Indeed, although the Baptist churches I grew up in in the late sixties and seventies viewed those sorts of things as at least embarrassing, and often as shameful.

That doesn't mean the Baptist adults I worshiped with as a child were not racists. Many of them were quite unapologetic racists.

Nevertheless, and even if it was hypocritical of them, they usually distanced themselves (quite strongly) from the kind of crude public behavior I wrote about in this story.

My observation is not meant to pardon Baptist their racism or their historical involvement with the KKK, but to observe that recent Baptist (and other conservative Christian) hatred of queer people is leading to activity that not only goes against Christian teachings about love and kindness, but that represents a generational shift in ... well, overt public nastiness.

Baptists swearing and using grade-school slurs like "fuck" and "faggot" in public and without apology?

This is new, at least for my lifetime, and I'm 60 years old.