Southern Baptist Leaders Seek Softer Approach To Homosexuality

National Public Radio ^ | 5/17/14 | Blake Farmer

[marshmallow]

Some Christian denominations around the U.S. have been slowly warming to the idea of gay marriage. A few have even made an about-face.

Not so with the country's largest protestant group, Southern Baptists. The Southern Baptist Convention still preaches that marriage can only be between one man and one woman. But some pastors are softening their message.

A Change Of Tone

The Southern Baptist Convention held a gathering of pastors at its Nashville headquarters in April. For an organization that has previously used opposition to gay marriage as a rallying point, statements here from church leaders, like Kevin Smith of Kentucky, shocked the auditorium of pastors into silence.

"If you spent 20 years and you've never said anything about divorce in the church culture, then shut up about gay marriage," Smith said.

Pastor Jimmy Scroggins of Florida went even further.

"We're all in agreement that the cultural war is over when it comes to homosexuality, especially when it comes to gay marriage," Scroggins told the pastors.

Officially, Southern Baptists aren't backing down from their belief that homosexuality is sinful. Gays and lesbians are still barred from church membership without first repenting. But Scroggins says they're sitting in his pews and shouldn't be the butt of preacher humor. He calls that "redneck theology."

"Let's stop telling Adam and Steve jokes and let's be compassionate, because these are people that are in our community," he said at the convention. "These are people that are in our churches."

Baptist voices in the recent past were not known for compassion on gay issues. Richard Land was the church's chief spokesman for 25 years, and while no longer speaking for the denomination, he can still be heard from time to time on Christian talk radio saying things like this:

"I know that the dirty little...........

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[ReformationFan]

Just curious, what surprised you about it?

[Salvavida]

I copied the wrong paragraph. This is the one that surprised me:

4. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order or government of the church, is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner; neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God; whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.

[ReformationFan]

Oh, yes. Most of the Protestant Reformers saw at least the office (if not the individual) of the papacy that way-

http://www.sundaylaw.net/books/other/standish/antichrist/aih02.htm

Check out this Lutheran satire video where a liberal secular reporter discusses this topic with a conservative Lutheran laywoman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87vo2jkmJUg