Marse Grant, RIP
Marse Grant died yesterday in Raleigh.
As editor of The Biblical Recorder from 1959 to 1982, Marse was a friend of every religion reporter in the state. I had the privilege and pleasure of working with him for a few years when I covered religion at the N&O. Marse was an excellent source on all matters relating to the Baptists, speaking his mind openly and directly. As the editor of the journal of the Baptist State Convention during tumultuous times, his voice was a model of editorial independence, often differing from the official line.
Not surprisingly, he was also a good friend.
Comments (4)
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Amen....
Posted on October 18, 2008 10:29 AM
Mr Grant was also a prophet. Many years ago he wrote a guest column for the High Point Enterprise concerning Muslims in our, and other countries.
The gist was that Muslims when they initially arrive, and are few in numbers, never make waves, or issue demands. As their numbers grow they change drastically, and in many cases become problematic. Simply look at recent years, and eents in France, London, and now even our own country as we have many Mosques around the country where the clerics openly preach hate, and violence. Simply look at the great DVD tilted "Obsession." If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and get a copy. It's rather scary, and shows that Marse Grant was quite prophetic!
Posted on October 18, 2008 11:00 AM
Reading the last comment by Tonymo didn't square with the description of Mr. Grant in the N+O today that read, in part: "A moderate, he cherished Baptist doctrines such as religious liberty and fought to end racism in churches."
The News & Record uses a service called "Newsbank" to access archives of our paper as well as others throughout the state. The High Point Enterprise does not participate. But of the 114 stories and letters to the editors where Mr. Grant's name was listed as an author or someone who was quoted, exactly one - 1 - contained the words "Islam" or "Muslim." It was a 1991 piece he penned for the Charlotte Observer and its opening graph read:
"It`s revealing to hear troops returning to North Carolina from Saudi Arabia tell how well they got along without alcoholic beverages - how they felt sharper and more capable of doing their job. One difference in that Muslim country is that they were not constantly bombarded with beer ads."
After reading some of his columns and stories about him, there are any number of things you could say about the man. He preached temperance, pushed back against the mean-spirited extremes of his religion and endeavored to avoid schism. He was an earnest writer.
I never had the pleasure of meeting the man, but I somehow doubt he would want or deserve association with a DVD that the News & Record's publisher called "fear-mongering and divisive."
Had we ever met, I think it's safe to say Mr. Grant and I would have differed in our view of the world. But he sounds like the type of guy who it would have been fun to talk about those differences with over a good meal - even if he might not have joined me for a beer afterward.
In that spirit, let me wish that tonight he rests at peace with his God and will be remembered well for the man he was by those that knew him best.
Posted on October 18, 2008 8:37 PM
sarcasm/
Mark, what is it with all these facts? Facts are nonsense that should never get in the way of the imagined truth.
/sarcasm
Posted on October 20, 2008 10:24 AM