Nashville News Blog

Last time I stepped in a Southern Baptist church it was Mother's Day and the preacher was talking about abortion.

I won't be back. Ever.

sbc = southern bullshit convention
= shitty bible construers
= stupid brimstone counsel
= sucking bezelbub's c---... heh

I don't believe that either theology or social ethics is the primary cause for the decline in SBC numbers any more than I believe evangelicals who claim that mainline denominations shrink because of "lax" theology or social ethics.

I tend to agree with sociologist Andrew Greeley, who concludes that family-planning and retention are the main variables in church growth and shrinkage. I would also add that conservatives are better at retaining followers because of the sweet multi-use facilities they build and pop culture trends they follow. Mainliners are less interested in such things.

The SBC's toning down the rhetoric is simply accommodation to the reality of declining birthrates, which is something Brantley does not engage above. They've been moving towards toning down for several years now. In fact, the SBC was hemorrhaging moderates (including their own universities) in the 1990s, a decade after the Fundies took over. So, they're just a little too late to stop the attrition caused by more conservatives practicing family planning 100 years after mainliners started.

I blogged my thoughts on the decline in evangelical numbers in 2005 when evangelical and mainline fertility rates were virtually identical after a century of mismatch: http://enclave-nashville.blogspot.com/2005/10/fertility-and-facilities-exploding.html

(Full disclosure: I am a recovering Southern Baptist and I wrote a Vandy dissertation touching on mainline vs. evangelical theological frameworks in social movements).

Are all baptized counted as members, even children? Or counted by attending family members? I know absolutely zero about the nuts-and-bolts of chuchin'.

I am a Southern Baptist and I am not ashamed of it. I am a Christian first. I believe we are commanded to love our neighbor and I believe that does not mean that we accept lifestyle that is contrary to Gods law. I believe my first duty is to God. If I choose only to follow scripture that the world says is acceptable, then what value is the bible? Abortion is a sad sad thing and a sin. Homosexuality is a sin and I and every Christian has a duty to say that. I am a sinner and I have many things in my own life to work on, but I admit them, repent of them and strive to turn from them. Jesua said it himself, he is the only way to God. I know that he saved me, I could never do it on my own. Please read the scripture, make up your own mind, pray and trust God to lead you. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that none should persish. He loves us but we have to make the decision to follow him, to ask him for forgiveness and accept him as lord and savior. God bless you all.

How are Southern Baptists hypocrites any more than anyone else going to any other church hypocrites?

All of us are less than perfect. All of us do things concerning which we might have cause to be ashamed. People who go to church are going to an institution that has aspirations regarding behavior and sin that are often at odds with their actual lives. This is a sign of them being human beings, not hypocrites. If you concentrate on the human foibles of the people who inhabit churches you are missing the point of church.

Of course, it could never be said of non believers that their aspirational standards were ever higher than their actual behavior, could it?

There is nothing wrong with being a non believer. There is something slightly . . . what is the word I am searching for here . . . hypocritical - about accusing others of less than perfect behavior when you are less than perfect yourself.

I disagree with Southern Baptist theology. At the same time I understand that they act upon their beliefs. Perhaps they are less than perfect. So are we all.

As to folks from the church roaming the streets to collect copies of the Scene; congratulations. You seem to have hit a sore spot.

STown, if Southern Baptists do not practice infant baptism how do you arrive at the "double dipping" premise of overestimating baptisms in previous years?