I am often
accused of writing anti-Christian propaganda. I don’t. The best, closest
description of what I write is anti-institutionalism criticism and analysis.
That too may be a misnomer as I am, in truth, questioning what has become of
the Baptist Church, just as Jesus called into
question the teachings of his own Pharisees brethren (or close cousins). I do
firmly question the wisdom of the Baptist traditions and teachings. I do have
the gall to question the preachers of the Religious Right.
In the mid
1970s, the Baptist
Church began drifting
away from God’s love, as expressed by Jesus Christ, to a roomful of civil baggage,
which one had to believe in order to be considered a good Christian. While such
beliefs, if personally held by the conviction of the mind or soul, are
respectable, they are false and contemptuous if forced for social conformity.
This baggage includes, but is by no means limited to:
·     
Anti-Abortion/Pro-Life
·     
Inerrancy of scripture
·     
Personal wealth as a sign of righteousness
·     
The supremacy of the GOP as the party of God
·     
The United
States as the expression of God’s chosen
people
·     
The hype of the Second Coming of Jesus
·     
The abolition of the themes of social equity in scripture
·     
Winner-take-all competition
·     
Cut-throat capitalism
·     
Individualism over and above social responsibility
·     
The intrusion into individual’s private life
·     
The absolute disregard for the suffering inflicted upon
others by the corrupt application of any or all of the stances listed above.
Of all the
crimes committed against the people of the United States today, the last
point, a travesty of any of the teachings of Jesus Christ, is the most
exasperating. This is what Jesus taught:
When the Son
of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations:
and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep
from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on
the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was
sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the
righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee?
or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?
or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came
unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from
me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no
drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not:
sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him,
saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked,
or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer
them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting
punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.[1]
It is not
exactly the hell fire and brimstone of the Southern Baptist. It is not about
sex, abortion, submission, or social placement. It is about what you do and do
not do for others!


[1]
Matthew 25:31-46 KJV

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