Next on “Theocons Gone Wild”….

A pastor in a Baptist church in Waynesville, North Carolina, has voted out nine members because they didn’t support President Bush and his policies.

Pastor Chan Chandler had previously given an ultimatu to his parishioners: if you support or vote for John Kerry, you must either repent or face being booted from the church. Many long-time attendees of this church have found Rev. Chandler – who has only been at the church for a few years – a bit of a negative person, a “my-way-or-the-highway” person.

Any way you look at it, the guy is a bigot and far from christian. Whatever happened to “love the sinner, hate the sin?” And where’s the sin in dissent?

Yet another reason that D.C. is as far south as I’ll ever live.

(A footnote: the head of the NC Democratic Party is looking into the prospect of revoking the East Waynesville Baptist Church’s tax-exempt status due to open political advocacy in church business. As I’m already somewhat against churches and religions having tax-exempt status – many are extremely profitable businesses – I find this aspect of the story most refreshing.)