I asked one of my southern redneck aquaintences if there was any truth to this. He said "baaaaaaaah".
How many red-barn districts do they have in Georgia?
... and why do they call it Bible-thumping?
Bible thumpers got that name because of a penchant on the part of revivalist preachers for carrying a large, soft-leather bound bible, which they would flail around, shake in the air, and pound on the podium. If you had ever seen the "televangelist" Jimmy Swaggart in his dance routine on stage, you'd know immediately what the phrase means.
Ah. Similar to Khrushchev and his shoe?
Yeah, not far off . . . ol' Jimmy Swaggart would literally do a dance across the stage (might still do it, for ought that i know), waving his bible around (it would flop from side to side, being large and bound in soft leather), pounding on the bible, pounding the bible on the lectern (which he never put to its intended use). The term bible thumper is really quite descriptive.
