Fourth Great Awakening? Is it Growing?

I keep thinking I must be wrong, thinking that the fourth Great Awakening is well underway, otherwise I would be reading or hearing more about it. We have tons of stories about religion and politics, but nowhere in the secular press 8m I seeing reference to the thought this might be the beginning of America's fourth Great Awakening. One cannot read a story about George W. Bush without being told he is either an "evangelical" or part of the "Religious Right", and the same goes for the can Party. In American history these periods called "Great Awakenings" are times when strong religious beliefs get nixed into politics and cause things to change ,..both in government and in the organized churches themselves. For some time now I have thought this Great Awakening was taking place down here in the heart of America, under the radar screen of our elite national media. The New York Times and network television are unaware of the 10 Commandment signs in front yards all over White County. The Washington Post, and its minion Newsweek, seem convinced strong Christian beliefs belong only to we rednecks. But the fact is stories about conservative Christianity, pro and con, keep bobbing up all over the place, and one has to wonder: at what level does this gain the title of "Great Awakening."

Not long ago, for instance, Business Week magazine's cover story was entitled "Evangelical America" and it was a several page special report with a subhead that said "Big Business. Explosive Politics." On the liberal side, the Atlanta paper had a huge story about the Rev. Jim Wallis coming to Atlanta to speak 8t Ebenezer Baptist. Wallis is the author of the book "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It". I am convinced this movement is strong in grass-roots America; and it keeps climbing higher and higher in the media. I keep wondering: several years from now will history tell us that the greatest story of out time was the fourth Great Awakening?

This is Gordon sawyer, from a window on historic Green Street.