one point of view in the Marie Claire article. Any good journalist includes opinions/facts supporting the angle, as well as

I hope he doesn't get re-elected, but he probably will since everyone knows we are just a bunch of uneducated Bible thumpers down here. Hell, look how many times Edwards got re-elected in Louisiana.

I also hope we someday get to the point where slamming "the South" is as unacceptable among educated people as slamming West Virginia.

Until that is true on this blog, I'm signing off. Judging by the comments up to now, I'm sure I won't be missed.

Carry on.

As a former political consultant who worked a number of years in the Deep South, this episode doesn't surprise me in any respect except for its northerly latitude.

It's not merely the impertinent question from the believer to the supposed heathen. (As a Reform Jew, I'm a highly atractive heathen for such conversations, and would not have handled an on-camera request so deftly.) It's also not even the fact that this guy so baldly changed the subject without even acknowledging the legitimacy of the reporter's question.

The real question--how this dipstick expects to get re-elected after being caught on the local Fox affiliate for brazenly evading the question about what seems a clear atrocity against the dignity of local taxpayers, not to mention invoking the Man from the Galilee to justify his total recalcitrance.

With cable tv ads cheap and YouTube free, I'm sure Ortwerth's next opponent will be letting the voters of St. Charles County what a total schmuck this guy is simply by replaying this over and over and over. Halleluyah.

Sorry, should have said you and whoever. Or you and nobody at all in case you're atheist.

Actually, "I figure that's your business" would have sufficed.

This is why some folks are embarrassed to call themselves Christian. So many so-called Christians have given it a bad name. By today's definition ("everyone is going to hell except me and others like me"), I'm pretty sure Jesus would not be considered a Christian.

Did not mean to sound like one of those folks. Sorry if I did...

By the way, I'm a baptized Christian but I will never ask you whether you've accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. I figure that's between you and Jesus.

What if I'm Hindu?

oops, meant to say "former governer..." in that last post. I doubt if Mike Beebe makes a habit of questioning reporters about their religious beliefs.

I was brought up in the south -- Missouri, Louisiana, Texas and now Arkansas. I'm in Little Rock, which is not as "backwater" as the rest of the state.

And while I acknowledge that some of the negative generalizations about the south are true, I'd like to offer a few about my yankee brothers and sisters. (My dad was from Maine, and I love my yankee relatives. They are proof that generalizations don't always hold water.)

I went to a workshop in Kennebunkport a few years ago, and could not believe how rudely I was treated by many of the participants. No, I have not slept with Bill Clinton, and you are SOOOOO orginal and hilarious for asking me for the umpteenth time today. Yes, I decided to bathe and wear shoes today. I did it just for you. Yes, I say y'all, and I really don't give a shit whether you like it or not. I realize I have an accent. So do you. But my southern mama raised me not to snicker when someone else was talking. She called it "acting ugly."

And the food sucks up north. The lobster was good, but after eating some bad clams, I could not stand the way the town smelled. I have never been so glad to step off of an airplane as I was when I got home. First stop, the nearest food dive for some good old hashbrowns, grits, cheese and eggs, and raisin toast.

All in all, I have never encountered so many self-aggrandizing, self-important, prejudiced snobs in my entire life as I have up north. It's a good thing most of us southerners know how to be gracious when others are not -- and laugh at ourselves. Maybe our northern brothers and sisters should do a little more of that.

There were some friendly folks. Most of them were selling souvenirs. And the local bar had a different price list for folks with a local driving license. Nice hospitality. I've never heard of such a thing, and we get our share of tourists in Arkansas, believe me.

I've noticed when y'all retire up north, lots of you head this direction, for some reason. And you're welcome! Just leave your superior attitude at the Mason Dixon line.

By the way, I'm a baptized Christian but I will never ask you whether you've accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. I figure that's between you and Jesus. I'm sure our current governer and presidential also-ran has asked a reporter that question, so I don't doubt the stories y'all are telling. Just suggest you take a cold hard look in the mirror before you decide we're all subhuman down here.

Hoo boy! One of my very favorite tales of working back in the day as a reporter for the Wichita Eagle Beacon (I believe it's just the Eagle these days) was the frequency with which I was asked if I knew Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. This was always during interviews for stories and I was NOT the religon reporter. My response was, "I was raised Methodist." That usually stopped that strand of conversation, but sometimes not. Very awkward--and I was never sure if my answer, wimpy as it was, would result in being refused the interview. (It never did.)
Kansas is the furthest south I have ever lived, and I have to say as a reporter in New York, Ohio, Seattle, and Minneapolis, I was never once asked during an interview anything regarding my religious preferences or about my "relationship" with Jesus. Maybe it's simply more prevalent in Southern states?

great post. it made me think of something that happened to me today. I was within earshot of my manager and another manager who were speaking about a box of chocolates I had brought in from Hawaii.
I hear some muffled comments about me, my trip and how I had it good apparently and then clearly heard, "sheltered" come out of the other manager. I thought he'd redeem himself by speaking to me about it when he passed me by after his visit with my manager...nope.
I was beyond offended that someone who knew very little about me and has never really interacted with me can make such assumptions and declarations.

