Whitesburg Baptist Huntsville,Bama; Christian Nationalism

[Stephen Fox]

Collinsville Alabama soccer team is in state finals one through 3a starting Thursday. Our all Hispanic team won the state championship in 2013.

Last Thursday in Collinsville our boys defeated Whitesburg academy, sponsored by mega church of the same name 7-0. A week earlier in Huntsville we beat them there. According to several folks the players and their homers in the stands said things like I'm surprised Trump lets you stay here; and Why don't you go back where you came from.

The player who made reference to Trump later apologized according to one player, and I haven't hear of similar comments when they came to Collinsville.

Still this fundamentalist mega church which often hosts the State Baptists Convention has some explaining to do.

It is not surprising given the role of Eagle Forum's Eunie Smith in the state who introduced Kris Kobach to Scott Beason. Beason the influential politician in SBC President Steve Gaines church FBC Gardendale before Gaines followed Adrian Rogers at Bellevue.

Some may want to dismiss this as incidental but look at what Marty Cohen says about similar mindset of Christian nationalism in his new book that focuses on Upstate SC and Baptists there, super Trumpers.

I think these incidents have legs for SBC convocation in Birmingham in June.

Rick Lance, Rick Burgess, the staff of FBC Gardendale and Whitesburg should answer some questions.

Here is more context for these so called Christian academies as gestation places for Trumpism

https://rewire.news/article/2019/01/25/ ... us-people/

[Stephen Fox]

https://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/w ... roster.htm

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

Seems like you've made an awful lot of connections, from comments made at a soccer game, to work in some names like Rick Lance, Steve Gaines, Rick Burgess and even Adrian Rogers. I can't speak for Whitesburg Academy. I would imagine that in a mostly-white, Evangelical Christian school in Alabama, attached to a conservative Baptist church, you could certainly find a fairly high percentage of Trump supporters and characteristically, the rudeness and bigotry that goes along with it. But your supporting article references Catholic schools and that's a whole different perspective.

I've led three Christian academies over the past couple of decades, one of them operated by an SBC congregation, one by the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and currently one that is non-denominational. In all fairness, none of the three would qualify as "gestation places for Trumpism." The SBC-related school was probably the most ethnically and racially diverse student body, with 35% latino, 35% African American, 10% Korean and the rest a mix of Indo-Pakistani asians and working class whites. I was there before Trump came along but I know it wasn't supportive when he did. Nor was the CMA school in Pennsylvania. I'm sure there were Trump supporters among the student body there but the denominational perspective of the sponsoring church precluded any kind of association with a partisan political perspective, the students learned both sides of the spectrum and many of the families who sent their children there were of a denominational perspective which shunned politics as a waste of time and energy for the church. My current school is 75% latino, most of whom are Puerto Rican, about 15% Caucasian who are mostly Polish, Romainan or Ukrainian, and a scattering of African Americans and whites. This isn't turf that is favorable to Trump at all. And in all fairness, many Christian schools have the integrity to recognize the harm that taking political sides can do to a school and they avoid doing so.

[William Thornton]

Soccer gossip. Impressive.

The SBC's annual meeting is in Birmingham June 11-12 with related meetings couple OD days prior. I'll be there Sunday through Wednesday. If any of the BL crowd makes it I'd love to see you. Plan to eat some BBQ.

CBF meets the following week in Birmingham. I'll be long gone by then.

[Neil Heath]

[Rvaughn]

They both met in Dallas, Texas last year.

[KeithE]

Another coincidence concerning Fox and myself.

Was driving my grandson Elijah home tonight and his mother (Brandy) called and suggested I pick up dinner for them at Taco Bell.

There was a bus of soccer players from Collinsville there and one of the boys complained to me that he had not got his food for “2 hours”. I looked at him quizzically thinking he was exaggerating (and he was). But the order/taker/cashier said it has been over 40 minutes because the soccer bus had so many customers. So I asked the boy (age about 12) where he was from and he said Collinsville. Oh, do you know Steve Fox? and he said he did. And I asked where he was playing soccer and he said Whitesburg. I told them I've heard about these soccer games from a blog I’ve read. When he eventually got his food and sat down with another boy (older maybe 16) and 2 girls. I asked them all if they knew Steve Fox and the other boy perked up and said he knew him - he always rides bike around town. The girls did not know him. I asked about their soccer game and they said they lost (not sure who they played - it may have a tournament at Whitesburg Christian Academy fields). Then one of the girl offered without any prompting that “they are racist”.

This is not the first coincidence involving Steve ad me. One time maybe 7 years ago, Steve asked me at a Chic-Fila who I was (he recognized me). That was coincidence enough, except that Mark Ray (who lives in Decatur {25 miles away) and used to a big blogger at BL) showed up at at Chic-Fila right after we had mentioned him.

Another time (maybe a year ago) I was in a waiting room in Gadsden and I asked someone there where she was from - it was Collinsville and she knew Steve as well. She worked at a Mapco gas station/convenience store and said Steve was a frequent visitor there.

Yet another time (maybe 20 years ago) a youth group from Virginia was singing at our church and we agreed house 4 guys to sleep at our home. I forget how the conversation started, but one boy said he knew Steve Fox from Collinsville - his dad was a CBF minister in VA.

Bazaar. BTW, Collinsville and Huntsville are about 70 miles apart.

[Sandy]

It's interesting that they know Stephen and that one of the students offered the comment "they're racist" without being asked.