This church is doomed, along with every other one like it in the western world. The attraction of these churches for women is that it offers a respite and an answer to all the choice and freedom they now have. Freedom and choice are exhausting and everyone wants a rest from them occasionally. However, a rest isn't for a lifetime. At some point these women are going to wake up and realise that housewifery is not as fun and radical and fulfilling as they thought - no matter how much 'community' they get in return. At that point, unlike women in other generations or other cultures who don't have this option, they'll look around and realise that in order to win back their autonomy all they have to do is ... leave the church. It won't be easy or painless, but it's possible, and they'll do it. If they don't, their daughters will, and a fair number of their sons also.

I'm old enough to remember hippy Jesus freaks (late 60s), surfer Jesus freaks (early 70s), metal Jesus freaks (late 70s), and the group that outlasted them all, greed Jesus freaks (late 80s), still going strong, aka "prosperity Christianity".

So now we've got grunge Jesus freaks. As always, between 5-10 years behind the subculture that they're stealing their riffs from.

Forgive me if I therefore don't agree with the author's characterisation of "fierce new face of evangelism".

I'd go with "Costumed Christianity: same as it ever was".

Although I'm sure her title will sell more books.

There is nothing new under the sun, and this group certainly sounded familiar. When I read that Judy Abolafya was given a book by her pastor about how to be a subservient wife written by "Wilson", my mouth fell open. After doing an internet search, I found that sure enough the book was written by Moscow, Idaho's own Nancy Wilson, wife of Doug Wilson, a self-made pastor who claims to already be chosen for heaven. Their "hip" Seattle church is modeled after Christ Church here in town, with Mr. Dietz's own personal touches. Mr. Wilson leads a group of people who need to follow, and is uncanny in his ability to make money, milking his members for money by tithing and making "Christian" products for them to buy.

It is nothing but a cult. These young people may feel now like they are in a "family", but I have seen the bitterness of the disillusioned members of Christ Church. It's impossible to grow and mature this way. I hope they don't waste too many years of their lives.

This stuff makes me cringe, because I am a Christian. But just like a little girl can play with a different kind of Barbie depending on her mood, I worship a different kind of Jesus. I like to call him the Social Justice Jesus--the one who said to take care of my brother, to help the poor, the oppressed, the lonely, and to do so in His name. I don't recall Jesus ever saying I needed to breed, keep my mouth shut, stay in the kitchen and dumb myself down. Specific women played very important roles in Jesus' life, a fact the evangies routinely refuse to acknowledge.

When I first read the line "The evangelical culture is rooted in place, and it's expanding every day to swallow a generation whole," I thought, great, an intolerant "liberal" view, and what's wrong with a growing Christian movement?

Then I read on. Of course, there is nothing wrong with a growing Christian movement. But the intolerance, basic lack of knowledge relating to how the various books of the Bible was written (as any Jew or Catholic with a religious education could tell you, which pretty much destroys the fundamentalist argument) and the debasemet of women is revolting.

And this was really unbelievable: "We have a really nice rapport. But we believe different things. And let's face it, because of that, you're never going to feel like family to me. So, what I'm saying is, this is as far as it goes." This is as un-Christian as a message gets. Ever hear of the Good Samaritan, Dietz? I don't even mean in terms of helping someone out. I mean that Samaritans were the most despised people of Jesus's time, and by painting the character as the kindest and most worth emulating, a message was being conveyed about how we are all brothers and sisters, whether we worship the same or not, and love should extend beyond the boundaries of any group-think mentality.

Awful to see the idea of Christian community used as a weapon against outsiders. Yes, I know hypocrisy isn't news, but familiarity has not made my heart grow fonder. I would place no trust in the people running this movement.

When I moved to Ballard two years ago, I was struck by the large number of churches here. There are at least 6 (inclucing one Buddhist temple) within a four block radius of my house. Sandler's observation that Ballard is a place where there are ten drive-through coffee stands for every church strains poetic license to the breaking point. In fact, I'd guess that the reverse is closer to the truth.

A niggling point perhaps, but coming at the beginning of the article it made me suspicious of the author's other "facts" and assertions.

And did Sandler really feel the slightest bit disappointed or offended at being excluded from knuckle-dragger Dietz's circle of sexist friends? She should have been rejoicing!

As for me, now that I know what's happening down the road, I think I'll hang out in front of Mars Hills Church next Sunday with a placard reading "When the Rapture Comes, Can I have Your Stuff?"

I know that Seattle equals espresso in many minds, but drive thru espresso stands certainly don't outnumber churches in Ballard 10:1. If anything, it's closer to the other way around. Historically, Ballard has had approximately equal numbers of bars and churches. (17 at one count) Depending on your limits for exactly what is Ballard, there are maybe two or three drive thru espresso places. Drive thrus tend to be a lot more common in suburbs and other places where there are more parking lots and fewer small businesses.

It's inaccuracies on the stuff that I know that make me wonder what fact checking was done on the parts that I don't have first hand knowlege of.