LOVE your blog. About today's post: be careful where you say penis...even more careful where you say vagina. Crazy world.

Unfreaking believable. This guy should run for President. He's already very good at evading direct questions.

You're all wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. When I was 16 and got caught in an awkward, less-than-fully-dressed state with my 15-year-old girlfriend, her father whipped out his bible and read it to me. That was in New Jersey. So much for your North vs. South stereotype.

Will

So, like, if I repeat the statement, "Did you know that Jesus loves you?" I can run for a political seat South Carolina? *blink,blink,blink*

That was the saddest interview with a government official I've seen .. in the last day or two. *grins*

Thanks for the laugh. I'm almost certain I'm a girl genius after watching that! lol

I live in Mississippi right now, and the religious zealotry is near about unbelievable. I do think, unfortunately, that this is a Southern thing. Not all southerners, of course, but it's just an accepted part of the culture here. I can't wait to escape, personally.

I feel I need to apologize to all my former neighbors in South Carolina for implying that my beloved former home was a "backwater."

I attached that adjective to the small town in which I worked, not to the state as a whole (though you folks did elect Strom Thurmond to the U.S. Senate for a gazillion years. What was up with that? If any human being could embody the sense of the word "backwater", it was certainly 'ol Strom. )

Mike,

My post attempted to put the Jesus question in the context of my own experience as a reporter in South Carolina.

In the late 1970's, it was indeed normal (and even expected) to be questioned about whether you had been saved or not. In all my years working in Chicago, I have never heard the question asked.

I do concede your point about the traps of generalizing on this topic though.

Steve Jones is right in his comments. This is more a rural vs. urban thing than a North vs. South thing. Yes, religious zealots are probably more common here in the South (I live in poor ol' backwards South Carolina - egads) but like racists, grits, NASCAR, and other stereotypically Southern things they are everywhere. I don't think anyone considers St. Louis a bastion of the South.

First, Mike Buckely makes some great points. Very agreeable.

Mostly, I'm not sure the effort by the county official had ANYTHING to do with religious views or geographical differences. He was stuck with a camera in his face and he had diddly squat for an answer. He was simply trying to throw the reporter off base by going irrverent.

Frankly, by throwing Jesus Christ into a conversation like that -- that had nothing to do with God or being saved -- is on the verge of, dare I say, sinning. He tried to use God as a shield. That's wrong in any region.
--Mike

LMAO! I thought the way the reporter responded to the Government Bible-thumper was just brill. But it made me kinda nostalgic for S.C., my own dear backwater home state. Living here in Atlanta for the last couple of decades, I simply haven't been asked in ages if I know Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, as I'm dying to answer someone like that with: "No, but I think I friended Him on Facebook."

Come to think about it, I've never heard some deadly dull suit ever use the word "penis" 'round these parts. Now that would perk me right up!

Love this blog, BTW. I immediately subscribed. And stole this gem of a video too for mine, Mostly Media.

I think most of the differences today are not between the North and the South but between people who grew up or live in rural areas vs. urban areas.

Mark,

I think you're making an unfair generalization. One or two nut jobs do not a region make. I've lived in St. Louis my entire life and I can count on one hand the number of times I've run into characters like Ortworth.

The reporter, Eliot Davis, makes a living uncovering government waste and dishonesty. The segment is called "You Paid for It." He's been threatened, both verbally and physically, and even arrested by various local governments and always handles himself very professionally. The fact that he remained cool the face of Ortworth's ridiculous responses to his questions doesn't mean that he gets "the Jesus question" on a regular basis. It means that (1) he's professional and (2) after you've looked down the barrel of a gun a few times, "Have you been saved?" isn't much of a challenge.

With all due respect, your comments might lead me to the conclusion that everyone from Chicago is judgmental and regionally prejudiced. I promise you, for every Joe Ortworth you can find in St. Louis, I can find someone just like him in Chicago.

While there are definitely regional differences throughout the United States, and even within a single metropolitan area, (Cubs fans/Sox fans), we shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions.

The fact that the word "penis" is acceptable for a business talk in Chicago (are you sure about that?) and not in Atlanta may imply a regional difference or it may not.

Your observation is right on. I'm a Southerner living in the North and I definitely notice the difference.

This *is* kind of normal in Missouri. I worked there for almost a decade in politics and PR. I was in a minor car accident just south of St. Louis (Jefferson County) and one of the first questions I got from someone I knew in the area was "If you had died in that car accident, would you have been saved?" I was too shaken to point out the irony in that statement.

I also was called a Papist--and this was in the mid-90's! 10 minutes outside of St. Louis, and it's like a whole other country...

Jen