Comments on Mainstream Baptist: Shurden's "Flaming Torch" Speech Online

Bruce,Howdy! This doesn't relate much to the discu...

2007-01-06T02:17:00.000-06:00

Bruce,

Howdy! This doesn't relate much to the discussion except that I saw your reference to Grady Nutt and thought you might be interested in adding to a remembrance page I'm hosting at http://gradynutt.blogspot.com/.

I'm just a fan, but sounds like you were a close friend. I think you'll be pleased with the posts so far.

I've had a tribute page up for a long time at my web site
www.the-cartoonist.com, but thought it would be nice to jump into the 21st Century with a related BLOG.

Godspeed!

"Sinners hate the word of God and anything that mi...

2006-06-29T22:20:00.000-05:00

"Sinners hate the word of God and anything that might constrain their own lustful pursuits."

This is at least the second time this week where someone who I assume believes themselves to be a Christian has made a statement like this.

Both times I thought "aren't we all sinners?"

That has always been my understanding of sin as it relates to Christianity.

Many times I have heard Christians speak of "sinners" as though "sinners" were somebody other than them.

With respect to education I believe the public schools should be for exactly that...education...not indoctrination...not my liberal worldview...not someone elses conservative worldview...education with as little spin as possible.

Was there an earlier version of this survey? I am ...

2006-06-27T10:13:00.000-05:00

Was there an earlier version of this survey? I am curious whether this is a change in thinking among 18-year-olds, how this compares and has compared to the thinking of older citizens, and, in general, whether this is news or not.

Yes, we're one of those homeschooling families. But we're the kind that has the First Amendment hanging on the wall and does not live in fear of the religious right.

And I found it encouraging today that I wasn't the only one with the feeling that much of the nonsense we have had to endure -- because we are too darned polite to tell a fool to shut up, imo -- may be on the way back to that place under the rock that it crawled out of -- http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/
story/0,,1805330,00.html

A longer view gives me hope and that's why I question whether the level of ignorance indicated by the survey results you mention is something new or pretty typical for graduates of our high schools.

Nance

Actually, the public schools are being used to mot...

2006-06-27T09:21:00.000-05:00

Actually, the public schools are being used to motivate social change guided by a Godless worldview. They are the ones producing political foot-soldiers in masse. The argument would be more credible if the left wingers weren't so energetic in their efforts to change the society to better suit thier own views. The right-wing response is largely reactionary to the rather radical viewpoints being endoctrinated in govenment schools and the media. Why is it that the ideas of the few should be freely preached day in and day out to the youth of this country and the grass roots movements of the populace should be seen as a threat. This makes no sense in the light of the phrase "we the people." Sinners hate the word of God and anything that might constrain their own lustful pursuits.

If anything, the threat is even greater than Shurd...

2006-06-26T20:29:00.000-05:00

If anything, the threat is even greater than Shurden sees. Our country has been moving in a fascist direction. (Note, I said MOVING there, not that we had yet arrived.) Mussolini defined fascism as "state power and corporate power" combined and we have certainly seen much of that. We've also seen the erosion of our checks and balances and the concentration of power in the Executive--and that was a mark of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, fascist Spain, etc. In each case of rising fascism there was an attempt (usually successful) to seduce the churches into becoming cheerleaders for the fascist government. The vision of the Religious ("Christian") Right may be a theocracy, but I think the secular Right is simply manipulating the churches for its own ends in true fascist fashion. This has begun to worry a group of Baptist congregations on the West Coast related to the Baptist Peace Fellowship, as one sees here:
http://www.bpfna.org/westcoaststatement . This kind of worry seems, at last, to be piercing the complacency of the CBF, too: http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=7538 I only hope it is not too late to turn back from this course.

So true. As a high school history teacher it's lik...

2006-06-26T16:50:00.000-05:00

So true. As a high school history teacher it's like spitting into the wind when you try to talk about the importance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Today's students are either at home being brainwashed into accepting a theocracy or the ones in public schools are being standardized tested to such an extent that their education is nothing more than a mental enema. Eat it in and regurgitate it out. No learning takes place. No understanding takes place.
The reason for a public education was to have an elightened electorate. The Colleges of Education with all their shit-for-brains theories about self-esteem and the politicians so called fixes have nuetralized all our schools from doing their intended job. Education.