The Baptism

John Walton made an important comment at the end of this episode: he did not see what being screamed at and dunked in water was going to do for him...Without accepting Jesus as your personal savior, it does not good!!! Since they are Baptist, I can say these things...I've been baptist my whole life, and I'll assure you that we do not believe being "dunked" in water sends you to Heaven. We also believe that being a good person will not get you into Heaven. Based on the Bible, we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." I did NOT like this reverend's method of saving souls. He screamed at people and pointed people out. I believe Mary Ellen's salvation experience may have been real, but Ben did it out of pure guilt and then just to please his mother. John may very well be a Christian. He believed in God and admitted to worshiping Him in his own way. He was a God-fearing man and raised his family as such...Olivia makes me so MAD at times insisting her family get baptized so she knows their souls are saved.

Like John said, it's just being dunked into water...Baptism is meant as a public confession of your faith...nothing more!

I'm not a Baptist or a Pentecostal so I haven't ever been to the Revival type meetings portrayed in the show, let alone in the era depicted in the show. But I have been to some Catholic charismatic prayer meetings. I do understand how people can be inspired and have a religious experience, even if I didn't experience that particular type of religious experience (too introverted or something I guess). I doubt the director or actor had any religious leanings at all, so the preacher just comes across as a screaming maniac. I understand Olivia's feelings. My mother must have felt the same way, seeing most of her children become agnostics.

As a traditional Christian I can't relate to a revival meeting. Still, this movie raises some good points about what's important. Really this episode fits in with the 70s, when religion was being dismissed. It's good to have the family discuss their beliefs. These discussions are needed today. The back story about the peacock ties in well. The acting is good. The performance by the actor playing the Reverend is memorable. The scene in the tavern lends some comic relief. It's a reminder when Reverend Fordwick came to the mountain he was fire and brimstone, too. Grandma provides good commentary. And Corabeth comes across well for a change.

Olivia behaved terribly in this one. I am happy for people who have religion. I can see that they find comfort in their faith. However it is just that, their faith. Their belief. Their religion. Personally I believe cramming religion down someone else's throat is a sin. It is not welcomed. In fact, the harder you push the more likely you are to turn that person farther away. The bible thumping preacher proved that. I most certainly would have walked away from such a man screaming in my face.

Each person's relationship in whatever power they choose to believe in is a personal one. Something that has to come from within. It cannot be forced or nagged into their soul. It's private. An individual matter which should be respected.

Overall, I thought the series as a whole was one of the best on at the time. And most of the episodes still hold up pretty well decades over.

That is why I'm going to cut this one some slack, believing the parts were better than the whole. The religious Liv, worried about the spiritual state of her family, was convincing. John's insistence on individual decision made a nice counterpoint. Even Jim-Bob and the peacock made for a nice side story.

About all one say about the evangelist is that the writer was trying to capture the temper of the times. The US was going through a revival movement throughout the 20s and the 30s. It's when AA was formed and attributed alcoholism to moral defects which only a god could remedy. Some believed the Great Depression was Divine punishment, and the characterization of the traveling preacher, although over the top, did reflect those of the times. Watch early films of Oral Roberts, who was later, and you'll see that same attempt at "charisma".