YOU SPEAK MY MIND!

Too bad the homophobes who post here will not see anything resembling Jesus in your letter. God Help the United States of America!

Talk about picking and choosing verses and applying them out of context.

Unless you are a Baptist affected by the convention, I don't see how this is of much of your concern.

Part of the reason I left the Baptist church is because they condemn dancing and drinking alcohol. I didn't like that interpretation so I found another place to worship.

nitpicker,
One reason people have reacted so strongly to the SBC decision is that all of us must live in the same town as Southern Baptists. Most people in Greensboro probably work with Southern Baptists. Many have Southern Baptist friends. We have Southern Baptist neighbors. Greensboro children have Southern Baptist teachers, even in the public schools.

As a result of this decision, Southern Baptist employers may fire known homosexual employees, so that they can remain in good standing with the church. I talked about a transexual former student of mine in a now-archived post. Many of her/his tormentors came from, you guessed it, Southern Baptist homes. So what Southern Baptists decide as church policy affects all of us.

Bill Moyers said it best when he said,
"Baptists are like jalapeno peppers. One or two make a tasty dish, but a whole bunch of them will bring tears to your eyes"!
************

Carol,
Seems like the "I love FoodLion" Bumper stickers were some promotion and were never removed. They are still found (on old cars) next to religious bumper strips...."Jesus Saves" "God is my Co-Pilot" "In Case of the Rapture, this car will be unmanned" ....you get the picture.

Beadbaby,

Baptist don't believe in a lot of things but I just don't see the effect of their religious ideas going that far. The main thing is that you cannot mandate what folks believe in terms of their religion. That's why there are denominations and religions of all types in this area. You are free to choose. And that's a good thing.

What's funny is when I first saw this title, I thought it said "Gays beheaded, inspired churchgoers". Now, THAT would make for an interesting conversation.

nitpicker,

True, it's unlikely that an employer would fire an openly homosexual/bisexual person for that reason alone. Unfortunately, it's not impossible. Many people are strongly influenced by what they hear in church, both in the pulpit and from the other church members. It isn't illegal to fire someone because of sexual orientation.

On a slight tangent, I get really bothered by anyone having a "better than you" or "holier than thou" attitude. None of us is perfect; none of us knows everything. We are all human. That's the reason that the SBC decision irks me so much. It feels arrogant to me.