Politics Butts in at Baptists' Gathering?

[Rock]

Does this headline from the Tennessean seem on target to those of you who were there?



From my experience at the gathering, I found this headline inaccurate and misleading.

[Stephen Fox]

Headline is misleading, but the article isn't bad.

Rock: Well worth your time to read all the links at baptiststoday.org site.

And compare the Dallas Morning News report of Thursday to the final today.
Thursday:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 41138.html

Read Johnny Pierce and Tony Cartledge blog on Clinton speech.

If you read all that and do a report in Training Union tomorrow night, I may ride up to Ball Camp to hear what you say.

Next week I may try do justice to the give and take in the Carro and Wilson breakout on Immigration.
I thought I was in bounds but they steered me away from politics. If I was competent to get the nuances right, that session may get to the heart of the spirit of the event.

Even so Soaries was great in his breakout on Faith and Public Policy Thursday; as was Suzi Paynter.
Hopefully there will be away to turn up the text of that session.
Good news is Jim Evans and Brent Walker both, from conversations I had in the corridor, are working on Reviews of Garry Wills with a focus on the Rove Era.
Maybe all this will add some perspective.
Do compare Thursday to Friday in Dallas Morn News by same journalist. I think that may best answer your question for you.

Rambling Stevie

[Lamar Wadsworth]

Good article, but the headline is grossly misleading--and unfortunately the headline is all that many people will read.

[Kaylor]

And the headline is not even supported in the article, which suggests it was written by an editor who was not paying attention.

[Stephen Fox]

about the political nature of the Covenant meeting, from Today's ed.com

Phelps:

Somewhere along the way, however, we falsely assumed that this Baptist hallmark limited our voice in the public square. We were told that politics and religion don't mix, that churches should only focus on personal conversions instead of worrying about today's needs.



This notion that politics and religion were a toxic cocktail was exacerbated in the last two decades when fundamentalist Baptists used partisan politics as a way to promote their particular religious agenda. They rewrote history to their liking, turned the First Amendment disestablishment clause on its ear, and worked to restore the U.S. to its supposed place as a Christian nation.



Progressive Baptists wanted no part of this bastardized history or this partisan conscripting of politics.

And so some worried when politicians were invited to last week's Atlanta gathering, fearing that partisan politicking and electioneering would creep into the agenda.



What we are discovering is that there is a profound difference between sectarian partisan politics that seeks power, and politics that selflessly focuses on the common good of all people regardless or religion or practice.



The New Baptist Covenant was political but not partisan. It talked about Jesus' concerns for poverty, child welfare, equality, the environment and other issues that affect the common good. It never once came close to promoting one candidate or party over the other, but rather held up those concerns that we believe Jesus would champion.



This felt faithful to our Baptist heritage and to the people of our communities who need us to be our best.



Joe Phelps is pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.

http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=10049

[Prentice Fox]

Politics and Religion are inextricably bound together. I had to attend a County Commisioner's meeting this week for rezoning of some farm land, and one commissioner gave an opening prayer that would have been a great start for A Revival Meeting. There was a loud "Amen" from the Congregation (Make that audience) of about 60 people. I'm sure the ACLU will get wind of this soon.(For their benefit, the meeting was not in the county where I currently reside.)