Gender Equity in Islam

A Baptist preacher named Dr. Jerry Vines. Here is the original St. Louis Post-Dispatch article (I had to capture it because they go away for good after 7 days.)

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Baptist pastor's remarks incense Islamic leaders
This story was published in A-section on Wednesday, June 12, 2002.

By Patricia Rice
Post-Dispatch Religion Writer
The Associated Press And Greg Jonsson And Denise Hollinshed Of The Post-Dispatch Contributed To This Story.

A leading Islamic group demanded on Tuesday that the Southern Baptist Convention condemn what it called bigoted and hate-filled statements made by one of its pastors during its national conference. A local Islamic leader called him and his comments ignorant.

During a pastors' conference Monday evening, the Rev. Jerry Vines, former president of the denomination and pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., called Islam's founder a pedophile and told conventioneers that many of America's problems could be blamed on religious pluralism.

"They would have us to believe that Islam is just as good as Christianity, but I'm here to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that Islam is not just as good as Christianity," Vines told several thousand delegates gathered at the Edward Jones Dome.

"Christianity was founded by the virgin-born son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Islam was founded by Muhammad, a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives - and his last one was a 9-year-old girl. And I will tell you, Allah is not Jehovah, either. Jehovah's not going to turn you into a terrorist that'll try to bomb people and take the lives of thousands and thousands of people."

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Vines' comments were outrageous.

"It's really unfortunate that a top leader in a mainstream Christian church, religious organization, would use such hate-filled and bigoted language in describing the faith of one fifth of the world's population," Hooper said. "We're not talking Pat Robertson on the 700 Club. This is a mainstream organization."

Southern Baptists are the nation's largest Protestant denomination with 16 million members.

"As the crisis in the world and the war on terrorism continues, we really need to come together," Hooper said. "We don't need these hate-filled remarks. These kind of remarks do no one any good."

He said, "This is the level of bigotry that requires a clear statement from the top leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention."

Hooper called reports that Vines' statements were met with warm applause "truly disturbing."

Instead of censuring Vines, the denomination's leadership said it supported his characterization of Muhammad and Islam.

"It's an accurate statement," said the Rev. Jack Graham, the denomination's new president and senior pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. "It's history. Muhammad's last wife was 9 years old.

The denomination's outgoing president, the Rev. James Merritt, said he also supported Vines.

"Allah is not the equivalent of God of the New Testament," Merritt said. "Allah is a god of work and fear. The Christian God is a god of grace and love and mercy."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations will not take stronger action against the Southern Baptist Convention, Hooper said, because there has been too much division between religions already.

St. Louis attorney Eric Vickers, executive director of the American Muslim Council, said Vines' comments "aren't befitting of a man of faith."

"They are offensive to Muslims, Jews and Christians," he said. "We need to educate him and pray for him."

Many conventioneers wore green ribbons, the color of Islam, which were to introduce Southern Baptists to a new outreach project to convert Muslims to Christianity called "Beyond the Wall."

"I think we need to evangelize to Muslims," said the Rev. Paul de Vries, 53, who teaches in the Southern Baptist New York Seminary Center. "I pass two or three mosques every day. Muslims don't know that God loves them."

Bush speaks via satellite

Meanwhile, President George W. Bush, addressed the assembly live via satellite from the White House Tuesday, saying the denomination's faith was "a model of democracy."

"What I found interesting is the Baptist form of church government was a model of democracy even before the founding of America," he told the conventioneers, who gave him a standing ovation before and after he spoke.

Bush, a United Methodist, listed many beliefs he holds in common with Southern Baptists.

"We believe in fostering a culture of life, and that marriage and family are sacred institutions that should be preserved and strengthened," he said. "We believe that a life is a creation, not a commodity, and that our children are first to be loved and protected, not products to be designed and manufactured by human cloning."

Missionaries face ouster

But the burning issue for many of the 9,450 voters at the convention was the potential firing of many missionaries who as a matter of conscience refuse to sign the Baptist Faith and Message, which was amended in 2000 to say that a woman cannot be a pastor and that a wife must "submit graciously" to her husband.

About two-thirds of the voters rejected a compromise that would have exempted missionaries who had signed the Baptist Faith and Message in its earlier forms. About 150 missionaries have not signed the document.

Unless they sign the document, missionaries who've refused, like Charlotte Hallock Greenshaw, are likely to lose their salaries and their housing within days. Greenshaw is the third generation in her family to serve in Brazil and one of the best-known, most-honored Southern Baptist women serving overseas.

Graham, who was elected in an uncontested race for president, said no missionary should take funds from a denomination if he or she could not sign "an instrument of doctrinal accountability."

In other action, the Rev. Bobby Welch, pastor of First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, Fla., warned Baptists not to look "with amusement" on the recent discovery of sexual immorality among Catholic priests.

"We shouldn't enjoy this Catholic mess too much," he said. "We are waiting on the other shoe to drop, and when it does, don't be surprised if there is more and more within our ranks."

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