I was writing an essay about how fundamentalist Christians seem to exist more in the suburbs and remembered an article about Ted Haggard and his church from pre-scandal days. It’s from Harper’s Magazine, and I thought it was a fascinating read.
Originally from May, 2005:
Soldiers of Christ – Inside America’s most powerful megachurch with Pastor Ted Haggard
hello! just stopping by…you are a nerd.
xoxo! JJO
Yes, this is enough to scare me away from Colorado Springs for good!
Your essay topic is interesting and reminds me of the Big Decision these days of where to live. As wandering academics, we have some time to be thoughtful about this decision.
I have also heard that more fundamentalists live in the suburbs. *And* that residents of suburbs are more community-oriented/civic-minded. That’s appealing. Of course, there’s also the trend that the well-educated “Liberals” – as we are so branded – are clustered in dense urban areas. Like-minded folks are nice. But cities are historically less community minded (according to Bowling Alone), so where does this leave us? We shall see!
Btw, Christy’s picture of you reminds me of a Van Gogh self-portrait!
Rampant accusations of nerdship and here, on my very own blog! Who would ever have imagined?
Jennifer, aren’t questions about moving and community fascinating? It’s all somewhat complicated, and not terribly easy to research before doing (save in fairly broad strokes). I’m glad you’re enjoying Christy’s painting, it’s fun to watch it come together. The “real thing” is about two weeks ahead of the latest posting, and it’s remarkably far along. I’ll be curious how many sessions until she calls it done.