Exit Strategy
Topic: Uncategorized| Written by: Benjamin Cole|Whether I have delayed this post out of an ever-increasing disinterest in all things Southern Baptist, or out of the sheer orneriness of forcing impatient readers to wait, or because there is some sense of sorrow and loss because of the things I must now write, I do not know.
The facts, however, are these: For four years, I have planned an exit from Southern Baptist life, beginning with my pursuit of a doctoral degree at Baylor University. That exit was forestalled because of one phonecall — received past midnight from Alabama pastor C.B. Scott — that urged me to fight the good fight stirring up on account of a famously recalcitrant mission board trustee and his opposition to exclusionary policies governing the appointment of international missionaries. Once I listened to C.B., who made me promise not to allow the Baptist brouhaha to distract me from my academic pursuits, I launched a counter-offensive that has become, to at least some degree, notorious.
The objective was simple. Neutralize the influence of fundamentalist, landmarkist, legalistic theologies that trace their most recent incarnation to Paige Patterson and his graciously submissive wife, Dorothy. Patterson is a politically shrewd and quasi-cannibalistic junkyard dog. His wife is one part old lace and two parts arsenic. An invitation to high tea with the pair can result in a trusteeship or a tombstone.
To oppose Paige Patterson’s fundamentalist agenda requires stamina of the sort that few men possess, especially pastors. The fact that most Southern Baptist pastors cannot extend their pastoral tenures beyond 18 months makes you immediately aware that the convention — which is comprised of pastors — does not have the intestinal fortitude to fight anything for very long.
It also requires what Kierkegaard referred to as the temporary suspension of the ethical. To stick a hog, you have to get in the mud. You have to be willing to expose, confront, accuse, and substantiate. You have to be willing to say publicly what most Southern Baptists in-the-know say privately. You have to stop whispering and start shouting.
I suppose that C.B. knew that my days in Southern Baptist life were short-lived. Unlike many of my contemporaries, I do not desire the pastoral office. I have served Southern Baptist churches because of gifting — both natural and spiritual — as well as a love of teaching. The churches where I have served will unanimously attest to both my teaching gifts and my pastoral deficiencies. I have evangelized because it was required of me. I have visited the sick and shut-ins because Holy Writ had thus enjoined me. I have blessed the baked beans, consecrated the babies, immersed the repentant, and interred the dead. At times there has been a sense that this work of mine was a holy calling. At others, I have felt something like a medicine man full of pious, rote incantations and mesmerizing magic.
What I do know — the thing that is truly in my belly — is politics. Not only in the practical art but in the abstract theory. As I have said on numerous occasions, the only difference between a Baptist pastor and a politician is in the intellectual honesty of the politician. He will announce unashamedly the nature of his craft. A Baptist pastor, on the other hand, must pretend as if he gets his every order straight from the Almighty.
A few weeks hence I will conclude a chapter of my life. I will resume the ecclesial retreat I commenced four years ago, assured that some of my goals in denominational life have been met while others remain a distant dream. I leave, however, with a few observations, reservations, and predictions about the Southern Baptist Convention and the personalities who have driven her to the precipice of irrelevance. To enumerate all of these would require more time than I am willing to commit, though I will offer a few.
1. The SBC will not look the same ten years from now. This is immediately obvious on the surface. Paige Patterson is not immortal, and the mongrel theologians he has sired through thirty years of doctrinal inbreeding will not be able to carry the movement he energized once his has received his eternal reward. Already the brightest of his protégés are distancing themselves from his ever-narrowing agenda. Already, Al Mohler’s influence is surpassing the Pattersons’. The climbing enrollment at Southern Seminary is perhaps the greatest example of Patterson’s diminished ability to raise up his denominational “green berets.” When Southwestern’s convention booths have had motorcycles and camouflage netting and other silly gimicks, Southern’s looks respectable, academic, and appealing. The students have noticed the difference, and have moved toward Louisville in increasing number.
2. My book, which is near completion, will not become required reading at any Southern Baptist seminary, but it will be read more thoroughly than most required texts. The working title, “A Hill on Which To Kill,” might not survive editorial oversight, and I will take the next several months to rework and reword a few sections myself.
3. The IMB policies regarding tongues and baptism will not be repealed by the trustees, but it won’t matter. They will be applied with the same consistency and intensity that Southern Baptist seminaries apply their policies that all students abstain from the consumption of alcoholic beverages. I have found humorous the numbers of Southwestern students alone that have met me off campus to discuss the controversy, or give me some tip, or ask some question over a pint of lager or other illegal libation. Like Nicodemus in the night, they have escaped the Pharisaical cloister to experience the freedom of the gospel. Were I to release their names — which I will not — the enrollment of the Fort Worth seminary might suffer an even greater downturn. That is, of course, if the president was consistent. Most of us know by now, however, that he is not.
4. Johnny Hunt will have as much success bringing “younger pastors” into the SBC as Andy Stanley has bringing “older pastors” to his Catalyst conference. The convention is experiencing an antetransjordanian cull, if you will. The generation that left Egypt will die off, indeed they must die off before something better can come to fruition.
