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Paranoia and Common Sense in the Evangelical Ozarks

John Schmalzbauer

Posted: 10.05.2009 / 3:21 PM PDT

Paranoia and common sense were present in equal measure last week in the Missouri Ozarks.

On the one hand, public discourse reached a new low with the showing of a “birther” infomercial on Springfield’s KSPR TV.  Alleging that Barack Obama is not a natural born citizen, the commercial asserted that his presidency is illegal.  Produced by the evangelical group LivePrayer.com, it took an internet conspiracy theory to the airwaves of the Ozarks’ largest television market.  Among the other videos available on the LivePrayer.com website are such titles as “God’s Enemy” (which accuses Obama of being a false Christian) and “False Hope” (which compares Obama to Hitler).  Mixing apocalyptic speculation with political fearmongering, they exemplify the continuing presence of the “paranoid style” in evangelical politics. 

Such conspiratorial thinking is not necessarily new.  In Ozark Superstitions (first published in 1947), folklorist Vance Randolph chronicled the apocalyptic reactions of area residents to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.  During the 1930s, some Pentecostal preachers denounced “the ‘Blue Eagle’ of the NRA [the National Recovery Administration], claiming that it was the evil sign described in the Apocalypse.” According to Randolph, such paranoia even made the popular press, with the Joplin (Missouri) Globe “estimating that ‘between 20 and 25 percent of the population of the foothill region,’ identified the NRA symbol with the seven-headed beast of doom mentioned by St. John.”

Sixty years later, LivePrayer.com founder Bill Keller believes that the Obama campaign logo is the fulfillment of a Muslim prophecy that predicts a sun rising from the West.  Others on the right have likened the federal stimulus symbol to the iconography of Hitler’s fascism.  Comparing the Obama administration’s healthcare logo with the “Nazi Propaganda Machine,” one Ozarks blogger called it “the stamp of a soft tyrant,” echoing National Review editor Jonah Goldberg’s arguments about “liberal fascism.” For what it is worth, Goldberg included the NRA Eagle in his genealogy of left-wing fascism.

Compared to such rhetoric, Representative Joe Wilson’s visit to Springfield, Missouri was a relatively civil moment in the annals of Ozarks politics.  According to the Kansas City Star, Wilson admitted that his “You lie!” outburst was a breach of political etiquette, noting that he “was brought up civil.” Though the event’s webpage quoted patriot Samuel Adams’ words about “an irate, tireless, minority,” the Conservatives in Action Dinner was fairly sedate.

Among the Ozark Republicans present at Wilson’s speech was congressional candidate Billy Long.  Famous for his talent as an local auctioneer and former radio man, Long is running a populist campaign to “send a citizen to Washington.” If elected, he promises to “fight Nancy Pelosi and her left-wing followers to lower taxes and slash wasteful spending, ensure we have a strong military, and to promote our values.”

Several years ago, I was a guest on Billy Long’s morning radio program on KWTO (Keep Watching the Ozarks).  In a discussion of Ozarks religious life, I mentioned the multi-generational Bilyeu family.  Favorites on the local music scene, the Bilyeus are the family behind the gospel-tinged vocals of Big Smith.  No stranger to local surnames, Long noted that if it’s a Bilyeu, it’s got to be Christian County.

This past week, a member of that venerable clan wrote a column that Long ought to read.  In “Horrors of Hitler not found on left, right,” Big Smith front man Mark Bilyeu condemned the growing number of Hitler-Obama comparisons in the Springfield News-Leader.  Noting that his “answer to the question, ‘Who are more like the Nazis, the right or the left?’ would be, “Which is more like a giraffe, an apple or an orange?” Bilyeu wrote that President Obama “is not a socialist, a fascist, a tyrant, a radical, an extremist and certainly not anything like a Nazi.” Urging Ozarkers to ignore the  rhetoric of “right wing radio,” he encouraged them to “do what our Founding Fathers did to build this great nation - seek consensus.”

The Bilyeus have been in the Ozarks since the 1830s, giving them considerable street credibility in this corner of the Patchwork Nation.  Voted best band in the region by the readers of 417 Magazine, Big Smith is a staple of contemporary Ozarks culture.  The Reverend Hosea Bilyeu (uncle to the band), is the pastor of Springfield’s Ridgecrest Baptist Church and a respected religious leader.  Often accompanied by fist pumping fans, Big Smith’s ”Trash” (”Don’t call me trash, ’till you’ve slept in my trailer”) is an anthem of Ozarks pride.  If anyone can command an audience in the Ozarks, it is the Bilyeus.

And yet it remains to be seen whether Ozarkers will heed Mark Bilyeu’s for civility in the public square.  Only time will tell whether paranoia or common sense will prevail in the Evangelical Ozarks.