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DEL.ICIO.USDeath of Southern Baptist Convention?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Author Christine Wicker writes that the Southern Baptist denomination - evangelicals in general- are slowly fading away. “What Baptist leaders have known for years is finally public: The Southern Baptist Convention is a denomination in decline. Half of the SBC’s 43,000 churches will have shut their doors by 2030 if current trends continue,” she writes. “And unless God provides a miracle, the trends will continue. They are longstanding and deeply rooted. The denomination’s growth rate has been declining since the 1950s. The conservative/fundamentalist takeover 30 years ago was supposed to turn the trend around; it didn’t make a bit of difference.” She cites a long list of reasons why this is true, including the fact that many evangelicals are reluctant to proclaim that they are the only ones saved- and parishioners in today’s society are less likely to believe that.
“The idea that only one little part of one kind of religion has the only way to God has begun to seem more and more unlikely,” she writes. “It has begun to seem rude. Un-Christian, even. And evangelicals, who don’t like being boorish any more than anyone else, have become less and less willing to relegate their neighbors to hell.” Read column here.
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By Copyleft
June 5, 2008 2:14 PM | Link to this
Whattaya know… there IS a god!
Hatred and bigotry have never been Christian values, and a denomination that spends all its time and energy “condemning sinners to Hell” deserves neither respect nor support.
Southern Baptists are dinosaurs; we’ll be better off when the last of them vanishes from the earth.
By Jeff
June 5, 2008 2:56 PM | Link to this
With such loving people as Copyleft out there, why does one need to hate?
Further hypocrisy from the left….
By Token Gringo
June 5, 2008 4:17 PM | Link to this
I don’t think they will ever vanish, but their “In-your-face” brand of faith turns a lot of people off. This is a similar effect that radical environmentalism has on the general public. Instead of encouraging people, they just learn to hate. Hatred and bigotry against Southern Baptists is also very common these days as proven by the above. Amazing how tolerance for those who are left of center is preached, but only demonization and bigotry against those to the right is practiced.
By Ministerzel
June 5, 2008 8:06 PM | Link to this
I think the problem lies in many (not all) of their spirits…professing to be Christian while showing little mercy towards the poor and less fortunate. Professing to be Christian while sowing seeds of disharmony towards those who do not have the same beliefs. Professing to be Christian yet spewing language that is hateful and spiteful instead of kind and loving. Southern Baptists would not lose members if all would just emulate Christ in all that they do.
By brian
June 5, 2008 9:06 PM | Link to this
You know, I don’t recall anything in the Bible about denominations, but we Christians too often get in God’s way. It’s too easy to claim a “tribe” (conservative, liberal, Baptist, atheist, etc), but there are only really those who love God and serve Him, and those who don’t. Period. Interestingly, God’s will has survived our best and worst efforts at faith, and no matter what we call ourselves. Live your faith, love your neighbor as yourself, and trust in God. Anything else is wasted effort.
By candide
June 6, 2008 7:08 AM | Link to this
Good news! The fear of being silly has always been important in the decline of religion. The Southern Baptists are ridiculous in their ignorance of real biblical scholarship and history. It is a church for rednecks.
By spankmonkey
June 6, 2008 7:22 AM | Link to this
Why do you always take more than one southern baptist fishing with you?
Because if you only take one, he’ll drink all your beer…
By Copyleft
June 6, 2008 8:17 AM | Link to this
Tolerance of the intolerant is not a virtue. Southern Baptists are hateful, and it’s entirely fair to call them on it.
It’s what Jesus would’ve done—no doubt with many uses of the H-word (hypocrite, not hell).
By Jeff
June 6, 2008 8:34 AM | Link to this
candide:
You mean ‘real’ biblical scholarship like the left-wing wacko-jacko’s, The Jesus Seminar?
I’ve read alt-archaeological FICTION with more credibility than those idiots.
Copyleft:
So you say love only the people that love you?
Funny, Christ said the exact opposite: Love those who HATE you.
By Copyleft
June 6, 2008 8:48 AM | Link to this
Jeff: And that’s exactly what they DON’T do, even though they claim to be Christ’s faithful followers. So who’s the hypocrite?
Face it: “conservative Christian” is an oxymoron.
By Jeff
June 6, 2008 9:02 AM | Link to this
Copyleft:
Point being:
A) In God’s eyes sin is sin. There aint none of this ‘well, that sin is worse than this sin.’ The ABSOLUTE BEST we can do looks no better to Him than the dirtiest rag you have ever seen.
B) ‘Tolerance’ and Christ both say love everyone. Yet neither liberals nor conservatives do. Matter of fact, the level of hatred between the two has risen so high that I’ve speculated for YEARS that we may be on the verge of another Civil War. So you tell me, who is the hyprocrite: The one who preaches acceptance of all and yet does not accept those he disagrees with, or the one who preaches that there is only ONE way salvation is attained and then lives as though God doesn’t mind his sin?
By Copyleft
June 6, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this
Beat me, Jeff, since I’ve never preached acceptance of all and have no obligation to follow Jesus’ teachings, the way his supposed “followers” do.