5. The cry among many Southern Baptists for a less restrictive statement of faith is rooted in a hunger for a more apostolic Christianity. Look for new churches to adopt the ancient creeds as their confessional framework rather than those of late 20th century genesis.
When I landed in Indianapolis for the annual meeting this past June, I was overwhelmed by a sense of nostalgia. For a decade and four I have attended the Southern Baptist Convention. I’ve mastered the convention polity. I’ve memorized the bylaws. I’ve drafted many more motions and resolutions than those reflected in the annual reports. It has been a fun learning experience, but I have determined that the SBC is better without me, and I without it.
I’ve experienced things that few men my age experience. I’ve received an education that seminary cannot provide. And through it all I’ve seen Baptists at their worst and their best. When a man reaches 30 years of age, he has choices to make. I have determined that I will not be among the many 50 year old pastors who look back on their lives and wish they’d taken a different course. Today, when young men and women tell me they feel “called” to the ministry, I grieve. And then I remember that most seminarians do not see what I’ve seen, hear what I’ve heard, or smell what I’ve smelled inside the rotten gut of denominational power.
Disenchanted? Perhaps. Disinterested? Almost. Disengaged? Absolutely.
And with this, I bid you adieu. No more blogging at SBCOutpost. No more resolutions or motions or messenger cards. No more vituperative indictments of bloated bureaucrats or zealous advocacy for denominational reform. A mind, they say, is a terrible thing to waste.
I will not waste mine any longer. At least I hope I won’t.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I probably have a library of twenty books about the CR from all angles. I don’t think my library would be complete without your upcoming book. I’ll be keeping an eye out for it when it comes out.
Personally, I believe the CR was necessary. However, there is still some unfinished business regarding cooperation that has to be addressed within SBC life.
I don’t know if some of the polarization going on now is a logical outgrowth of the CR or not.
I envision a bright future — one combining bedrock fidelity to scripture coupled with growth and cooperation. There have been some signs in the last year that gives me reason for that optimism. Secifically, I’ve been impressed by the writings of Dr. Akin and Dr. Mohler. They are on the right track.
Roger Simpson
Oklahoma City OK
July 11th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
You’re not alone…I know many other young pastors, including myself, that are heading in the same direction. My loyalty is to Christ and not a denomination.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Ben,
I don’t know you but I have read you over the past couple of years.
God speed in your future endeavors.
In two months I will become a fifty-year-old pastor. There are few things I regret. One of them is that I’ve wasted even a moment worrying about the future of the SBC in light of the fundamentalist takeover of 1979-present.
I think that you see the politics of the SBC clearly. I also think that you see the future of the SBC through glasses that have at least one rose-colored lens in them.
Regardless of the crudeness or slickness of the presentation, the hierarchy and institutions of the SBC are all about supposed orthodoxy and very little about the life-changing, heartwarming personal relationship with the living Jesus that really matters.
What a shame.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:51 am
Indianapolis was kind of like that for me, too, this year. I grew into manhood there, met Peg, began a career, and had children there. So, while it was good to be back there, the reasons why it was good simply weren’t there any more.
It’s a lot like going back to the convention hotel a week after it’s over. The buildings are the same, the young lady who served us in the Sports Grille was the same, but it was just .. well .. not the same.
Thus it shall now be, with the SBC. And yes, I know that Act One has to end before Act Two can start, and Act Two’ll be good in its own right. But it’ll still be a little sad. Bittersweet, if you will.
So, let the “I told you so’s” begin.
From all sides.
Have fun and in the immortal words of John Calvin, Good Luck.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:51 am
I do know you and I’ll miss you in SBC life. Well, as much as I will be involved myself.
I’m glad that the world is flat and technology can keep us all close despite the distance.
I appreciate what you did and why. I pray your life will be productive.
July 12th, 2008 at 1:11 am
Oh yes … “A Hill On Which To Kill” is a super title.
July 12th, 2008 at 1:56 am
I’ve enjoyed reading your observations from time to time. You are very talented, and I wish you all the best.
July 12th, 2008 at 2:06 am
God bless you, my brother in Christ.
July 12th, 2008 at 4:57 am
I guess over at SBC Today they are
popping the cork, err…pulling the tab, uhm…drinking Kool Aid, aww forget it.All the best to you Ben. Thanks for a final word of candor.
I hope you won’t as well.
July 12th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Brother Marty,
SBC Today is never happy to see anyone leave. Especially with the root of bitterness growing in such a sharp mind.
Tim
July 12th, 2008 at 6:33 am
Tim-
Spoken like a true judge. Since Ben has not admitted to bitterness, how can you possibly assign it to him?
July 12th, 2008 at 7:03 am
Tim: That statement is how unfounded gossip gets spread. Aren’t you tired of backbiting?
