Religion and Politics: The Culture Wars Heat Up
The pastor of
There’s video from a local newscast here via Dembloggers.com. (Thanks to Peter and the Daily Kos for the heads-up.)
Was this a violation of religious freedom? Not in terms of civics: there is no constitutional protection that ensures church members won’t be expelled for dissenting opinions and choices.
It is by Baptist standards. Historically, Baptists are really keen on letting people make their own political decisions, and don’t draw battle lines too closely in terms of politics. They have liked to allow disagreement among their own because of their own history of persecution by the politically powerful.
Make no mistake, this will ruffle feathers in the state and local Baptist associations, if EWBC is a member. I’d like to know which seminary the pastor graduated from, if any?
Could there be an IRS problem? Maybe. I’m still waiting to find out if those folks in
Update: Pastor Runs Away
1 comment:
Fortunately this seems to be a rogue action, and not something I would anticipate ever happening again. Somehow I believe some of the 'official' baptist political neutrality has been out of a certain necessity to respect the needs of labor. This of course makes me wonder, as gaps between the middle and lower classes widen further, how this might affect baptist neutrality.
Sadly, this event simply reinforces many of the negative stereotypes held against baptists and the south in general. Hopefully we get a nice statement of denouncement at some level, although the SBC has such little relevance when compared to the governing bodies of many other prominent denominations.
I doubt it will happen. But it'd be awfully nice.
Keep us updated as questions get answered, Kyle. Nice post.
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