Salvation inflation
• Hodgepodge
A look at the quirks of American Protestant pluralism:
But books, of any kind, do not play much of a role in American life. Few church-going conservative Protestants actually cite the Bible in daily conversation. "If we use the words 'redemption' or 'conversion,' they think we're talking about bonds," says Jess Moody, pastor of the First Baptist church of Van Nuys, California. ...
Those who point to the rapid growth of conservative Protestantism in the US in recent years often fail to recognise that the fastest growing part of that movement is Pentecostalism. Usually characterised by their opponents as "holy rollers" - Attorney General John Ashcroft is one - they value emotionality and spirit far more than creed and doctrine. "Some people like a high Episcopal type thing," as a pastor in one Pentecostal church puts it, "and other people like to swing from chandeliers and leap out of windows" ...
Before meeting with a prayer counsellor to talk about Jesus, they were provided not only with day care for their children, but with a free appointment in a beauty parlour. "
Alan Wolfe, Prospect: Dieting for Jesus