July 12th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Ben’s story cannot be separated from that of his seminary. From all accounts, Southwestern was a worthy place to learn. Hopefully Ben’s efforts have accelerated the necessary waltz through Sinai which it must complete so that one day it can begin to heal and rebuild. Let’s hope a complete generational pruning will not be required.
Write on, and live on, Ben. Six or so million of us will be waiting at the other end of your next time of learning and growth.
July 12th, 2008 at 8:11 am
The condition we find the SBC in today is the natural and unavoidable result of the CR. Frankly, I didn’t think it would take this long but it was entirely predictable. I said more than 25 years ago that the question driving the CR, “Who is liberal?” could not help but become, “who is conservative enough?”
What was sown has been reaped and one of God’s fields for growing harvesters has been nuked and the fallout will make it useless for years to come.
July 12th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Ben,
I like you. Whether it’s your candor, humor, sharp mind, or any number of things that just seem to cause me to like you, I like you.
I will miss your insights. I suppose I should give the ever present “I don’t agree with all you say” statement but, for crying out loud, I even like our disagreemnts together.
I will vote for you. I know you’re not running for anything and will probably wind up getting the rest of us to vote on things intellengently, so, I say it now, you have my vote on whatever. That’s because behind that sharp mind, candor, humor or grumpiness [only at football games] there is a good heart.
So, I will say it, I love you and will always choose to feed our friendship. Thanks for that friendship with me and so many others.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Make that “intelligently” and I’ll feel a whole lot more like the “intelligensia” I really am.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I left the SBC in 1990. Best decision I ever made. Having discarded my Southern Baptist blinders, I discovered a church full of (gasp) Christians!
Godspeed, Ben, and may the GraceForce be with you.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Paul,
When I was an insurance salesman, my boss told me “It’s a lot more important that you know how to sel than spel.”
Amen. You know how to sel.
July 12th, 2008 at 10:07 am
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog and I wish you well in school.
One comment concerning this sentence, “Today, when young men and women tell me they feel “called” to the ministry, I grieve.”
I understand what you mean and I hate to see a young missionary or pastor chewed up by the machine, so I encourage them early on to serve Christ first and not the denomination. He is the one who calls and equips and it is to Him alone that we serve, regardless of denominational affiliation.
I pray that the one lesson we take from all of this is that as followers of Christ we are part of a larger Body of the redeemed of all ages and we have a Head, Christ, who we must serve.
God bless you.
Grace and peace,
Bill
July 12th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Good riddance you heathen glory seeker. Go get your doctorate from the most liberal baptist garbage heap in the land. I see nothing of Christ in you. Better that you go plant yourself with the tares where you belong.
But, on a more serious note. My views of the fuddy-duddies in the pews are quite commensurate with your views of the SBC as a whole. I am embroiled with a few old-timers in power at a small association here in Missouri and as such am moving my church away from this primitive form of cooperation and aligning myself with those churches which seek to make disciples around the world. The church universal will always be exactly the salt and light which was determined providentially to carry the Gospel. Also, antithetically speaking, the church local will always be full of a mixture of wheat and tares and its work will always be imperfect and will never fully give even a fraction of the glory due to God. I have, however, come to love the imperfect sheep in my flock, trying always to understand my own imperfections. I DO desire the office of the Pastorate even though some days I’d rather preach with a 2×4
But my job is to lead the lost to Christ through the preaching of the Gospel and to help them to become more life Christ through increasing biblical holiness.
It’s a messy job.
I have been praying that God would allow me to join an extreme team with the IMB. I think that might be easier
tata
July 12th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Somehow I just knew this was all CB Scott’s fault.
July 12th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Ben,
Like most of your faithful readers, I always waited with anticipation for your remarks and thoughts, and will miss you (I will be watching for your book. BTW - who is publishing it?) I do not know you personally, but when I heard your interview with Bruce Prescott a few months ago, I was impressed with your wit, sincerity, and intellectual depth and honesty. It is a shame that the SBC is losing men like you, but it the inevitable fruit of fundamentalism. History has shown that fundamentalism CANNOT tolerate those who are willing to question authority and apply reason and honest inquiry to every issue. Fundamentalism REQUIRES mindless minions (and there are plenty of those around). History will also show fundamentalism to be the eventual unraveling and death of the SBC as we once knew it (I don’t expect it to die anytime soon as an organization - but I think we can already say - “Iachbod”) .
I wish you all the best and will hold you up in prayer as you seek God’s will for your life and ministry. I know that He will use you to make a difference for good and for the Kingdom!
God bless you, brother.
July 12th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Sorry - that should be “Ichabod”
July 12th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
My friend: It has been a privilege and an honor to know you, and for you to serve as my minister.
Thank you for all you have been to our church, my family and to me.
Now, do the politicians know what they are in for? I doubt it.
July 12th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I just wonder if the majority of the people here are really reading what was written? There is nothing Christian in his name calling and slap at honest ministers and … you get my point.
