News-Record.com

"...more than 500 people "accepted Jesus as their savior."

And I bet no one was even going to try and track how many of that 500 were re-dedications, or were saved after spending nearly all their lives as pew-sitters in other churches. My guess would be at least 400.

I mentioned the SBC preaching efforts at the monthly meeting of the Piedmont Freethought Association this afternoon. Every person present (we had a really good crowd this time around) said that they had not heard of anything like that; certainly no one had been approached in their wanderings in town this past week. There was some disappointment... a few of us would have enjoyed a little fun and games at their expense. Oh well.

My wife and I walked down toward the parking lot on Market Street to figure out what was up with the pseudo-rap music that was blaring in our windows (even when closed). Turned out the band, with some fine jazzy brass players, was good, even if we had been trying to quietly read. Nonetheless, we immediately realized the lyrics and general effort were evangelistic. Okay, fine. No thanks. We walked back home.

Next night, after a day spent at a family reunion (two hours back and forth to eat and then everyone scatters again, I am afraid), we barely beat the hail storms/thunder & lightning (no mean feat...I was hit in my car years ago down Tampa way). Since we have no garage, we pulled in under cover at a downtown parking deck. There are some big picture windows in it, and we watched the amazing random power of nature.

I don't need someone to preach the wrath or majesty of god to appreciate the sheer force of this existence.

Really interested in hearing how that whole Calvinist debate at SBC goes: isn't it just plain cruel to try and convert, shame or otherwise browbeat strangers (and friends? family?) about coming to Jesus, if it turns out they ain't saved already?

I think that the Calvinist version of Christian doctrine is both the cruelest and most reasonable interpretation of the Bible. If God exists and is truly omnipotent, then all events happen at its behest.

The philosophical implications of such ideas are truly awful... but it wouldn't surprise me if the SBC ended up deciding to go that route. They seem to relish the "truly awful."

There was some disappointment... a few of us would have enjoyed a little fun and games at their expense "................................
you are indeed a sad man, when the very best you can do with your time is to harrass Christians for exercising their right to free speech ( and yes i know it is your right to protest )- you are so bent on hating God and any one who believe in Him, that i would say you are obsessed. you sound like the bully in a sandbox. i personally don't believe it is normal for people to intentionally poked fun and games at others to their hurt at their expense. is this an atheist creed of some sort ?
apparently f.niche is not part of your fta, b/c he certainly ran into those evangilizing...as much as you want it to be a lie - you can't simply dismiss it b/c you or some of your fta members weren't exposed.
f.niche would you have been so distraught if you found the music to be some new age stuff denigrating God and glorifying human secularism - i suspect you would have embraced the loud music blaring thru your closed windows.

"you are indeed a sad man, when the very best you can do with your time is to harrass Christians for exercising their right to free speech"

Don't be silly. If I was to encounter some guy hoping to sell me a time share in heaven, I'll have a couple of laughs and give such a busybody what he or she deserves. I don't search out Christians to harass, nor would I call putting these goofs in their place "the best use of my time." But if the opportunity arises, I'm ready for it.

So what about these sad people, actively searching out total strangers in order to harass them with a religious message that EVERYONE has heard repeatedly all their lives? People go about their business, harming no one, and they get buttonholed by these creeps for no good reason. Wouldn't you consider such people to be trolls at best? Or would they be irksome to you if they were preaching some religion you don't accept?

Like Groucho, I wouldn't want to be a member of any group that would have me as a member. My earliest artistic mentor also warned against joining any "ism" or similar club. I do give to a few worthy causes, but am not affiliated.

As for the music, my wife has more avant-garde taste than I. I have grown to like jazz, but am mostly a classical and standards fan, with a few Americana roots. She's into David Byrne, some Sonic Youth, but also likes Nina Simone. We both enjoy a little Tom Waits once in while. Anyway, I certainly don't like "new age" stuff..too mushy. Give me Beethoven or Sibelius. The scope of their realms are as grand as any hymn.

I used to like Beethoven, but I have lately been drawn to more old-fashioned stuff. Mozart, Bach and Handel. Though I often am in the mood for other stuff... Gilbert & Sullivan, Gershwin, The Beatles, Rush, XTC (always a good choice for the eclectic) and Bad Religion. But Beethoven, I have little patience for. {;-)

The sad part is that these "converts" are generally only seen as a number. Most of the evangelism efforts of the SBC remind me of a pyramid system, it's about recruiting others, NOT the product!

There has been very poor attempts at discipling these "converts" and that is what matters in the larger scheme of things.

I said this when a part of the SBC and continually do so after leaving. Having been involved in SBC life for a majority of my life, I know a lot of the workings. I also know how a group hijacked the SBC in 1979 and has held it at bay since. The SBC of today is not the SBC of my childhood.

How sad.

Shalom