There was a time when the Democratic Party held sway across the whole Southern Bible Belt, but the party is now seen as dangerously liberal and permissive by people like the LaBarrs. The are Republican stalwarts and also active in the national pressure group, the Christian Coalition.

Their strict moral agenda is based on literal interpretation of the bible. They are anti-abortion, against sex before marriage. They are in favour of greater local control, and lower taxes.

The idea of extending marriage licences to gay couples is particularly repugnant to them.

Gay men do not live for a long time. They have a lot of disease... It's a moral issue, but also a health issue, says Jim, unconcerned that in the secular world, his views reek of homophobia.

Fortunately there are voices of dissent in the fundie wilderness.

But not every evangelical in Georgia is rooting for the Bush-Cheney ticket. Many Baptist churches remain in the Democratic fold, especially within the African-American community.

The Baptist church in America has a long tradition of separation between church and state, and the promotion of religious liberty says David Sapp, the head pastor at the Second Ponce de Leon Baptist ministry in Atlanta...

...He is convinced that the Christian Coalition is compromising the word of the gospel, in campaigning on behalf of Republican candidates.

You look at the leaflets they have sometimes put on cars in our parking lot during services, about peoples' positions on issues. When the churches become a partisan voting bloc, we compromise our freedom, he says.

You wind up accepting an influence on the church, that I don't think is healthy, he adds.

Christian foot soldiers battle for Bush - BBC, 30th January, 2004.