Well said.
If you mean “Evangelical” in the non-Biblical, cultural (especially secular media) sense, i.e., quasi-Anabaptist/Armenian, then I concur. If you mean it in the truly Biblical sense, I do not.
All authentic Christians are Evangelical by definition.
Baptist types historically are both culturally traditional and politically “liberal”: Democrats, not Republicans. See Jimmy Carter as Exhibits A, B, and C.
As such, they tend to be both puritanical and socialistic.
Old saying in the South to a stranger in town: “So, are you a Baptist or a Republican?”
I have been in ministry. I attended a “non-denominational” (read: closet Anabaptist) school for six years. I am an expert on that sub-culture.
I, a Lutheran by parental directive as well as personal inclination (and only one of three in the whole school), was routinely slandered during those six years. I was told to my face that Lutherans were NOT evangelical - even though I belonged to the EVANGELICAL Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, a denomination with one of the largest missionary outreach organizations of any major denomination.
There were more than a few non-dancing future commie types there. My former best friend, a Baptist, became a flaming Marxist.
I guarantee you that many of the so-called Evangelical hypocrites who attacked Roy Moore were not consciously conservative.
Excellent post and you described my opinions very well. Your definition is what I meant by “Evangelical”. I should have been more specific.
I know some good people who are Baptists but, more often than not, I find many of them extremely judgmental, hypocritical and, as you stated, puritanical.
And yes, many do vote democrat.
When I was very young, we were members of a Free Will Baptist Church. There were some nice, genuine people there but, as a whole, the church was holier than thou and hypocritical.
For example, when I was around 12, my mom bought a cute Easter dress for me. She didn’t know that it was actually a minidress. It didn’t matter though because I’m very petite and it wasn’t that short on me.
One of the deacons of the church kept staring at me because of that dress. I wanted to go up to him and ask how his wife felt about him having a mistress but I was afraid I would get in trouble, lol. Hypocrite.
I am interested in two denominations: Evangelical Lutheran Missouri Synod and Eastern Orthodox. Yes, I know those two are polar opposites but my interest in Eastern Orthodoxy comes from my Russian ancestry. The services I have viewed on YouTube look absolutely beautiful.
But, in my small town, there are no Lutheran-Missouri Synod nor Orthodox. But there are plenty of Baptist churches. Sigh.