July 12th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Ben Cole -
“A Hill On Which To Kill” is a good title, but give Clyde Glaezner the credit; I heard it from him in 2003. I believe that the phrase was coined alomst immediately following Pressler’s book.
Hope all goes well, you’ll do well in politics - just don’t lose yourself there.
Ben Macklin
July 12th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Ben,
We’ll miss your wit and candor.
Tim,
You just couldn’t resist, could you? You really need to get a grip.
Les
July 12th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I am a friend and one who shares some of the same feelings as you. I wish I could post my name but doing so may cost me my job. Crazy that such stuff goes on in SBC Life today!
I will miss you dearly! You are one of the voices the SBC so desperately needs. Without voices like yours, those in power can continue to play their politics with no interference.
My prayer is that God raises someone else up who will continue to bring to light the abuses of powers that be.
July 12th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Ben, Glad you see that ministry is not a profession. I hope you are old enough and wise enough to know that all you witnessed first hand is not of Christ…has nothing to do with Christ…except a bunch of men using His name for personal advancement.
(Save the rebukes, boys and girls. I call them as I see them)
“Already, Al Mohler’s influence is surpassing the Pattersons’.”
In the SBC? Or nationally? Word on the street is that he is looking for a more national position. He has kind of outgrown us and there is really no where for him to climb. And he is a guy who likes power.
Besides, he has his Talibaptists lined up to keep the women in subordination with Ware and Moore and his henchman York to snuff out any disagreement. They loaded the committees with their young unthinking subordinate wives, and are even bringing in young loyal sycophants in high level jobs (Dean at Boyce) as a reward, so everything is in place. For generations. That is his influence. And we will be the worse off for it.
Al can move on to war with the culture with some national organization for even bigger bucks.
In other news, friends of Mohler are even taking Baptist out of the church name. Noblitt at FBC Muscle Shoals is changing their name because, as they say, they don’t want people to identify them with the SBC.
Mohler is not Baptist. We all missed that for a long time. He is somewhere between Presbyterian and Mormon.
BTW: That CB Scott is good at playing both sides. :o)
It is a good time to go, Ben. Looking forward to the book. Then a whole new chapter for you. You have had your internship in one of the most political organizations in the US. You know how the game is played. And you learned from the master how to keep coming back from failure.
I just hope you DON’T play the same game.
July 12th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Ben,
You have gathered quite a following in your Quest to Expose the Truth for all to see how Corrupt, the Powers To Be have become since the CR started. When all is revealed as God allows and will continue to do in the Near Future, everyone one will realize what a Prophet you have been in this Day and Age. Jesus never stopped short of Pointing out the Misdeeds of the Pharisees. I also know how much it must Hurt You that some so Called Friends have disserted you and Joined in with the BI Gang. I know that God has a Special Purpose for One of whom He has Gifted Much. I Pray God Lifts up Your Spirits and that God gives the BI Gang Eyes to See and Ears to Hear, so that they may know what Truth really is.
Wayne Smith
July 12th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I am still wondering why no one has said much of the entities that did not report their budgets and salaries. Do we have no accountability with this issue. Will this be in the book?
July 12th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
One must wonder if all of this foolishness about our fine convention is just that…foolishness.
When we get entangled in pointless pursuits and personal political pundantry while forgetting the ministerial imperative we get a politically driven, Kingdom fogotten group of people. I wonder if any talk about the call of God on our lives to ministry, the call of God on our lives to self-sacrifice will return to the center.
Anybody can write books. There is so much literary tripe out in our Lifeway stores it is proof of that statement. Only few can remain faithful to the call of God to capture this world for His Kingdom.
While we can postulate and opinionate about any position, why do we feel the need to get entangled in these pointless pursuits that pull our energies from reaching and winning and redirect them into retching and whining? Let the politicans politic, become the change in the pastorate where you are called. Our convention is a confederation of autonomous churches that meet exclusively for cooperation in missions. Why let the larger issues cloud your calling?
We need to see more people won to Christ and less lines drawn in the sand. There is so much more that unites us than divides us.
You are the Church!
R.A.
July 13th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Ben,
You are a pleasure of insight and conviction. I will miss your devil may care honesty. Even some of the craziness you have laid on us.
So, you have a following of persons who appreciate your literary abilities. Therefore, you cannot just go silent with your gifts.
Change subjects, whatever. But keep writing. Start another blog and let us know. We want to continue to enjoy your comments on whatever. You have been and still are “called” whether you like it or not.
It has been a pleasure that I do not want to end. Blessings to you.
July 13th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Robert Angison:
Let’s ask my missionary friend who was forced out of IMB service over the new guidelines and requirements if all this talk is foolishness. Ask him, and those like him, if it is “personal political (I believe you meant “punditry”)” and a pointless pursuit.
You also seem to have presumed that those involved in the “movement” are neglecting the other duties of the Christian. Perhaps that might be true for you, but no one should smear all with that brush.
I suppose someone said something like your comment to Martin Luther and the other reformers. I’m glad they didn’t listen, if so.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Godspeed, my friend. Never look back.
