DID THE HOWARD DEAN REVOLUTION JUST HIT THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION? SANE MODERATE DEFEATS NUTCASE FASCISTS FOR PRESIDENCY!
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"This election is about the people being heard."
"It's no longer kingmakers; it's the people."
Does this sound like your and your friends talking about Howard Dean's race against a bunch of old-line boss-backed hacks to head the DNC? This probably doesn't.
"I am more excited about the Southern Baptist Convention today than I have ever been in my life."
The man who made these remarks is Wade Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Oklahoma. And the ocassion was the upset election of outsider Frank Page as president of the Southern Baptist Convention over two candidates closely tied to the SBC's ultra-conservative power structure. In a major victory for "grassroots Baptists"-- and even blogging Baptists!-- Page took 50.48% of the vote on the first ballot-- just 65 more votes than necessary for a first ballot victory. "Every Baptist counts," beemed Burleson who claims the election is "a turning point" in Southern Baptist life-- toward more openness and inclusiveness.
The far right extremist who was being pushed by Paige Patterson and the elitist crowd who have dominated the SBC leadership and hand-picked virtually every president since 1979, received just under 25% of the votes, a clear reflection of "grassroots dissatisfaction with officers who direct the SBC's work but offer little financial support to its central missions budget, the Cooperative Program. Page's church contributes 12.1 percent of its 2005 undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program. Floyd's church gave 0.27 percent of undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program in 2005 and an additional 1.6 percent to other SBC causes" and the other far right kook who was also defeated, leads another church that have nothing to the Cooperative Program.
Frank Page is 53 and he said he intends to rebuild the Southern Baptist Convention as a more open organization. In an attempt to reassure the drooling loons and revent a schism he announced that he has no intention of "trying to undo a conservative movement that I have supported all these years." But he warned that he intended to appoint leaders who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible but who also have "a sweet spirit... I'm an inerrantist-- I believe in the word of God-- I'm just not mad about it."
This is huge news. I don't think they have the Ann Coulter/Dick Cheney/Fred Phelps/Rush Limbaugh model in mind when they talk about "a sweet spirit." Rove must have been not paying close attention to have allowed this MAJOR engine of the entire fundamentalist movement slip into the hands of a genuine moderate more concerned about God's work than a partisan political agenda.
posted by DownWithTyranny @ 12:22 PM
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This whole discussion on schism in religious hierarchy is fascinating in terms its ramifications on politics. The Baptist situation we are discussing is only part and parcel of a larger trend towards the breakdown of the massive hierarchies that have been the hallmark of religious movements for hundreds of years. A lot of catholics are dissatisfied with the conservative tilt coming from the Vatican, and I remember a few years back a Catholic church in Rochester, NY, where I'm from, actually had a woman ordained as priest. Of course the Vatican excommunicated her and revoked the church's charter, but it stands out as an example on how individual churches, no matter what the denomination, ultimately would rather control their brand of religion than having the dogma come from some power structure. There's a corollary with how Democrats should push for a more federalist America, giving more power to the states much like many churches would like more decentralized power, but I don't want to be long winded
This whole discussion on schism in religious hierarchy is fascinating in terms its ramifications on politics. The Baptist situation we are discussing is only part and parcel of a larger trend towards the breakdown of the massive hierarchies that have been the hallmark of religious movements for hundreds of years. A lot of catholics are dissatisfied with the conservative tilt coming from the Vatican, and I remember a few years back a Catholic church in Rochester, NY, where I'm from, actually had a woman ordained as priest. Of course the Vatican excommunicated her and revoked the church's charter, but it stands out as an example on how individual churches, no matter what the denomination, ultimately would rather control their brand of religion than having the dogma come from some power structure. There's a corollary with how Democrats should push for a more federalist America, giving more power to the states much like many churches would like more decentralized power, but I don't want to be long winded
A Southern Baptist realizing the error of his people's ways. People in the church who voted for cheney and bush must realize by now, that even they make mistakes. Someone needs to lead them away from the temptation of war.
As The Lord's Prayer suggests...."Lead us not, into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen".
Perhaps they have someone now who can lead them from their foolish ways.
So did Bush have a stroke on the Iraq trip before announcing the largest water sanctuaury in the world?
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