[Whit Blauvelt]

Many nutritious foods require careful preparation to remove toxins from them prior to safe consumption. Even so, the same food which can provide health to the good person, also can grant strength to the bad. Philosophy is food. Religion is also a feast.

A plant which is a boon in one ecosystem is a dangerous invader in another. The Puritan Christianity of New England, where I live, has matured into the Unitarianism and Congregationalism of today — both comprised largely of sane, loving, liberal congregations with nuanced views of the world. Meanwhile elsewhere in American the White Christians are an active fascist threat, out to replace democracy with theocratic feudalism. The difference there is that the latter group comprises literalist believers in LH rules to apply to all decisions in life.

A core population of our would-be theocrats is Scots-Irish, originally from the Scottish lowlands and northern England, by way of Ulster. They’ve become White Baptists here. (I’ve lived among them in the North Carolina mountains, and they’re quite friendly if you’re White and hold back your opinions.) At the same time, the Black Baptist congregations are a bulwark against fascism in America. It’s not the faith and doctrine, as such, which is good or evil. It’s how it’s applied.