July 13th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Shalom, Ben.
You’ve discovered why we moderates lost the struggle. It wasn’t because we loved God or the scriptures less than the Patterson-Presslerites. It was because we weren’t willing to engage in the ugliness and keep up the fight. Personally, the fight was destroying my spirit and moving me away from God.
I think you will also find that as long as the SBC affirms the fundamentalist takeover, reform and revival can’t take place. You can’t expect godly fruit from ungodly methods. If this repentance doesn’t take place, the SBC won’t die. It will just continue to shrivel and fracture, as it’s doing now.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Ben,
Grace and peace. I’ve found your posts some of the most amusing on these boards. You’re a great ringmaster looking for a circus. Let’s hope your academic pursuits go better than your last two. Just remember that your brothers and sisters in the Academy will not be as easy to fool as the country pastors in rural America. God’s speed.
July 13th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Well, I’ve enjoyed many of your posts and we’ve waited a while for this. And how pathetic it has turned out to be.
The freedom of the gospel is drinking lager off campus?
The only difference between a Baptist pastor and a politician is in the intellectual honesty of the politician?
Today, when young men and women tell me they feel “called” to the ministry, I grieve?
This has been a very disappointing end, Ben. I fear that you have fought a short fight, dropped out of the race and not kept much, if any, of the faith. I wonder what’s in store?
July 13th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
No one has apparently written a reliable history of the CR that I recall. Ben’s a writer… Hmmm….
Has anyone figured out who the Patterson-Presslerites targeted first, secondly, and so on? What in their background pointed them to vengeful personal destruction as a practice of their religion?
Who was there when they discovered Inerrancy as a can’t-lose crusade? What could our intrepid reported find out.
And whatever happened to that portable typewriter of hers?
July 13th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
“Evangelical Orthodoxy” your the fool.
July 13th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
rsc-
From Thomas Clay, minister of music at FBC Muscle Shoals:
“Contrary to rumors, we have not left the SBC. We have not been kicked out of the SBC. We are merely repenting of using the name “First Baptist” when our church was never the first Southern Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals. That distinction belongs to First Southern Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals who will now be able to be free from any confusion regarding the name.
We also believe that the new name will help us to define what we are rather than what we are not. The name “Baptist” has certainly taken on some negative connotations in today’s society. In truth, I believe our church is the most faithful to its baptist roots and historicity.”
July 13th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
“Contrary to rumors, we have not left the SBC. We have not been kicked out of the SBC. We are merely repenting of using the name “First Baptist” when our church was never the first Southern Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals. That distinction belongs to First Southern Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals who will now be able to be free from any confusion regarding the name.”
Sorry Lucas but I heard the sermon about the name change. It may still be in the archives. Maybe not. They kept one Sunday night sermon about all of this off the archive. In any event, the seromn certainly did not sound like that paragraph!
Too bad we can’t all agree on Baptist roots. Mine were hiding out in caves away from the magistrates. Noblitts WERE the magistrates! :o)
July 14th, 2008 at 7:01 am
rsc -
I could not find anything in the archives either. I’ll keep looking. Doesn’t matter though. There are hundreds of non-reformed SBC and other baptist churches (even moderates) that are dropping the “baptist” from their name every year. So this is hardly something you can pin on reformed baptists which you seem to insinuate. Personally, I think calling your church “The Church at (city/region name)” or similar is more consistent with the early church model. Not that I am dogmatic about this, but it seems to me wearing the name “baptist” like it is some badge of honor smacks of man-centered pride. The credo distinctive was much more salient at the time we broke off from the Congregationalists and Presbyterians, but it’s pretty far down the list of apologetic issues today. We have far too many critical issues in common with those denominations (i.e. defense of the gospel) to keep lamenting who were the hunters and the hunted in Geneva 500 years ago.
I am perfectly content with letting the CBF & BWA types of the world carry on the “Baptist Heritage” banner. *yawn*
July 14th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I’m saddened by your comments about pastors. Perhaps you’re right that you should never have been one, but I hope you recognize the beauty of God’s plan when someone is genuinely called to ministry.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:55 am
I’ve suspected that the solution is to give the most hateful people more and more control. Eventually, they would wreck things and everyone else would reach a tipping point. No one follows Elmer Gantry forever.
The more immediate solution is to defund the seminary schools.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:18 am
ha!
Country Pastor in Rural America:
“‘your’ the fool”
classic!
July 14th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Ben,
I am sorry to hear that you will no longer be blogging. Your information and insight was valuable and usually accurate no matter how colorfully presented. That was because you had actually lived in the belly of the beast and come out alive. While I would not agree with the ”need for temporary suspension of the ethical,” I whole heartedly agree” to stick a hog, you have to get in the mud. You have to be willing to expose, confront, accuse, and substantiate. You have to be willing to say publicly what most Southern Baptists in-the-know say privately. You have to stop whispering and start shouting.”
