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<DIV>The "Bible Belt" is commonly associated with the American South, since that is where many of the fundamentalist Christian groups had their base of power in the late 1800s and early 1900s. But other parts of the country, like the rural section of Oregon where Barks grew up, have been lumped into the mixture at times.</DIV>
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<DIV>Also note that one of the most famous and politically influential fundamentalist Christians in America was William Jennings Bryan, he of the three failed Presidential campaigns and the disastrous "expert witness" turn in the "Scopes monkey trial" of 1925. He was a "fire-breathing" traditionalist in religion who ALSO happened to be a strong progressive. So the "fundamentalist" = "conservative" equation has never been quite as balanced as Europeans and some Americans might think. </DIV>
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<DIV>Chris Barat</DIV>
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