Carter Blasts Guantanamo and Iraq War at BWA

A big THANK YOU and Amen! to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter for publicly speaking out against the abuse or prisoners at Guantanamo Bay at a forum before evangelical Christians.

Carter denounced both the abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and the war in Iraq as unjust at the centenary anniversary meeting of the Baptist World Alliance.

America's war denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, was conspicuously absent from this meeting. They left the Baptist World Alliance a year ago because it admitted the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship into its membership. Jimmy Carter is the most prominent public figure who is member of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Southern Baptists also criticized BWA for voicing criticisms of American foreign policy.

Help Keep This Weblog Online

Yesterday what I thought was a jokester posted a comment on my blog maligning me for having a button soliciting contributions on my blog. I deleted his entry and did not expect to hear from him again.

Today he has posted an entry on his own blog, the Millhollin blog, accusing me of "soliciting funds under false pretenses."

Frankly, I didn't post the contribution button expecting to make money. The "Help Keep This Weblog Online" line was boilerplate from what I've seen on other websites.

A few minutes ago, I left Michael a comment on his website indicating that I thought some people might think that the time and thought that goes into this blog is worth a contribution. To make my point, I told him that if I don't receive any contributions in the next three days, I'll pull the entire blog off the internet.

Michael might be doing me a favor. This blog does take up a lot of time and energy. Perhaps I should do what Michael suggested in his original comment on my blog -- "Get a real job!"

What do you think? On this one you'll have to vote (or not vote) with your pocketbook.

For those who would like to vote but don't have a paypal account, you can send a check in the mail made out to "Mainstream Baptist Blog" P.O. Box 6371 Norman, OK 73070. Just post a comment below by Tuesday to let me know that your check is in the mail.

I'm not looking for large contributions. I promise to put anything I receive into something that will improve this blog -- software, artwork, images, books to read and review, etc.

Also, note that these contributions ARE NOT tax deductible. This is a personal weblog. I am not expressing official opinions of Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists or of the Mainstream Bapist Network on this blog.

Those who would like to make a tax deductible donation to the official work I do at my current "real job" can contribute through the Mainstream Baptists website -- which does cost money to operate. Those without a paypal account can send checks to the above address made out to "Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists."

For the record, other than posting a contribute button, this is the first time that I have ever solicited funds for this blog. I DO NOT forsee any need to do this again.

I'll post an entry recording the total amount of any contributions I receive, if any, on Wednesday morning.

On Rebellions of Conscience and Good Sense

Yesterday, the Washington Post published an editorial entitled "The Truth About Abu Ghraib" which described legislation proposed by Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham as a "rebellion of conscience and good sense." Their legislation was an amendment to the defense operations bill that would put an end to the abusive interrogation techniques being used at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Before the administration pulled the bill to stop a vote, six Republicans Senators supported the bill.

This is one of the most damning reports I've ever seen. The Religious Right's publicly endorsed "values" President -- a man who boasts of his Christian faith before the whole world -- has his underlings working overtime to oppose the efforts of the last six Senators in his own party that still have a "conscience and good sense."

This hypocrisy is worse than the hypocrisy that Jesus denounced in the harshest terms.

When will Bobby Welch, Morris Chapman, Al Mohler, Richard Land, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, D. James Kennedy, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer, and all the other politically prominent ministers in this country develop a conscience and some good sense and start speaking out and using their influence to guarantee that the torture and abuse of prisoners ends?

Some day a lot of currently prominent preachers will be asking, "Lord, when did we see you naked and abused and in prison and didn't do anything to minister to you? Didn't we perform miracles in your name getting-out-the-votes to for those "strict constuctionist" judges?" And they will surely hear, "Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it unto me." (Matthew 25:31-46)

Best Coverage of BWA

I've been extremely busy this week and have not had much opportunity to keep up with what's been going on at the Centenary Anniversary of the Baptist World Alliance.

Now that I've had opportunity to do some checking, the Baptist World Alliance and Associated Baptist Press and Ethics Daily all have extensive coverage. Baptists Today gives links to stories in the secular press. Tony Cartledge's Editor's Journal at the Biblical Recorder has the best blog that I've seen.