I felt your understanding of the current status of the conservative resurgence was in deep contrast to your lack of knowledge of the SBC in the years before the CR and the early years of the CR. I had attributed that to your age and the fact you were not there until I read you statements in Part 1. You spoke of meeting men like Russell Kaemmerling, and Olin Collins and hearing their stories about liberals and how the convention was saved. Then I knew why you were so misinformed. Would you believe these men if they lectured you on ethics or finance? Why would you believe anything they said about the SBC or the Conservative Resurgence? Were these your mentors?
You and C.B. Scott have said that the conservative resurgence was about theology. While it may be true that for some supporters of the resurgence it was about theology, the conservative resurgence was always about power, control and money. I don’t know what happened at SEBTS that turned C.B. into a critic or what happened between you and Paige Patterson that turned you into the rabid opponent you are but the facts you discovered were no different than what many of us saw in 1979 and after. Many of us recognized it then and spoke out but there were no blogs then and most did not realize the carnal nature of the resurgence until it was too late.
I will not join you in leaving the SBC. I will stand with others like Wade Burleson who have decided to stay and speak the truth. You stated that the convention was composed of pastors. If you are talking about the meeting each year, it is true that it is mostly pastors. To me the Southern Baptist Convention is the churches. That is why I will stay. There are still many great churches. That is where our strength is. It is not the seminaries and not even the mission boards although that is the heart of the convention.
I will stay because I have been given the great honor by Southern Baptists to represent them as a missionary of the FMB/IMB and serve with some of the greatest servants of God it has been my privilege to know. I will not turn my back on them. It is interesting that after 30 years of Conservative Resurgence rule or misrule, the missionaries I served with in 1979 were just as conservative theologically, just as dedicated to the proclamation of the gospel and just as sound missiologicaly as those I serve with today.
I will look forward to reading a signed copy of your book and hope to gain more insight into your journey through the Pressler-Patterson mine fields.
July 14th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Well written Ron.
Dwight McKissic and I, like you, are also convinced that the SBC only changes when men speak the truth and steadfastly remain part and parcel of the cooperative mission efforts of Southern Baptists.
I believe that many involved in the Conservative Resurgence in the 1980’s, like me, believed it was an issue of the nature and sufficiency of the Word of God.
But now, having seen several current leaders of the SBC demand conformity on interpretations of the sacred text, and even prohibit that which the Bible explicitly says ‘Do NOT prohibit,’ I am beginning to believe your assertion that at least some who participated in the CR did so for money, power and control.
The difference between us and others who may have come to the same conclusion - at various times along their journey of faith - is that we are staying to bring about change.
In His Grace,
Wade
July 14th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Personally, the fight was destroying my spirit and moving me away from God.
This too was happening to me. I decided then, too go in a different direction with my blogging, and post what I believe, the social issues that confront us that we as Christians can do something about, in order to replace the lies with the truth.
at least some who participated in the CR did so for money, power and control.
That is exactly what I found in my researching. It was the exact point I was attempting to get across.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Having experienced the blunt end of the CR, I can testify that it sure felt like it was about money, power and control
July 14th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Ben,
This is not at all the “Exit Strategy” that I had expected… however it is the same exit strategy that many of the younger generation of Southern Baptist are taking nowadays in every increasing numbers.
A Silent Exodus is taking place in the SBC and those who say otherwise are just kidding themselves. And most who are leaving are not even bothering to say goodbye, as you have done… they are just checking out and leaving the keys on the desk.
My church has all but left the SBC… we now cooperate only at the local association level and who knows how much longer we will keep even this tentative connection to the SBC… Like you, we have become disillusioned with what much of the SBC has come to represent.
I feel like the Ex Southern Conservative Democrat who was ask why he left the Democratic Party… His reply simply was “I did not leave the Democratic Party; the Democratic Party left me!”
In much the same way… when the Fundamentalist and the Landmark Baptist took over the IMB and the Florida Baptist Convention anointed Bishop Sullivan to rule over them… “I did not leave the Southern Baptist Convention; the Southern Baptist Convention left me!”
Good luck to you Ben!
Grace Always,
July 14th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
On a positive note, once your book is finished maybe someone will review it. And then we won’t have to wonder into eternity why it was that SBC Outpost had an entire tab category called “Book Reviews” to hold one solitary post.
On a further humorous note, I mentioned the title of this post to someone to which they responded “What? You need a four year exit strategy to get out of the SBC?!” Whether this response was one of fear or wit, I could not tell.
A few comments by item:
#2: I want an autographed copy … with handwritten summary on the inside back cover of the important points for reference in writing my blog review.
#3. Don’t forget, there is also the freedom “not” to drink alcohol … and so I stand by my position in the debate.
#5. What is apostolic Christianity? Shoot, you have to go and leave off blogging right when I need an ancillary explanatory primer to your post.
Oh, one final thing … thanks for the magic of those blessed baked beans. By it, our fellowship grew.
My prayer for you as you continue on to new venues of influence is that all will find you to be a man of your word … strive for this in all your dealings, that none need doubt a statement, promise, or oath made by you will be kept to the nth detail. Fail not in this, and you will not fail.
