[Apologetics] Will "Nice Baptists" bring America together?

[Art Kelly]

HOUSES OF WORSHIP

Jimmy Carter's Siren Song 
Will "Nice Baptists" bring America together? Don't bet
on it. 

BY JOHN WILSON 
Friday, February 2, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST 

"Southern Baptists were the first Free Church movement
to start a civilization. It's called the South." Don't
you wish you had quipped that? But credit goes to Duke
University's Curtis Freeman, who says he got it from
his colleague Stanley Hauerwas, the noted theologian.

At any rate, that civilization has since been
transformed almost beyond recognition and now exists
only in fragments. One sizable chunk is the Southern
Baptist Convention (SBC), the largest Protestant
denomination in the U.S., with a membership exceeding
16 million souls. If former President Jimmy Carter has
his way, however, soon there will be a formidable
alternative.

The SBC has often been in the news in the past few
years, following the ascendancy of hyperconservatives
such as Paige Patterson, currently president of
Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth. A former theology
professor at Southwestern recently told the Associated
Press that she had been compelled to leave her job
because the Bible prohibits women from teaching
theology to men.

No wonder many Southern Baptists are restless. Some
have started or reinvigorated Baptist seminaries that
serve as alternatives to the ones dominated by
hard-liners. Many have simply minded their own
business, shaking their heads and doing their best to
ignore the diktats of Mr. Patterson and his fellow
commissars. Others--including President Carter--have
left the denomination in protest.

The complete article is at
http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110009616



ART KELLY, ATM-S
13524 Brightfield Lane
Herndon, Virginia 20171-3360
(703) 904-3763 home
(703) 396-6956 work
arthurkelly at yahoo.com
art.kelly at cox.net
ArtK135 at Netscape.net


 
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