LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This is an article about the progress of the "Christian Exodus" to South Carolina.

Christian Exodus asks conservatives to relocate to S.C.

By Paul Nussbaum, Knight Ridder | July 31, 2005

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Frank and Tammy Janoski, the Pennsylvania pilgrims, have landed.

With their four children, they have settled into a little subdivision in the country, the first transplants of a movement that wants to bring legions of conservative Christians here to turn South Carolina's government into a biblically inspired oasis.

In the South Carolina of their dreams, abortion would be illegal, the Ten Commandments would be proudly displayed, public schools would be a thing of the past, taxes would be severely limited, and property rights would be paramount.

And if the federal government tried to interfere, well, they'd secede.

So far, the Christian Exodus movement has not been a mighty magnet for change. Only four other families have followed the Janoskis' lead, a far cry from the ''thousands of Christians" touted on the group's website. Even the founder of the group is still in his California home, promising to move in 2006 or 2007.

Their idea, however, is as old as America: a haven for like-minded people with a government run according to their particular religious lights.

And it touches a deep-seated tension within Christianity -- how much to withdraw from the contaminating influences of the outside world, and how much to engage the world and try to transform it.