Pastor Jack Hilligoss never thought of himself as a political kind of guy.
He was happy leading HighPoint Church in sleepy Lake Wales, a 20-square-mile patch of sunshine in the geographic center of the Florida peninsula. Dotted with old orange groves, it’s home to about 16,000 residents and exudes small-town values centered on faith, family, and freedom.
But a few years ago, agitators from outside the community began showing up at public meetings and events. They used words like “justice” and “equity” and sowed confusion, contentiousness, and division among neighbors, Hilligoss said. He first challenged the rants of Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ activists from the pulpit in his church….