. One former member described on tonight's WLOS broadcast how he and others were told that "if we didn't support George Bush that we needed to resign our position and get out of the church, or go to the altar and repent and agree to vote for George Bush." His exact words, my source noted.

Geez, I don't know where to start on this one folks. This preacher sounds like a neo-pharisee or something.

No, it's worse than that. It's a church telling its members to believe that a mere earthly man is divinely anointed over them. The last time I recall churches doing that, it was shortly before the Russian tanks entered Berlin.

"Repent and agree to vote for George Bush"?! Can't get much more Nazi than that, boyz and goilz.