Homosexuals CAN find freedom from this sinful, destructive lifestyle. They can be redeemed. They can be liberated.
- Richard Land
If there is one thing that history and our experience abroad should have demonstrated to us long ago, it's that organized religion pushing a political agenda is a recipe for oppression and discrimination. So much for learning our lesson....
The convention began its annual meeting behind a strong pro-family message. Besides the drive to convert gays, the group argues that Christian faith can solve societal ills such as divorce, domestic violence and alcoholism.
The nation’s largest Protestant denomination dedicated its two-day meeting, which began Tuesday, to preserving marriage and strengthening families. A rally celebrating families was held Monday night.
President Bush addressed the meeting by videotape, calling Southern Baptists “faithful servants” and asking God to bless them.
“You and I share many common values. We believe in fostering a culture of life and that marriage and family are sacred institutions,” he said, also noting their shared opposition to human cloning and abortion.
So much for the separation of Church and State, eh??
Don't get me wrong here. I'm all for religion. The core of most all human religions is the same- the desire to live in peace and harmony. That is, by all accounts, a good thing. The problems begin when religion institutionalizes and comes to define it's role as pushing a specific political agenda. Those who do not subscribe to the narrowly-defined belief system are denigrated as Disbelievers- Heathens who have not seen the light and therefore do not conform to the "accepted" norms. Once thus marginalized, pious discrimination and oppression against these "reprobates" is considered justifiable and acceptable.
Southern Baptists have the power and resources to do so much good, and yet they have chosen to focus on the strident exclusion and marginalization of those who do not subscribe to their narrow beliefs. Historically speaking, it wasn't all that long ago that a society began to head down a similar path. Twelve years into the Grand Adventure, Nazi Germany was in ruins and six million Jews had been exterminated. No, I'm not going to accuse the SBC of Nazism, but the parallels are profoundly disturbing.
Since when did the spirit of Christian charity go out of fashion? What is it that allows Southern Baptists to feel justified in the institutionalized discrimination and oppression of those who do not hold their beliefs and subscribe to their lifestyle? I'm not going to attempt to defend homosexuality, because that really isn't the issue here. The issue is an organization that presents itself as a representative of the True Faith coming out in favor of discrimination and oppression. That's just plain wrong, and it's a misrepresentation of the spirit of religion.
