A hundred years after 'Elmer Gantry' ...

Nearly a century ago Central Minnesota native Sinclair "Red" Lewis was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Lewis won for the body of his work at the time, including Main Street, Babbitt and Elmer Gantry.

Elmer Gantry, published in 1927, was a satirical send-up of traveling evangelical recruitment shows. Based on the real-life antics of Aimee Semple McPherson, Sharon Falconer and Gantry ran a tent show revival that bilked the gullible.

The con included a show that featured entertainment for all ages specifically designed to work the audience into a fever pitch, get them to "give their lives to Jesus," and, oh, by the way, here comes the collection plate.

In 1969 Neil Diamond set the concept to music in Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show: "Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and everyone goes."

Apparently these tactics are still effective, as an evangelical recruitment festival was held last weekend at Whitney Park in St. Cloud.

Billed as Celebrate Minnesota, with no mention of religion in most of the publicity, this party had something for everyone: live music, kids fest, action sports, car show, food trucks, community resources.

A quick check of the website of the organization that actually runs these festivals, Mike Silva International, shows just how devious they are in covering the fact that these are, in fact evangelical revival and recruitment events.

It was Bend, Oregon last month, St. Cloud this month, and next month they'll be in Cusco, Peru.

Why St. Cloud? Further digging on their blog shows we were "chosen" because there are so many "unreached" people in the area. Specifically listed were our Somali population and International Students at SCSU. They were targeted so Silva's people could "hand-deliver" their message as we are such a "spiritually needy place."

How is this financed? Look at their festival page (CelebrateMN.org) and you'll see that many local corporations and businesses gave them large amounts of money and they also received sponsorship from a long list of local churches, specifically the ones that, for the most part, repress women, marginalize our LGBT population, and deny basic scientific principles.

A hundred years later and the con still works.

Deceptive publicity, misogyny, homophobia, scientific illiteracy and disrespect for the faiths of others is nothing to celebrate.

Times Writers Group member Karen Cyson is a child-care provider in Stearns County and the coordinator for Central Minnesota Mensa. Her column is published the third Sunday of the month.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: It appears 'Elmer Gantry' tactics are still effective