I don't remember the Lutheran Church of my youth wanting to insert itself into the political life of everyone else. My parents talked about politics and religion, but they didn't mix them up. I left home when I was 17 and moved to a small town. That's where I was first exposed to churches where preachers were totally obsessed with the sinning of everyone else around them. They viewed the world about them as Sodom and Gomorrah, while they themselves and their flock were an elite minority that remained pure of heart.
Of course they weren't elite, or even a minority, because every other fucking church in town thought they were the only ones that remained pure of heart while the rest of the world was falling into decay. Being saved, and saving others was the main order of business. Satan was suddenly lurking behind every bush, whispering into people's ears and encouraging them sin. He seemed to be quite influential, too, as there were lots of church men and women sneaking off to have sex with the husbands and wives of others. They would stand up and publicly confess their infidelities in church, sometimes naming names and destroying the marriages of their other partners, while they themselves gained entrance into the kingdom of God.
This was a small town, and everyone knew what everyone else was doing. It lent an air of chaos to the place. It was the first time I saw full blown gossip sessions, where women would confidentially expose the sinful behaviors of others, while the group would exclaim, "Oh my," or "Dear Me," with that breathless tone that denotes shock, horror, and delight at the same time. These were the Bible fundies from one of the twenty or thirty whacked out churches that provided the town's guidance and salvation. It was nuts.
