Posted on 10/24/2013 8:32:42 AM PDT by Publius804
“Evangelical Leader Preaches A Pullback From Politics, Culture Wars,” blared a front-page Wall Street Journal headline on Tuesday.
According to the paper, Russell Moore, the new head of the Southern Baptist Convention, “says it is time to tone down the rhetoric and pull back from the political fray, given what he calls a ‘visceral recoil’ among younger evangelicals to the culture wars.”
The reporter contrasts Moore’s softer approach to the rise of “gay marriage” with that of his predecessor, Richard Land, who spoke of it as the culmination of the “radical homosexual agenda.” Moore, after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, sent out a flier to 45,000 churches titled “How Should Your Churches Respond” in which he said homosexuals “aren’t part of an evil conspiracy” and that gay marriage shouldn’t be seen as a “‘culture war’ political issue.”
Backward, Christian soldiers, Moore appears to be saying. But to where? It is not at all clear, at least from this article. If the killing of unborn children and the spreading of sham marriage doesn’t qualify as an urgent reason for Christians to participate in politics, what issues would?
Oddly enough, the article, after informing us that Moore considers the Christian right to be too political, says that he “has allied with the Roman Catholic Church and other religious groups to make the case that overhauling the U.S. immigration is a Christian goal.” Huh? Gay marriage isn’t a worthy “’culture war’ political issue,” but the drive for de facto amnesty is?
This makes no sense. Christians are free to disagree on the exact configurations of immigration policy, but no Christian can support so-called gay marriage.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
If we advance, we’re called “Dominionists”. If we retreat, we’re called “Squishes”.
I’m going to say it again as I said it(not in so few words)before...Russell Moore is a liberal wolf in sheep’s clothing and his aim is to destroy the vulnerable SBC from within. He intends to fundamentally transform it. He thinks the SBC is too old, too white, and much too conservative. His remarks on George Zimmerman were illustrative enough for me, but if that’s not enough, search for his stance on illegal immigration. Speaks volumes.
Mrs. AV
I listened to a discussion this morning between Greg Garrison and Dan Coats on my way to work. His argument for backing down was that we were losing popular opinion and therefore would lose elections going forward. That there was, yet again, a good reason to compromise and let the left pull us further left. His promise was that the ACA would be its own undoing and we’d have an easier time of repealing it after the country feels pain for which the public can blame the other side. I had to shut off my radio before I crashed.
My point in relating this... sounds like the SBC is now operating with the same fear. The position is unpopular so lets abandon it. In effect they are accelerating the move towards the very thing that they supposedly are against by fearing the ramifications of standing firm for the right reasons.
After watching this country creep down the slippery slope on many issues I’m done compromising. Any elected official that doesn’t understand that I want them to fight where it’s really important will lose my vote. If there isn’t a viable candidate I won’t cast a vote. I’m sticking a stake in the ground - no more socialism... period.
Somehow I seriously doubt there will be a viable candidate. Except perhaps in a not-so-viable third party attempt.
Martin Luther supposedly said that he would rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian. Whether Luther said it is open to dispute, but the sentiment is reasonable.
There is no easy balance between total capitulation to the liberal agenda, a position that can be characterized by "Christians are not part of "this world" so who cares what happens with the government," and the opposite position where self-described Christians are looking forward to the day when things fall apart so they can start shooting liberals.
Moore may not have found that balance, but it does look like he is trying. But these days, simply attempting to seek balance draws fire from both extremes.
We can only hope the Lord returns before things get uglier than they are now. But in the meantime, we can expect more people on all sides to confuse political ideology with faith in Christ.
What is a viable candidate?
Hopefully that doesn’t mean “moderate”
Ping!
Leaving aside the issues which separate us, there remains the problem which Pope Francis has noted: The concerns about morality (in the highest and best sense of the word) are in a certain sense secondary to the the proclamation of the saving work of God in Christ.
What must we do -- what, if anything, CAN we do so that when people hear that we're some kind of Christian there first thought is, "Oh, those freaks who think God loves us," rather than, "Oh, those freaks who think homosexual behavior is wrong."
And then the problem starts rooting round in the necrotic pockets of my soul. Life would be a great deal more pleasant if people thought of me as a genial and feckless babbler about love and a great deal less pleasant if they thought of me as a persistent proponent of chastity. So I have to wonder if I am leaping onto these bandwagons to make my life more pleasant or to tell the Truth.
Which is why we need to pray a lot.
Russell Moore is an apostate who should be fired!
"Oh, so God loves us. That means He wants us to be happy. Being gay makes them happy, so they should be allowed to be who they are and even get married b/c that makes them happy. What do you mean 'God doesn't allow that'? Why do you hate gay people so much? God loves us, why can't you just love?"
You can't win with these people.
If the SBC were undertaking a genuine shift from politics to spreading the gospel, I could support them. But, knowing the caliber of young evangelicals these days, I’ll believe it when I see it. We’re more likely to get a shift to the political left with no increase in efforts to convert lost sinners.
But they don't have a sense of what Natural Law is or a sense that God is Justice itself. So there's a lot of work to be done.
The Southern Baptist Convention has been infiltrated by non believers for more than 50 years. Most independent Baptist Churches ignore them. I gave up on them when they reworded one of their tracts changing a Virgin shall conceive, to a young girls shall conceive. That was 40 years ago, and our little Church withdrew from the Convention.
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