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Show Tt: Daily Utah Chronicle. Openings 1977 He paused tocatxh his breath. Wiping his forehead with a green bandana, he continued his political let lure: "I used to be a Republican, but now I ain't neither. Don't have much for either party, to tell you the truth. "All they wanna do is legislate away what they don't like. "The conservative Republicans wanna legislate n morals stuff like and And the liberal Democrats ain't much better. They y'know. wanna legislate away everybody's problems by givin "em more welfare money. "I ain't got much use for any of "em. "Y'know what I fancy myself as now? Huh? A Libertarian. What that means is I believe every body should do what they want as long as they don't get in nobody else's anti-abortio- way. Page Three toured the Midvest. traveling from town to tov.ii attempting to save the souls of each succeeding grutijuiun with their hardline sermons of htlifne and damnation. This summer w as no different. The day I w as in I lannibal. Pieac bin Jimmy Johnson's revival tent stood on the outskirts of town. Near the main entrance a large, gaudy billboard, decorated w ith numerous yellow, glow ing crucifixes proclaimed: NUMBER TONIGHT! God's Own Warrior PREACHIN JIMM JOHNSON This evening's lot tic: "Jesus Lives in America!" After seeing the sign, I knew I had to go hear the sermon, if for no other reason than the possibility of Jesus' address. tent A crowd of nearly 2 000 packed the sawdust-floorestarted a services As with the that evening. gosjrl quartet belling out a bouncy little number called "Victory in Jesus," the assembled throng immediately carnealive, many raising their arms high overhead and clapping along. Shortly thereafter the crowd's mood shifted from mere jubilation to what could only be described as mass hysteria when "God's Own Warrior" himself, "Preachin Jimmy Johnson bounded onstage and immediately got down to g gt-ttin- "And that's the way the government should be. And the only thing that's got me encouraged that government might be that way someday is this Gaiter fella. "He seems to think the way I do 'bout government, y'know. like he doesn't trust it. He's always talkin' "bout eliminating all the needless bureaucrat ies, all the dead weight in government. 'That's a good idea, if he'll just do it. Y'know, I think Carter might turn out to be a pretty good President. Maybe our first 'Libertarian' Piesident." )' SPORTS d V IN J FOR VERY GOOD REASONS SERVICE o SELECTIONS o ALL FAMOUS BRANDS r0 CV. iPLTit-t'UvSC 250 South State, Salt Late I 62nd So. ft Highland Dr.. Salt 1290 So. State, Onjm Lib 23nJ ft Washington Blvd., Ooden 1 c C I le paused to chut kle at his joke. Then, w ith the same sly twinkle that undoubtedly lit his boyish eyes w hen the smell cornbread filled the old farmhouse. Jack of fresh-bake- d added: "Any way, Carter's a farmer, ain't he? So he's gotta Ik all right." Hannibal, Mo. common trait of the Midwest is an aversion to change. Hannibal, Mo. not only shares that general trait but also has an additional vested interest in avoiding progress its economy is based on stagnation. The biggest industry in Hannibal is tourism. Kadi year they Mock by the thousands to this unlikely Mississippi River town north of St. Louis. And what they come to sec is the past. Soil of. Actually what they come to see is the past as it was romantic ied by the talented pen of Matk Twain. So, obviously, it is in the town's best inteiests to preserve the fantasy land aura of Twain's hvgone era. I hey do a pretty good job of it. Twain's hovhood home is preserved and the sites of several of his hfe-ot- i novels' better known stenes aie also recreated. Rut the facade of the past goes deeper than the obvious tourist traps. One remnant of Twain's era whit h I lannibal, like most other small towns in the Midwest, tenaciously lings to is an almost fanatical devotion to Bible Brit religious dot irincs. Tor more than a century, fundamentalist preathcrs have A U f' of U, TV business: c "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. What I'm about to tell you may le the most important thing you've ever heard in your life. " I he devil is here w ith us tonight. He's sitting right there with you. No. don't look at your neighl)or. Tin talking about you. Kath and every one of you. " The devil is in you all. ..fighting for your souls 21 hours a say. ..tempting you. ..teasing you..." day was The I "Preachin' in (ZD Hoy you running "REDSKINS You want a deal on tome dark Hannibal, Ji.Timy room stuff Johnson's" revival tent stood DISCOUNTS TO STUDENTS on the outskirts of town "But you'll never find happiness w ith Satan, no sir. ..Say 'no' to the devil... shut him out.. Open vour mouth and say on Ik long to the Lord Jesus ( luisi. I he audten e erupted with shouts of "Piaise the Lord" and " Thank sou, Jesus." A middle-agewoman sitting a lew scats from me, her bodv quivcrring and te.irs streaming down her t hecks, sat transfixed, repeating loudly over and over again, "Oh, Ian see God. I tan see dod." Behind the pulpit. Jimmy's sermon intensified: "Your job is to maintain your position of holiness. ..Don't let the devil knock vou down. ..The devil is continued on page 4 d 1 Cv -- iO 3 BESELER NIKOR TS&ffl DURST MINOLTA OMEGA E.K.CO. 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