Posted on 05/06/2005 12:16:39 PM PDT by Rebelbase
Religion and politics clash over a local church's declaration that Democrats are not welcome.
East Waynesville Baptist asked nine members to leave. Now 40 more have left the church in protest. Former members say Pastor Chan Chandler gave them the ultimatum, saying if they didn't support George Bush, they should resign or repent. The minister declined an interview with News 13. But he did say "the actions were not politically motivated." There are questions about whether the bi-laws were followed when the members were thrown out.
Thanks. My knowledge of that area is just about zero.
Most of them fall under that category we talked about one time. Old Southern Democrats that haven't forgotten? Unfortunately, Asheville is full of hippies and lefties that have moved there in the past 20 years as well as it has become a new age center. That and halfbacks (yankees that moved from NY or NJ to FL and moved halfway back). Honestly the place makes Chapel Hill look tame.
The funny thing: DailyKOS has this, and has a comment that 4 different people have confirmed the story.
But what they mean (in true democrat fashion) is that 4 people SAW THE NEWS STORY.
The pastor, as it says in the report up above, denies this had anything to do with politics.
Why should we chose sides until we know the story.
When people are thrown out of a church, there is always a lot of animosity, and people make up reasons why it happened to make themselves sound better.
The MSM is calling it an "excommunication", showing complete ignorance of the Baptist church. A Southern Baptist church belongs to and is run by the congregation. There is no such thing as excommunication, because the pastor is equal to the congregation and not superior to it. He has no power other than that alloted to him by the congregation and they can take it away from him anytime.
What I don't understand is HOW DID THE PASTOR KNOW THEY VOTED FOR KERRY, unless they made a point of telling him for political reasons.
This comes at a time when the MSM is criticizing Delay for speaking to church groups. I'll bet we'll find out that they are Democrat Party Activists. That would explain how the Pastor knew and would put them into a position of not only voting for a sinner, but for promoting the sin.
I'm appalled that this pastor would demean the gospel by drawing an equal sign to president Bush.
Ping for later reading
On what grounds? Do you feel that the government IN ANY WAY should have any type of authority or leverage in a church? What about all the churches that allowed BJ Clinton, and Albore, and JFnKerry to "preach" to the people before elections, and the pastors who ENDORSED them?
Just remember, Zell Miller is one of them. And his speech at the RNC was basically what this pastor said.
Glad to see that someone had their BS detector on!
Even for experienced conservatives, it's so easy to get taken in by leftist media hatchet jobs!
No, Zell Miller is not one of 'them'. Mr. Miller worked in the early 90s to change the Georgia flag. I do not consider Zell Miller an old Southern Democrat. Just a partisan hack that used old Southern Democrat loyalties to get elected and now chooses instead to shill for the original anti-Southern party.
When the minister told people to support George Bush or get out of he church, it crossed the line of politics, IMO.
To outright tell people to vote for Bush was wrong. And to vote members out because the did was wrong.
But I feel that a church has a right, more importantly, they have a duty to expose the stands of politicians. Democrat, Republican, or whatever. They have a responsibility to preach the word of God, and the moral issues it addresses. And if ANY politicians stands don't measure up to the tenets of God, he should not be elected. Now you might not agree with that, and thats ok. But thats my beliefs, based upon the ultimate law, the word of God, and I'm allowed to vote according to my beliefs. And for a pastor to not lead his people according to Gods word is not a true servant of God. And the government should have no power WHATSOEVER what can be preached from a pulpit.
Now of course, that doesn't mean that subversion to the government should be "preached", because thats not biblical.
Hey look at Louis Farrakhan. He preaches everything political, and no one does a thing to him.
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