This past week, the so-called New Baptist Movement proposal put forth by Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton sought to create a new, progressive (read liberal and compromised) voice for Baptists.
How we can take seriously Jimmy Carter, who recent anti-Semitic book on Israel caused members of the Carter center in Atlanta to resign, and how can we take Bill Clinton seriously who...well you know all about Bill. If these are the standard bearers of the Baptist witness in America...Lord help us
The inititive was directed mainly at Southern Baptists, but ABC officials such as A. Roy Medley jumped on the bandwagon. This was the same Roy Medley who ran off to Lebanon to stand shoulder to shoulder with Hezbollah after their summer conflict with Israel.
The inititive deserves the derisive rejection by all Biblical Jesus-followers, and all Baptists, north south, American, Southern and Transformational. Wisely, many Southern Baptists have already voiced their rejection of this travesty. Evangelical American Bapists must do the same.
Here I disagree with fellow-blogger Dennis McFadden, who wrote,
So what do we make of the upcoming meeting? While I am certainly no fan of either former president, Clinton for his obvious failures and Carter for his self-righteous disdain for anyone more conservative than himself, it is difficult to fault this initiative. SBC blogger Wade Burleson seemed to sound the right note when he wrote: "it would be difficult for me to criticize any evangelical Christian movement whose stated goals are to live out the gospel through doing justice and loving mercy."
Call me cynical, but I simply doubt the sincerity of the key participants. It seems to me to be more of an effort to recruit more people of faith for leftist causes. I'm not fooled, and I'm not impressed.
1 comment:
O come on Glenn. While I doubt the sincerity of a published anti-semite and an admitted purjurer, it IS difficult to argue against evangelicals coming together to minister the mercy and compassion of God.
On the political angle, I agree with you in that it will likely be used to work mischief among Baptists. But, lest we look like Cretins, we ought to be careful how we dismiss such well stated sentiments. Argue against the sincerity of the authors or something of the like.
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