July 14th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
As I consider the CR, and all the talk about leaving the Convention, the conflict, and who’s in power, one thing occurs to me. That being, when we talk here, we almost by default have concluded that talking about this and challenging each other to speak the truth IS somehow going to bring real change. But who speaks up for silence? Where is the voice for those who have come to the conclusion that all we are doing is stirring up a mound of manure here? Sure it stinks, but maybe the answer is to let those in power simply have their day and forget it. After all, the sovereignty of God is limitless. So where’s the risk?
July 14th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Ben,
In case your exit hasn’t happened yet and you’re reading comments in this thread: I’ve read almost everything you’ve written at the more popular blogsite during the past 2 years. I have to admit–as if it matters–that I’ve agreed with much of what you’ve said, disagreed much with how you’ve said some of it, and appreciated a great deal your willingness to take on big issues among us and to right obvious wrongs.
There haven’t been many like you in my 20 years of ministry; none are on the horizon and headed this way, from what I can see. When you’re gone, so is almost every informed and intelligent effort still to correct the errors your posting above mentioned. In the end, that won’t matter–the Lord Jesus doesn’t need your help or anyone else’s–but it’s a bit alarming that no one else who shares the view of what the SBC is supposed to be which you apparently do is standing up now.
I can’t see anywhere in the Bible that God un-calls those He’s called to vocational ministry. If He didn’t call you into the ministry, then the ministry isn’t where you belong–but another great future (which can be politics, truthfully) waits for you. A fellow can’t be a hireling; the father of the prodigal son made him come home the same way he left–as a son–because a hireling could leave again. Become a politician only if you can be a son of it; remain in the ministry if you’re a son of it, like the rest of us.
I’m looking forward to the release of your book–please don’t take too long to finish it, OK? (Anyone reading here whose name might appear in that book in a bad light reported honestly might want to provide a little balance by contacting Ben soon.)
Hope to meet you sometime in the future.
July 14th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Ben,
I enjoyed out time together at SWBTS. I am anxious to read your book. I wonder when you will invite me over for some homemade spanish rice? You did learn from the best you know. All the best my friend, and you are going to be in a place that only God could have allowed you to go. Lucy and I knew from the first study session we had, that you were on your way to somewhere great! The SBC will miss you!
July 14th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Ben, I thank you and a very few others for relating that the CR/Fundamentalist Takeover was partly about theology; all most of us ever saw about it was the power and thirst - no, lust for control over money and all that comes with money.
Some of us have wondered where that carload of liberals actually went off to after the bats were put away and the glass replaced in the windows.
One might compare the CR to the rabid frenzy of a shark which, after tearing apart a hundred pollock, sea bass, and other food fish, finally pauses to actually eat a few pieces before they all fall out of sight.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:41 am
I left another denomination and came to SBC. Where will you go?
July 15th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Let me say first of all, rarely (if ever) did I agree with what you wrote. However, I am not upset or rejoicing as many of my blogging friends are. Some are upset about the parting shots at Dr. and Mrs. Patterson, but I am not upset or surprised. Some are rejoicing that your “Exit Strategy” has finally taken place, but I am not.
To be honest Ben, I thought I would rejoice; but reading this post hurt me. I don’t see an “Exit Strategy”… I see a quitter. You are quitting your attacks (thank the Lord), you are quitting blogging, you are quitting the SBC, and you are quitting the ministry for of all things… the more honest profession of politics!?
Brother Ben, I am praying that you will not be that 50 year old man who looks back and wishes he had taked a different course. However, trading in the most noble of professions for politics does not give me much hope.
Will I miss the bickering? No.
Will I miss the blogging? Perhaps some.
Will I miss the brother in Christ? Yes.
Know this Ben… there is at least one theologically conservative pastor and believer in the CR… that is praying for you and for your future.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Hey:
What happened to the comment I posted yesterday? I was somewhere around number 52 or so?
Who removed it and why?
Or I am just computer challenged again?
I sure hope if it was removed that it was an accident. You guys have traditionally been ‘free speech’ types.
Please advise.
Louis
July 15th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Ben, you remind me of the old one-liner: “He taught me everything I know, but he sure didn’t teach me everything HE knows.”
As someone who’s seen under the tent enough to know, thanks for the restraint I know you’ve shown in what you’ve stated about various people and actions in the CR and SBC goings-on.
Someday perhaps all the naysayers will understand that.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
When I read stuff like this, I am more thankful than ever that I am not in the ministry as a vocation. I am even more thankful that I attend an SBC chruch that takes no part in any SBC politics while also being solidlyl conservative. If a mission organization supports women pastors homosexual “tolerance” we simply don’t support that organization because, after all what fellowship does light have with darkness. Most of all, I am thanksful for God’s word which is inerrant and is His perfect revealation. I prasie Him for the mercy He shouwed in saving me and the mercy he continues to show by allowing me to understand His word.
