« WLOS », an ABC affiliate in western North Carolina, is reporting interesting news:

‘Religion and Politics Clash: Religion and politics clash over a local church’s declaration that Democrats are not welcome. East Waynesville Baptist asked nine members to leave. Now 40 more have left the church in protest. Former members say Pastor Chan Chandler gave them the ultimatum, saying if they didn’t support George Bush, they should resign or repent. The minister declined an interview with News 13. But he did say “the actions were not politically motivated.” There are questions about whether the bi-laws were followed when the members were thrown out. (posted at 7:30am, 5/6/05)’

Unconfirmed, unsubstantiated talk on the ‘net is that WLOS produced a report in which ‘several elderly church members’ were interviewed and that they ‘all confirmed that the preacher has been after them to support Bush since October and that if they voted for John Kerry they supported abortion and gay marriage.’

We’ll see if this one gets better sourced later today.