Some Alabama pastors say they don’t want any pesky Boy Scout troops meeting in their churches now that the organization has gone all queer.
The Rev. Mike Shaw, of the First Baptist Church of Pelham and former president of the Alabama Baptist Convention, says his church will no longer sponsor Troop 404 after the policy takes place next year.
“We’re not doing it out of hatred. The teachings of the scripture are very clear on this. We’re doing it because it violates the clear teaching of scripture,” Shaw told the Birmingham News.
And obviously a three thousand year old book is right about everything, and its “clear teaching” must be obeyed, and never mind what actual thinking about the issue might come up with instead.
There is absolutely nothing clear about it. This man is biblically illiterate and reading only what he wants to read:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130603/OPINION01/306030016/Iowa-View-1-man-1-woman-isn-t-the-Bible-s-only-marriage-view?nclick_check=1
Congratulations to the Boy Scouts.
The bible’s pretty clear about not, um… letting organizations use church facilities if they stop excluding kids… who are gay. It’s all there in Jehoshaphat 27:35.6-and a quarter. “Cast them out from thy basement if they allowest the children who are elsewise.” Their hands are tied.
Link for: first baptist church of pelham boy scout troop
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I did read this
http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/05/31/two-churches-make-an-anti-gay-trend-at-usa-today/
and think, “Yeah, point taken.” The tendency (of the media and ours) is to focus on the most reactionary religious responses. (This doesn’t mean anything in terms of my wholesale rejection of faith or that these elements shouldn’t be exposed and condemned, of course, but…point taken.)
It seems appropriate to re-post this, from the comments at the excellent Jesus and Mo.
The Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, GA tossed out a troop that has been meeting there for 68 years. The congregation cheered when Senior Pastor Ernest Easley announced it.
The Unity North Atlanta Church in Marietta offered their place to the troop.
Linky to the story: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/marietta-church-drops-boy-scout-troop-over-accepta/nYDLW/
Interesting development. Now is the time for the liberal churches to step forward and put the fundy churches to shame.
Also, it seems that young fundies don’t have the aversion to gay rights that their parents tried to beat into the heads for 18 years. I think this may be a BIG PR loss for the churches that are kicking the troops out over a decision that harms the innocent kids who had nothing to do with the decision their leadership made.
I fail to see why it’s a problem that Scouts can’t meet in church.
Let them go somewhere secular. School for instance.
Even granting his point about the Bible is giving this guy too much. Even Christians who just believe, straight up, that the Bible plainly condemns homosexual sex, it simply doesn’t follow that you are then obligated to deny shelter to people who belong to a group that doesn’t openly condemn them and bar them from membership. It is out of hatred, and not anything else. This isn’t one of those times where religious teachings make otherwise good people do bad things. This is one of those times where otherwise bad people cite religion as cover for doing bad things.
This is one of those times where
otherwisebad people cite religion as cover for doing bad things. Citing religion to justify bad things is one of evil’s deepest roots.