Carol, thanks for your post. I found all that you said very thoughtful and believable.

So let me just say that there is a lot in both Branson and Wasilla to like and admire. And for left-wing people like me, it is good to be reminded about all of those things.

But there are things I would be uncomfortable with in Brandon and Wasilla, which I might describe as an "unforgiveness" about certain things. I believe that these heartland American towns may well resemble the Pentecostalist community of my relatives, who live on an island with a population of circa 3,000. I spent all the summers of the 1960s on that island, although I have grown more and more and more apart from my relatives over the years, and I haven't visited the island for several years.

My relatives were kind, smiling, happy and generous. They loved big get-togethers, and it was easy to be included and feel welcomed at all their parties and festivities. They did a lot of laughing, joking and singing.

But there was this "unforgiveness" about them. For example, my oldest cousin became a father only seven months after getting married. When this embarrassing fact became public knowledge, my cousin was ordered to stand up in church during a packed Sunday service, confess his sin, and ask the congregation to forgive him. And if he didn't do it, he would no longer be welcome in his church. (He didn't do it, by the way, and he left the island and joined another church instead.)

Like I said, I grew up learning about this unforgiveness of the Pentecostalists. And no, they don't treat people who become fathers and mothers only seven months after their wedding like that any more. Today, it is actually possible to be a member of their church even if you are openly living with a person you aren't even married to. But there is still an "unforgiveness" about at least some of the Pentecostalists, although today it is about other things. And like I said, I haven't visited their island for several years.

But it is good for me to be reminded of the warmth, friendliness and generosity of the Pentecostalist community I spent all my childhood summers in. And it is good for me to be reminded that many of the virtues and values I learnt about on the Pentecostalist island are to be found in so many places in heartland America.

Ann