Another religious issue came up recently and this one had to do with the Southern Baptist Convention and Jimmy Carter (former president from Georgia).
I usually talk about Catholicism because I was raised a Catholic and know a lot about the religion but this current issue with the Baptists actually has a connection with Catholicism, I think.
As we all know, Protestantism came about because of a “protest” against the excesses of the people in charge of Catholicism and there were many. Protestants rejected the Vatican, its message, its leadership and went about forming a variety of Protestant sects, each having their own specific beliefs but most utilizing the Bible as their chief religious guiding document.
The Southern Baptists were no exception but in their case they rebelled against the Church of England which became as authoritarian as the Vatican, persecuting any and all that disagreed with the state religion at that time in England.
The Southern Baptists were an independent bunch of parishes loosely tied together but having no hierarchical form of central government; even their beliefs differed.
Because of this lack of authority, many parishes practiced their religion in their own ways and preached their own brand of Baptist religion for quite a while BUT things started changing when a group of fundamentalists took over the SBC (Southern Baptists Convention); the umbrella organization for all Southern Baptists. They decided to go Catholic and by that I mean, get organized and have leaders and strict rules of belief and behavior.
As the leadership became more conservative and demanded adherence to a “creed” they postulated (Catholics have the Nicene Creed), they started alienating the more moderate Baptists. The leaders then took on the authority as the only interpreters of the Bible and started issuing rules based on their own interpretation of the Bible.
This has resulted in women no longer being able to be pastors/ministers and women now must be subservient to or “submit” to their husbands. I will talk about where in the Bible they get their rationale for their decisions in a later blog.
The conservative leadership is also censoring articles that are submitted for publication to Baptist media that are contrary to their stated creed; In other words, its their way or no way.
Carter, who has belonged to the SBC for 65 years, says he can no longer, in good faith, belong to a convention that no longer reflects his religious views and beliefs and has made the Bible an icon to be worshipped instead of just being recorded scripture.
Jimmy Carter is not the first noted person to object to the direction the SBC is taking; Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Bill Moyers have also taken their leave.
It is interesting to note, that in this day and age of modernity and supposed progressive thinking, we have a movement to dumb everything down to a “Middle Ages / Dark Ages” level of ignorance and superstition.
I usually talk about Catholicism because I was raised a Catholic and know a lot about the religion but this current issue with the Baptists actually has a connection with Catholicism, I think.
As we all know, Protestantism came about because of a “protest” against the excesses of the people in charge of Catholicism and there were many. Protestants rejected the Vatican, its message, its leadership and went about forming a variety of Protestant sects, each having their own specific beliefs but most utilizing the Bible as their chief religious guiding document.
The Southern Baptists were no exception but in their case they rebelled against the Church of England which became as authoritarian as the Vatican, persecuting any and all that disagreed with the state religion at that time in England.
The Southern Baptists were an independent bunch of parishes loosely tied together but having no hierarchical form of central government; even their beliefs differed.
Because of this lack of authority, many parishes practiced their religion in their own ways and preached their own brand of Baptist religion for quite a while BUT things started changing when a group of fundamentalists took over the SBC (Southern Baptists Convention); the umbrella organization for all Southern Baptists. They decided to go Catholic and by that I mean, get organized and have leaders and strict rules of belief and behavior.
As the leadership became more conservative and demanded adherence to a “creed” they postulated (Catholics have the Nicene Creed), they started alienating the more moderate Baptists. The leaders then took on the authority as the only interpreters of the Bible and started issuing rules based on their own interpretation of the Bible.
This has resulted in women no longer being able to be pastors/ministers and women now must be subservient to or “submit” to their husbands. I will talk about where in the Bible they get their rationale for their decisions in a later blog.
The conservative leadership is also censoring articles that are submitted for publication to Baptist media that are contrary to their stated creed; In other words, its their way or no way.
Carter, who has belonged to the SBC for 65 years, says he can no longer, in good faith, belong to a convention that no longer reflects his religious views and beliefs and has made the Bible an icon to be worshipped instead of just being recorded scripture.
Jimmy Carter is not the first noted person to object to the direction the SBC is taking; Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Bill Moyers have also taken their leave.
It is interesting to note, that in this day and age of modernity and supposed progressive thinking, we have a movement to dumb everything down to a “Middle Ages / Dark Ages” level of ignorance and superstition.
Is it circling the wagons to keep progressive thinking out? Why? I will have to think on this awhile…
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