Fred P. is a defrocked Primative Baptist IIRC, I had some experience with them in the hills of VA.
Primatives were snake handlers, etc. Full Gospel.
I remember going to a backwoods church in VA in the late 70’s to hear Win Worley, a Baptist exorcist out of Indiana.
It was a real deal- it took several of us to hold down a 13 year-old girl who was being delivered...
Pretty wild shit. Google Win Worley.
Fred is a special case, to be sure. It’s more like an extortion ring than a church. They try to stir up trouble so they can sue. Multiple lawyers in the group. Nothing remotely like real PB folks.
BTW, I hung out with the PBs for a while. No snake handling. No exorcism. A great deal of Bible, though, and their own unique version of succession direct from the apostle Paul. And wonderful singers too. No musical instruments allowed. I don’t know who your snake handlers were, but I’d bet a fair sum they weren’t classic PBs.
He's a Kansas Democrat and Gore supporter.
Srsly: (check my tag line) How do you defrock a Baptist minister? Who has the authority?
I do think we’ve forgotten that our polity not only depends on the our being a religious and moral people but also on courtesy. “Politeness” and “civility” are both words which, at their root, suggest something about the arts of living in community.
I think boatbums is on the money. I could see, for example, Dominican friars in their habits strolling through a festival organized by Baptists, but I would deplore their taking a bullhorn and making general addresses as much as I would deplore a Muslim coming to a mint-julep party and turning the conversation to the evils of drink.