On Christian Credentials

I never cease to be amazed at how so many Christians are gullible and naive whenever people use their faith as a credential for their character. In my experience, nearly every scam man and con artist in the country has used that trick. That's why I always refuse listings in "Christian Yellow Pages" and avoid doing business with anyone who advertises their faith along with their product or service.

Every day you can read another story about a charming "Christian" who has duped someone into believing that faith made them virtuous. Few examples, however, are as daring or as lucrative as the one published in yesterday's Washington Post. Below is a description of a hotel event planner who, from an office in her small two bedroom apartment, managed to land a no-bid sub-contract for nine months of homeland security work. She billed the government for $24 million dollars and managed to pocket $5.4 million dollars for herself.

Former Eclipse associates interviewed by The Post in recent weeks described Sims as bright, charming and capable. Her friends dismissed the possibility of impropriety, saying she and Sullivan are both devout Christians who would never take advantage of the government for personal gain.

Shaking North Carolina's Biblical Foundations

Faithful Progressive is on vacation and celebrating a birthday this week. He asked me to write a guest blog for him. That blog, "Shaking the Biblical Foundations," is now posted on the Christian Alliance for Progress website.

While you are in the vicinity, don't miss Jerry Falwell's attack on the Christian Alliance -- and be sure to submit your own comments.

SBC Empowering Kingdom Growth -- Biologically

Al Mohler's article "Deliberate childlessness & moral rebellion" reveals how far Southern Baptists have come toward adopting the Roman Catholic view that sex is only for procreation. Mohler, the President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes:

The Scripture does not even envision married couples who choose not to have children. The shocking reality is that some Christians have bought into this lifestyle and claim childlessness as a legitimate option. The rise of modern contraceptives has made this technologically possible. But the fact remains that though childlessness may be made possible by the contraceptive revolution, it remains a form of rebellion against God's design and order.

He goes on to repudiate efforts "to separate the pleasure of sex from the power of procreation" and denounces those who "want to have the joys of sex and marital companionship without the responsibilities of parenthood." Worst of all, "To demand that marriage means sex -- but not children -- is to defraud the creator of His joy and pleasure in seeing the saints raising His children."

Why has Mohler suddenly become so concerned about couples who think the world's population will continue to grow astronomically without their participation?

I suspect that he and other Southern Baptists are preparing to blame the declining growth in membership of the denomination on declining birthrates among Baptists. He insists that, "Parenthood is not a hobby, but represents one of the most crucial opportunities for the making of saints found in this life."

The truth is, Mohler's rigidly procreative understanding of sex and marriage owes more to Augustine and Aquinas than it does to the Bible.

What moral and procreative difference is there between the Apostle Paul's saying, "I wish that all were as I myself am [celibate and childless]" (1 Corinthians 7:7) and any missionary couple who might say, "We have decided to not have children in order to serve God more freely"?

Military Lawyers Warned that Interrogation Techniques were Illegal

Today's New York Times has published a story documenting the firm dissent that military lawyers registered against the interrogation techniques that this administration's civilian lawyers were approving for use at Guantanamo Bay.

Here are a few paragraphs from an article that is nauseatingly full of evidence of criminal malfeasance:

The documents include one written by the deputy judge advocate general of the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Jack L. Rives, advising the task force that several of the "more extreme interrogation techniques, on their face, amount to violations of domestic criminal law" as well as military law.

General Rives added that many other countries were likely to disagree with the reasoning used by Justice Department lawyers about immunity from prosecution. Instead, he said, the use of many of the interrogation techniques "puts the interrogators and the chain of command at risk of criminal accusations abroad."

. . .

Rear Adm. Michael F. Lohr, the Navy's chief lawyer, wrote on Feb. 6, 2003, that while detainees at Guantánamo Bay might not qualify for international protections, "Will the American people find we have missed the forest for the treesby condoning practices that, while technically legal, are inconsistent with our most fundamental values?"

Brig. Gen. Kevin M. Sandkuhler, a senior Marine lawyer, said in a Feb. 27, 2003, memorandum that all the military lawyers believed the harsh interrogation regime could have adverse consequences for American service members. General Sandkuhler said that the Justice Department "does not represent the services; thus, understandably, concern for service members is not reflected in their opinion."

Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Romig, the Army's top-ranking uniformed lawyer, said in a March 3, 2003, memorandum that the approach recommended by the Justice Department "will open us up to criticism that the U.S. is a law unto itself."

Top lawyers from all four branches of the military objected to the proposed interrogation techniques. What more would be necessary for civilians to recognize they were crossing a moral and legal boundary?

Why aren't the people who approved the illegal techniques used at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Graihb being brought to justice?

The silence on this issue from the "values" voting Religious Right is deafening.

Baptist World Alliance Advances Without Southern Baptists

Associated Baptist Press is reporting that moderate and progressive Baptist churches in North America have donated $500,000 to the Baptist World Alliance to offset the $450,000 that the Southern Baptist Convention took from them when they pulled out last year. The SBC pulled out when BWA admitted the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship into its membership.

BWA is currently holding its 100th anniversary meeting. This year it admitted two moderate state conventions -- the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Baptist General Convention of Virginia -- into its membership. It also approved a budget increase of more than 18%.

Clearly, the departure of the SBC from BWA has served to strengthen, rather than weaken the BWA. Moderate Baptists suspect that in the future Texas, Virginia, CBF and the American Baptist Churches will increasingly be working with the BWA to strategically coordinate efforts and strengthen partnerships in missions, evangelism and education throughout the Americas.

Nationalism Dividing Church

Associated Baptist Press has published a story about how nationalism is becoming an increasingly prominent point of contention in America's culture wars. Terry York, Professor of Christian Ministry and Church Music at Baylor University and Truett Seminary, sees Christians within all denominations dividing into two camps:

"Those who want to try to re-establish Christendom and those who refuse to wrap the cross in the flag."

He predicts that these divisions will be deeper than the divisions caused by changing worship styles. He says,

"Fighting over what songs we sing pales beside the clash of kingdoms, and this is a kingdom clash."

Kudos to York for clearly articulating the most essential decision in Christian discipleship for our place and time. Count me among those opposed to the equation of Church and state. I stand firmly with those who resist all demands for uncritical, idolatrous allegiance to the state.

Blackaby's Thoroughly Domesticated Spirituality

Thanks to Bob Allen at Ethics Today for highlighting the contradictions inherent in the teachings of Henry Blackaby. Blackaby, a Southern Baptist, will be speaking at the 100th Anniversary of the Baptist World Alliance. A meeting that Southern Baptists have boycotted by pulling out of BWA for admitting the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Allen underscores Blackaby's acclaim of American CEO's shortly before the Enron and Worldcom scandals, his strange doctrine of spiritual map reading (-- a topic I discussed in a blog on January 26th), and his declaration of the justice of a "pre-emptive" strike against Iraq before its alleged weapons of mass destruction could be used by terrorists.

It's hard to find a better example of a spirituality that has so thoroughly mistaken uncritical nationalism, the pious posturings of self-serving politicians and SBC dominionism for the voice of God.

Neo-Cons Condoning Torture

Kudos to Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and John Warner for sponsoring and supporting legislation that sets clear rules for the treatment and interrogation of terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. The legislation comes in the form of amendments to a bill that sets Defense Department policy.

Vice President Cheney is leading the current administration's opposition to this legislation. Shame on him and anyone else in this administration who refuses to accept responsibility for
making it clear to the world that the policies that led to the abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Graihb will not be condoned.

The Neo-Con Plan to Help the Military

The New York Times published an article yesterday, "All Quiet on the Home Front, and Some Soldiers are Asking Why," that has a paragraph revealing the neo-conservative's plan to assist the military fulfill its mission in Iraq. Here it is:

In an interview, Douglas J. Feith, the under secretary of defense for policy, said that discussions had begun on a program to seek commitments from bankers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, electricians, plumbers and solid-waste disposal experts to deploy to conflict zones for months at a time on reconstruction assignments, to relieve pressure on the military.

It will be interesting to see how the bankers and lawyers and doctors and engineers in Oklahoma respond to this call for support. If they can't sell their program here, they can't sell it anywhere.

The last poll I saw had about 50% of Oklahomans thinking this war was a mistake. Who wants to be the last man or woman to die for a mistake?

