Bible Belt USA?

We are in liberal, pinko California but at times this week, I thought we were in the Bible Belt. Twice in one day we heard conversations about scripture. In once case someone quoted from Matthew 16 as if he were reporting current affairs. Another person talked matter-of-factly about being visited by Jesus and his friends nodded as if he had talked about doing the shopping. As we drove through the state, radio stations came and went but wherever we were, there was always a selection of religious inspiration channels.

A couple of days ago we were in a second hand bookstore – a messy, smelly, ramshackle place on Turk street. The owner was perched on a stage at the front playing cheesy tunes on a synthesizer but stopped to stare at us as we entered. It’s the kind of place where homeless bums hang out to keep warm and I doubt he ever gets any real customers. A young girl came in with a song sheet and stood beside him as if auditioning. As we wandered up and down endless aisles of obscure battered medical texts, the pair played religious songs which could be heard all around the shop. Her voice was appalling and when she forgot her lines, one of the “customers” would prompt her. Several vagrants were singing along. It was a hymn that we had never heard but everyone else seemed to know. We stifled giggles as we left (getting dirty looks from the synthesizer-playing owner once again).