The Boston Globe Needs To Get Out More

James Taranto notes an article in the Boston Globe (which was also addressed on Hugh's show yesterday) about those exotic creatures known as 'Christians':

These Exotic 'Christian' Creatures
It's like something out of the Onion: "For Family, Religion Shapes Politics" reads the headline of an article by Boston Globe reporter Brian MacQuarrie. The scare quotes in the subheadline are a lovely touch: "Heartlanders convert others to live daily by 'the word of God.' "

Here's how the piece begins:

Michael and MarCee Wilkerson bow their heads and pray before every meal, even when they are surrounded by strangers at Skyline Chili. Their older daughter, Brittany, 13, listens to Christian-accented rap, hip-hop, and R&B. And Brooke, 9, is fond of wearing a T-shirt that proclaims, ''Jesus is my Homeboy."

A middle-class family in a Cincinnati suburb, the Wilkersons are evangelical Christians for whom a literal interpretation of the Bible is a blueprint for living. Religious beliefs also guide their politics in this staunchly Republican region, which helped President Bush carry Ohio and the national election.

To them, the president is ''a godly man" and Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts is not. . . .

The Wilkersons oppose abortion and stem-cell research, consider homosexuality a sin, and regard same-sex marriage as the work of activist judges who cater to a dangerous fringe group. The future holds either heaven or hell, and the only way to paradise is to accept Jesus Christ. In their reading of Scripture, even a saintly non-Christian such as Gandhi has been doomed to eternal torment.

''This is the word of God," Michael Wilkerson says, brandishing the New International Version of the Bible. ''There's only one way, and it's through Jesus."

The article continues in this vein for more than 2,600 words. There's nothing hostile or even disrespectful about it, but MacQuarrie comes across as if he were a visitor from another planet marveling at Earth's exotic culture. It never seems to occur to him that the Wilkersons are nothing more than a normal American family.

Can you say "Out of touch with America"? I knew you could.