Neo-Cons Undermining our Military

The Miami Herald has published a story by Joseph Galloway entitled "Why Generals Wont Ask for More Troops" that is an eye-opener.

I've read how German generals were afraid to tell their civilian leaders the truth in WWII. I never thought the same would ever be said about the generals in our own military.

Ample evidence of the incompetence of the civilian "geniuses" commanding our military makes frontpage news every day.

How many more "truth-telling" generals can we afford to lose?

The neo-conservative ideologues at the highest levels of the current administration are undermining our military and ultimately, putting our nation at risk.

Christians and the Gaza Pullout

In Israel there is intense internal conflict over the government's decision to pull Israeli settlers out of Gaza and hand it over to the Palestinians. Settlers and their supporters have been protesting the pull out and they have been courting the support of American Christians for their efforts.

The issues involved are complex. The Christians most likely to support the settlers hold to a dispensational form of theology that reads the book of revelation as if it were this morning's newspaper written in a secret code.

Slate Magazine has been running a series of stories entitled "Among the Believers" about current events in Israel. They are well worth reading. Here are the links: Full House at the King of Kings Assembly, Looking Beyond the Gaza Withdrawal, and Jesus and Jerusalem.

On the Letter and the Spirit

"For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory . . . For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory." (2 Corinthians 3:9-11)

The Old Covenant was a covenant of the law. Its letters were engraved on tablets made of stone. The Old Covenant had its glory, but it was a transient glory that cast a pale and fading reflection of God's glory. It could point to God's nature, but it could not embody his character.

The New Covenant is a covenant of Spirit. It is inscribed on the hearts of men. The New Covenant has its own glory. It is a permanent glory that projects a vivid impression of divine glory. It does more than point to God's character, it makes holiness manifest in the flesh.

The ministry of condemnation provides no more than a background on which the glory of righteousness can be highlighted. The brilliance of God's righteousness is most visible when men open their hearts and the dead letters of the law are replaced by the life and liberty of the Spirit.

Dell Computer Update

Thanks to Dell Customer Service Manager Barry Egbert for solving my problem getting software that I ordered with my Dell Computer.

Barry explained that the problem was a glitch in their "just in time" delivery system. A software vendor contracting with Dell was unable to deliver their software on time.

Egbert made me a satisfied customer by issuing a generous rebate on my computer and delivering the program most critical to my operation until the full software package could be delivered.

The full software package finally arrived by courier yesterday.

Valerie Plame Facing "Gang of Bullies"

A colleague of the treasonously outed covert CIA operative Valerie Plame will voluntarily testify today in Congress on her behalf. Raw Story has posted an advance copy Larry Johnson's statement. Johnson begins his statement by saying:

I am speaking up because I was raised to stop bullies. In the case of Valerie Plame she is facing a gang of bullies that is being directed by the Republican National Committee.

It will be interesting to see whether any of the mainstream media manage to give Jonhson's testimony any coverage.

Is China Taking Away Our Credit Card?

My favorite economist, Paul Krugman, has a memorable metaphor for what the unpegging of the Chinese Yuan to the dollar means. In today's New York Times he wrote:

In the short run, some people would win, but others would lose. And I suspect that the losers would greatly outnumber the winners.

And what about the strategic effects? Right now America is a superpower living on credit - something I don't think has happened since Philip II ruled Spain. What will happen to our stature if and when China takes away our credit card?

This story is still in its early days. On the first day of the new policy, the yuan rose only 2 percent, not enough to make any noticeable difference. But one of these days Chinese dollar purchases will trail off, and we'll find ourselves living in interesting times.

Setting CBF's Record Straight

Kudos to Richard Dunn, of the Sojourning Pilgrim blog and pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Enid, for responding to the negatively biased Baptist Press propaganda that recently made the pages of the Enid News and Eagle. He set the record straight about the recent changes to CBF's "purpose" statement.

Dr. Mike Kear, of the Emmaus Theory and Outside the Camp blogs and a member of Cornerstone Church, has also made some valuable comments on this entry.

The presence of Dunn, Kear and others at Cornerstone makes Enid one of the brightest spots in Oklahoma for moderate, mainstream Baptists.

Meanwhile, CBF now says it will reconsider the changes that it made to the purpose statement.