I was born in Houston, Texas during WW II and grew up in Whizbang, Oklahoma in the 50s. Neither budr or myself are exactly typical Okies. But we are far from the only ones of similar persuasions to come out of that fair state. I returned to the Ozarks of my grandparents upon my retirement. I find enough people here of persuasions similar to mine to feel at home. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
What I recall from the 50s was traveling at night by car and listening to Billie James Hargis on the radio railing on about GODLESS COMMUNISM and the need for a Christian Crusade Against Godless Communism. I found him annoying at age 16, even though we listened mostly to laugh.
By the time I got to OSU and was taking Russian language and Russian History the official atheism was the thing I liked best about the Soviet Union and would gladly have seen some of these fundamentalist clowns thrown down the well head first. At least I wouldn't have had to listen to them rant any more. Each semester we were asked to fill in a religious preference. By my final year I was listing "League of the Militant Godless," Trotsky's old organization.
I enjoy your posts, even if we seem to mis-communicate in the comments. Please bear with me. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
