Friday, March 02, 2012

Washington Oklahoma, a bastion of social conservatism

WASHINGTON, Okla. — Here is the only light amid the Sunday-night darkness of the plains, its yellow glow visible for a mile around. People travel here down two-lane roads, past flags that snap in the wind and a sign that reads “Only God Can Save America.” They park in front of the steeple at the corner of Center and Main. Pastor Fred Greening greets them at the door.

Theirs is a church of 400 in a town of 600, where four generations stand together to bow their heads in prayer. Cowboys wear boots and roughnecks wear flannel. A 9-year-old sets down his toy truck and clasps his hands. Together they recite pledges of allegiance to the United States, to the Bible and to the Christian flag.

“May God guide us and watch over us,” an assistant pastor says. “May He work to preserve our community and the values we hold dear.”

Oklahoma will hold its Republican primary on Super Tuesday, bringing the cultural debate over the heart of conservatism to the conservative heartland. The presidential campaign has turned into an argument about values and faith — a battle long underway on the prairie of central Oklahoma. Here, they fight to protect their town from what Pastor Greening calls the “slow and steady decay of moral America”: the erosion of traditional marriage; the methamphetamine addicts content to rely on public assistance; the political correctness creeping ever south from the college in nearby Norman, which they fear will force God out of their government offices and schools.

Now more than ever, they want a politician in that Washington who will safeguard the culture of this one.
Read the rest here.

People sometimes challenge my libertarian leanings by asking if they are consistent with Orthodox Christianity.  My answer is in the form of another question.  How many Orthodox Christians or traditionally minded Roman Catholics would be comfortable living in Washington Oklahoma?  I wouldn't.  It sounds like they are their own little country and the state religion is the Southern Baptist Convention. I enormously respect many aspects of their lives.  But it is very clear that anyone who doesn't conform to their their low church Protestant Evangelical worldview would likely not be very welcome. 

We need to remember that we (Orthodox Christians) constitute a fraction of 1% of the population of this country.  If we are going to start setting up a quasi-theocracy, I promise you it will not end with onion domes and three barred crosses over the state houses.  On the surface places like Washington OK sound like what Norman Rockwell might look like had he been reincarnated as a town.  But under the surface is the town depicted in "Inherit the Wind."

8 comments:

David Garner said...

Indeed. Well said.

John Scott said...

The people of Washington County are my people. My mother went to college at Norman. I grew up Southern Baptist, and as a teenager I wept for joy at my baptism. Every one of us is flawed, human, in need of healing and repentance, and I’m sure there’s enough hypocrisy to go around in Washington County, as there is everywhere.

In the main, however, I think you’d find that these people are not intolerant cardboard cutouts in the shape of some progressive’s nightmares, but that they go about the business of loving God and serving others in a way that is surprisingly sincere and principled. Much more sincere than the distorted portrayals of historical events and people in “Inherit the Wind”.

God has touched these folks, coming to them along the Via Dolorosa Christianity has taken to reach those rural communities in far-off America. He touched me originally from that place, and he has touched countless loving and saintly people – much more loving than I - through that same tradition.

They are not Orthodox Christians because Orthodoxy is not a reality for them. Especially now - when you are under assault from all sides, you circle the wagons. If Orthodoxy is to grow there, or anywhere in this nation, it has to enter the local scene in great humility and love. Long term. Not in the form of a well-respected Orthodox blogger tossing barbs at who he perceives these people to be – as buttressed by a Washington Post reporter.

I appreciate your respect for them, and your warning about setting up quasi-theocracies, but at the end, the taste this posting leaves in the mouth is: “Avoid this place. These people are shallow, hostile bigots”.

People from all of America’s Washington Counties have the capacity to perceive the beauty and truth of the fullness of faith. This is precisely the kind of place we should NOT avoid if the Church is to grow in any meaningful way in our nation.

David Garner said...

Mr. Scott,

For what it's worth, I didn't read John's post that way, and certainly would not have ascribed my agreement to it had I done so.

Re-reading it, I can see how it might come across that way, and I'll obviously let John speak for himself. For me, the danger in places like this is the merging of Christian doctrine with American pluralism and vice-versa. This is what stuck out to me as a particular concern:

"Together they recite pledges of allegiance to the United States, to the Bible and to the Christian flag."

I have no problem with the pledge of allegiance to the United States. I'm not sure I'd want my Church asking me to pledge such allegiance, particularly given where our government seems to be headed. I'm a proud United States citizen, but I see the separation of Church and state as vital to the preservation of both entities.

Ochlophobist said...

I think the photo is a bit off. The gun and the ammo photo'd appear to be .40. Everyone knows that God and his God&Country followers don't use anything under .45 in a handgun, unless it's a wheel gun, in which case .357 is acceptable.

Ochlophobist said...

Heck, on second look that might even be 9mm. Do they even sell 9mm guns in OK?

This photo was taken in upstate New York. I'm sure of it.

John (Ad Orientem) said...

Owen
I doubt it was upstate NY. Handguns are generally illegal there. Come to think of it, in quite a few locals Bibles and flags aint too welcome either.

Robbie Tanizawa said...

Hello, I am a freshman at the University of Oklahoma and can claim that I have been raised in Washington, Oklahoma since the 2nd grade. I must say this article is a very biased and does not do justice to the town. Much of the imagery given is true, but there are many things implied by the author of the article. The school of washington has seen a few gay, lesbian, or bi students and I know many of them personally the fact that they have been left out probably is to serve the authors intent or maybe the people whom he interviewed were hiding this or maybe did not know for the only contact with the younger population was through football games and church where such students who did not fit into the conservative ideal or were sports fans did not go. A very interesting fact I found is that the description of the Church given is that of Washington First Baptist where I attend - or try to depending on work, homework and extra curricular activities -, yet the pastor who is named is not the pastor there at all. I believe he might be the pastor of Goldsby First Baptist, but I am uncertain. This may not be a very large factor but it seems he is deliberately deceiving the reader... The other accounts other than that of Mark Tague I believe are correct, exaggerated but still for the most part true. An interesting thing is that at the coffeshop a friend of mine who is a very outspoken athiest works there. There is no mention of him and he even said he had talked to the man who wrote the artice and thought him to be a nice guy. I'm sorry if I am rambling and not stating much of a useful point, but this article only gives a portion of what all washington is. There are many people who are what you would call ignorant and closed minded, but those few shouldn't be able to so easily label the whole town as such. The statement that there are little hispanics in the town is slightly skewed because not many people actually live within the town itself. many live around, there is a nice sized population of hispanics in washington and I can sy that they are right about few blacks, one of my friends is one of the few black students enrolled at washington and I and my family were the only asian who lived in washington until a year ago another family moved in. yes Washington is a very conservative town and may have many ignorant people in it but the article does not do it any justice.

Robbie Tanizawa said...

^ sorry about my grammar it's quite pitiful...