James, excuse my uncharitable skepticism, but why do you take for granted that the Sojourners columnist’s anecdote is true? Liberals lie about such things habitually and routinely. The anecdote that they claim is seared in their memory (which also conveniently vindicates their liberal politics) is almost always a laughable exaggeration, if not an outright fiction. Remember Bill Clinton and the non-existent Arkansas church arsons of his youth?
