Last week, like most other weeks, Tulsa blogger Michael Bates was writing about some local political intrigue. Without getting too bogged down in the provincial details, here’s the set-up:

There is a proposal to gerrymander Tulsa’s city council districts. This proposal is backed by Tulsa’s daily newspaper, and by a lot of money. It is opposed by four of Tulsa’s nine city councillors — and by Michael Bates.

What made last week so noteworthy was that in the course of praising the four stalwart anti-gerrymandering councillors, Bates thought it germane to mention that the four are “are all men of devout Christian faith.”

Since this particular Bates line was published not just on Bates Line, but also in Urban Tulsa Weekly, it touched off a chorus of tongue-clicking from local sensitivity vigilantes. The word “bigot” was aired, and so was “divisive,” and so was “perverted,” as in the slogan, “When religion is injected into politics or politics are injected into religion, both are irrecoverably perverted.” Tsk, tsk.
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