For a textbook example of how religion can make adults behave like snotty little brats, let’s look at the case of Fort Worth’s Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. They reportedly want to evict an affiliation of local churches called the Tarrant Baptist Association from its longtime office on the seminary campus because one church in the group – namely, Broadway Baptist – has dared to accept its gay and lesbian worshipers as full members of the flock. Strictly speaking, Broadway Baptist doesn’t have a pro-gay policy, nor does it have an anti-gay one – it simply welcomes “all people” through its doors, including Team Pink.
To my ears, Southwestern Baptist is saying: “Welcoming all people may be the Christian thing to do, but it’s not the Baptist way.” That sounds pretty accurate to me. In general, Christians spend way too much time thinking about church and not nearly enough thinking about Christ.
I mean, please. Southwestern Baptist doesn’t even want to share the same campus oxygen with one group that contains one church that is on the record as accepting all people, which – damn you, definition of “all!” — happens to include gay people. If the seminary could buy a can of Gay Begone at the grocery store, you better believe they’d be fumigating the offices of Tarrant Baptist Association in an attempt to spray the gay away.
If you wonder why, by some estimates, 35 to 40 percent of today’s young Americans claim no religious affiliation, then the kind of embarrassing crap that Southwestern Baptist is pulling should provide part of your answer.
I’m not young, I’m str8, but if you look at history, religion has been the curse of humanity from the very beginning.
What else would you expect from something based on beliefs with no foundation except stories about ‘a leader we cant find”, life after death from a period when superstition ruled the world. Even today we ship a few live bodies to the funeral homes every single year.
And what simply was, and still is simply a path to power and money. And almost always includes someone to hate. to sell their story of love.
With my appologies to the good progressive, and even middle of the road people of religious faith………Sometimes to few and far between.
I try to help gay people gain full equality and acceptance in our society. If there is a God, then I expect I’ll be honored for trying to knock over the last great hate of our society.
If there isn’t, maybe in my last moments I’ll have something to really feel I did somehting good for others.
And with a Jewish background btw, I think some guy who is followed by a couple billion people, said long ago – Love thy neighbor as thyself. Jesus. Oops – he was Jewish, wasn’t he?
Steve,
I pretty much have to agree with you. What really Happened to the teachings of Christ? For that point, Mohammed, etc. Nearly all dogmatic religions preach and prosthletyze peace and harmony but the followers and many leaders use their religions as license to kill maim or otherwise harm others.
by the simplest definition Christian means ‘to be like Christ”. I guess the church forgot that when they found how to raise money preaching hate
Where’s the friggin’ like button?! I want to add this to my FB Wall! Your article hit the nail on the head, Jimmy. Let’s repost this on the Daily Planet, baby! I’m so <3 for you right now. 🙂
Way to stick to your big fat intolerant principles, SWBS! Are you intentionally removing Christ from the Christian doctrine? This just makes me feel sorry for people duped by the pathetic belief system of Baptists.
You got right about the church vs. God thing. I feel Christians are too worried about what people will think about them. If they took a look at happened to early Christians, they’d realize it’s quite a bit easier to be accepting of gay people (and a be thought a gay sympathizer) than it is to meet your end via some Roman Coliseum.
If you read the Bible I think it makes it easier to understand where Southwestern Baptist is coming from. I think their stand has to do with trying not to allow any sins to become acceptable Christian behavior. Since Baptists are Christians I think that they are aware of what’s right and what’s wrong in God’s eyes. I’m sure they are doing their best to serve God and to love others. I also doubt they would be accepting of any group (or individual) who wanted to be a member of the church but refused to acknowledge the sins of the Bible. If you believe homosexuality is a sin because you believe in the Bible than you love the sinner but hate the sin and you would be going against God’s word to acknowledge homosexuality as acceptable Christian behavior. As a Christian I can say I do not hate anyone who is gay.
Pam, But the Bible was written down by man. It was translated from many languages so meanings get lost. I will agree that they THINK they are trying not to allow any sins to become acceptable behavior…but I think they are also pretty wrong to assume that THEY know what is right in God’s Eyes.
Yes, it is also true that they are for the most part basic, kind, loving people doing their best to serve God & others; but to not hate anyone who is gay all while condemning them is not my idea of love. Jesus said you are supposed to LOVE all people not just all straight people. If this was YOUR child who was gay – you would love them, but throw them out of your church? You would drag them to church & try to pray it out of them??? What? Whom one is attracted to is part of who someone is. Whom one sleeps with consensually does not define WHO someone is.
“Welcoming all people may be the Christian thing to do, but it’s not the Baptist way.” That’s one of the primary reasons I joined the Episcopal Church. They do not require people to leave their brains at the door. I would like to ask, Where does Jesus condemn homosexuals? If people are looking in the Bible for what they want to believe, they can believe anything. For example, they need to read and heed heed all of the rules in Leviticus, etc, not just the ones they like. Let’s start with “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Neighbor is not defined.
Southern Baptist are only taking what they see the Word of God says about the sin of homosexuality and are applying it to their practices. The Bible is what God has given us as a means to understand God and His principles. The Bible is pretty clear that homosexuality is wrong and should not be condoned as an acceptable practice. We can try to explain it away the best we can, but it still doesn’t change God’s Word.