Southern Baptist Church, and Democrats Options

[Jaq]

A Southern Baptist church in East Waynesville, North Carolina has expelled all of its Democrats

Well, actually 9 of them have been expelled and another additional 40 left as protest.

From another message board:

She (posters mother) said WLOS tv just broke in to report that the East Waynesville Baptist church has officially excommunicated all its democratic members.

She said that before the election, the preacher told the congregation from the pulpit that if they didn't vote for * they had to come to the altar to confess their sins and repent. they could'nt be members. (My Mom doesn't attend that church--she's United Methodist, but I know of lots who do attend).

From Mom's email: "One of the local women who got excommunicated said on TV that it was like a cult. Another man who got excommunicated said that the rest of the congregation stood up and applauded as the Democrats were told to leave."

This seems to signal to me another step towards not just the gradual blurring of the boundary between church and state, but a full blown theocracy.

Ten Commandments in public places, debating homosexual marriage in the context of religion (when it's a secular government policy and wouldn't have any impact on churches as they wouldn't be required to perform homosexual marriage ceremonies), prayer in schools... the list goes on..


What think you? The States heading towards a theocracy, or am I just blowing things out of proportion? Would a theocracy be such a bad thing? Why? Why not? Please submit your essays by 5:00 p.m. 500 words or less.

[Jaq]

The gay marriage thing is a bit more complicated. There are people who have no intention of forcing it on religion and just want to live their lives. But then there's people fighting for them to be priests, pastors and for churches to accept it. Thats very much forcing it upon people. Some of which don't feel they can agree Biblically, as the Bible speaks rather bluntly on it. People are trying to make a cultural norm. Which is fine and happy if you believe in it.. if you don't believe its an acceptable option, its not near so simple.

There's a huge difference between gay marriage and ordaining gay pastors. Gay marriage is something that everyone can vote on and which is a secular issue (though a person's religious standing on it will probably come into effect when they vote on it, which is fine). Ordaining gay clergy is a church matter. It doesn't effect anyone outside that church, so the government shouldn't get invovled, and it doesn't.

But if you want my opinion on it, I think people who happen to be gay should be allowed to be clergy.

If you believe that the Bible told us that gays are sinners: The Bible also told us that women are unclean during periods and shouldn't be allowed in the church. We shouldn't eat pork. We shouldn't take into our bodies blood or blood products. We shouldn't eat an animal that we've found dead.

Now, I know plenty of people who aren't ostracized from the communities when they have their periods, lots of Christians who eat pork and many who will quite willingly take blood transfusions and eat black pudding. And what about butcher shops and grocery stores? You buy lots of animals there that you've never even seen with their skin on, let alone running around and shitting. There are plenty of religious laws in the Bible that people (or the large majority of people) don't follow anymore and other people don't shun them. I think people realize that the Bible is a historical document and that while there are alot of good parts to it, many of the things it preaches have to be taken with a grain of salt.

And, in recent years, some say that the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah weren't actually that the people were gay, but that they were inhospitable to guests who were angels to boot.

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." 6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

(new international version sucks...)

It's all a bit unclear. Lot had been providing hospitality to the angels beforehand and this could have been simply a good contrast to the hospitality that Lot had provided and as such a good example of why Lot and his family deserved to be saved and why the Sodomites didn't. It could really have absolutely nothing to do with them wanting to have sex with men.