(单词翻译:单击)
I knew which pastors were feuding; whose congregations were mired in scandal; which church softball teams had a deacon playing shortstop, and which ones stacked their lineups with non-tithing ringers.
我知道哪些牧师不和；哪些会众深陷丑闻；哪个教堂垒球队有执事做游击手 ；哪些球队的阵容中有没有交什一税(宗教捐税)的替补。
But FloodGate? I had never heard of FloodGate. And neither had most of the people sitting around me, until recently.
但是洪水门教堂呢？我从来没有听到洪水门教堂的消息。坐在我周围的大多数人也是如此，直到最近。
For a decade, Bolin preached to a crowd of about 100 on a typical Sunday.
十年来，博林在周日像平常一样向大约100人进行布道。
Then came Easter 2020, when Bolin announced that he would hold indoor worship services in defiance of Michigan’s emergency shutdown orders.
然后到了2020年复活节，博林宣布他将不顾密歇根州的紧急关闭命令举行室内礼拜活动。
As word got around the conservative suburbs of Detroit, Bolin became a minor celebrity.
随着消息传遍底特律保守的郊区，博林成了一个小名人。
Local politicians and activists borrowed his pulpit to promote right-wing interests.
当地政客和活动家借用他的讲坛来促进右翼阵营利益。
FloodGate’s attendance soared as members of other congregations defected to the small roadside church.
随着其他会众叛逃到这座路边的小教堂，洪水门教堂的出席人数飙升。
By Easter 2021, FloodGate was hosting 1,500 people every weekend.
到2021年复活节，洪水门教堂每个周末都会接待1500人。
On this particular fall Sunday, Bolin riffs on everything from California forcing vaccines on schoolchildren to the IRS proposing more oversight of personal banking accounts.
在这个特别的秋季星期天，博林反复宣讲了从加州强制小学生接种疫苗到美国国税局提议对个人银行账户进行更多监管的各种事情。
He promotes a new book that tells of “how the left has done a power grab to systematically dismantle religion and banish God from the lips, minds, and hearts of believers,” prompting the couple in front of me to make a one-click Amazon purchase.
他推出了一本新书，讲述了“左翼阵营如何通过攫取权力，系统地瓦解宗教，将上帝从信徒的嘴唇、头脑和心灵中驱逐出去”，促使我面前的这对夫妇在亚马逊上一键购买这本书。
He suggests there is mounting evidence of a stolen election, concluding, “With the information that’s coming out in Arizona and Georgia and other places, I think it’s time for there to be a full audit of all 50 states to find out the level of cheating and the level of manipulation that actually took place.”
他表示，有越来越多的证据表明选举中存在舞弊行为，并得出结论，“随着亚利桑那州、佐治亚州和其他地方不断传出的信息，我认为现在是时候对所有50个州进行全面审计，以查明舞弊的程度和实际发生的操纵程度。”
The people around me cheer.
我周围的人都在欢呼。
At one point, Bolin looks up from his notes.
有一次，博林从笔记中抬起头来。
“We had a visitor this morning who said, ‘You know, it’s really refreshing to hear a pastor talk about issues like this.’”
“今天早上有一位来访者说，‘你知道，听到牧师谈论这样的问题真的很令人耳目一新。’”
Basking in the ovation he’s just invited, Bolin adds: “I’m okay talking about these things.”
沉浸在刚刚被邀请的掌声中，博林补充道：“我不介意谈论这些事情。”
He asks if he can keep going. The crowd answers with more applause.
他问他是否可以继续下去。观众报以更多的掌声。
Listening to Bolin that morning, I kept thinking about another pastor nearby, one who approached his job very differently: Ken Brown.
那天早上听了博林的演讲，我一直在想附近的另一位牧师，他的工作方式截然不同：他是肯·布朗。
Brown leads his own ministry, Community Bible Church, in the Detroit suburb of Trenton.
布朗在底特律郊区的特伦顿领导着他自己的教会——社区圣经教会。
I got to know him during the 2020 presidential campaign, when I was writing dispatches from around the country and asking readers about the stories and trends they thought weren’t receiving enough attention.
我是在2020年总统竞选期间认识他的，当时我正在撰写来自全国各地的报道，向读者询问他们认为没有得到足够关注的故事和趋势。
Brown wrote to me explaining the combustible dynamics within the evangelical Church and describing his own efforts—as the conservative pastor of a conservative congregation—to keep his members from being radicalized by the lies of right-wing politicians and media figures.
布朗写信给我，解释福音派教会内部的火药味，描述了他自己的努力--作为一个保守派会众的保守派牧师--防止他的会众被右翼政客和媒体人物的谎言激化。