July 15th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Please excuse the double post. I noticed a ton of typos and I wanted to fix them before they were pointed out. I humbly offer my corrections below.
When I read stuff like this, I am more thankful than ever that I am not in the ministry as a vocation. I am even more thankful that I attend an SBC chruch that takes no part in any SBC politics while also being solidly conservative. If a mission organization supports women pastors or homosexual “tolerance” we simply don’t support that organization because, after all what fellowship does light have with darkness? Most of all, I am thanksful for God’s word which is inerrant and is His perfect revealation. I praise Him for the mercy He showed in saving me and the mercy he continues to show by allowing me to understand His word.
Thanks for letting me fix that.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Ben,
I will be praying for you - and, I do mean that. If there is one thing that I can say about you, it is that you were always honest when it came to your allegations. That is the part that people do not want to admit.
Godspeed, Ben.
July 16th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Ben,
You must do what you must do. I pray you will reconsider. The cause is worth a lifetime. When the “seachange” comes and it will in HIS time, we will need men like you to lead the way into the future.
I believe it was Churchill, a pretty good politician in his day who said:
“Never, never, never give up!”
God’s Speed,
David Lowrie
July 16th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
But Churchill expected, someday, to win. Some battles are unwinnable.
July 16th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
To the editors,
Do you intend to continue Outpost and if so, do you see a change in direction? I believe there is potential but at this point its like oil in Alaska…untapped.
John in St. Louis
July 17th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Churchill expected to win the war TOGETHER, not all by himself or with his nation’s efforts alone.
It’d be dumb for anyone to think that Ben or Wade or Marty or whoever has to win this “war” alone, too. Who knows how many people read this blogsite–if a unified effort by them/us is maintained, with some wise individual/s like those mentioned in the lead, what can be done? Didn’t we see a hint of that during the past 2 years?
The New Testament encourages believers not to grow weary in well-doing. Some of our leaders have worn-out; they need to rest-up and get back into the struggle for what is right!
The question: is thing important enough to fight for, or is it not? If it isn’t, no one should waste his time; if it is, why would anyone give up trying to get it done?
July 17th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Jesus also occasionally prescribed what John Oman called the “sacrament of failure.” Sometimes you have to shake the dust off your feet and go somewhere else.
July 17th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
@ Louis:
I don’t know what happened to your comment, but there is no comment awaiting moderation and to my knowledge none that have been deleted. Sorry about that, but you’re welcome to try again.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Do none of you sycophants shudder at his mentioning the suspension of the ethical? Does it not bother you that he thinks pastors are by definition liars?
I think this post confirms what many have thought about Mr. Cole all along.
July 17th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
“Does it not bother you that he thinks pastors are by definition liars?”
We should never generalize. tsk tsk, Ben. But check this out. Some of them even get their friends to do their dirty work. You gotta wonder why Patterson is still worried about the Klouda situation and gets Brunson to help him pour salt in Klouda’s wounds;
http://fbcjaxwatchdog.blogspot.com/
These guys are thugs.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
“tsk tsk”? Perhaps the suspension of the ethical is par for the course you boys play on.
But, quick, change the subject! Let’s talk about Patterson and Brunson!
Pointing a finger at the publican didn’t make the Pharisee any less guilty. Hypocrites. Doesn’t matter which party you belong to. You’re all the same.
The SBC would be - will be - better off without the whole lot of you.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
It sure has been better off without me!
July 18th, 2008 at 7:52 am
“But, quick, change the subject! Let’s talk about Patterson and Brunson!”"
Why not? They are around doing lots of damage to poor innocent folk like Klouda while living high on the hog on tithe dollars. (I can understand why it is uncomfortable for you to talk about them)
They love gals like you. Just send the money, ask NO uncomfortable questions, know your place and you will be fine.
July 18th, 2008 at 11:01 am
“I can understand why it is uncomfortable for you to talk about them. … They love gals like you. Just send the money, ask NO uncomfortable questions, know your place and you will be fine.”
“gals like you”? A woman might take that as chauvinist prejudice, if it wasn’t coming from someone as “enlightened” as you. You seem to be able to divine an awful lot about a “gal like me” without actually knowing anything about me.
Seems to me maybe you’re the one who has trouble with people who question you. Like Patterson, you guys could use a good dose of “consider others better than yourself” humility. And I won’t even get started on how far you boys fall short of “love your enemies.”
If you are the cure for the SBC, then the cure is worse than the disease.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
There is no cure for the SBC, because it caught a terminal disease in the late 70’s.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
# 70, 72, &75…. I have read your comments carefully and went to your website….. You are a complete contradiction of yourself. You seem to be defending Patterson, his cronies, and all the damage they did during their still ongoing crusade. Do you even know what you stand for????
July 18th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
As to pastors and lying, Dr. Patterson referred to the reporting of 16+ million members, against 6.5 million attenders, “lying to ourselves and to the public…”.
I presume all Dr. Patterson’s supporters will “AMEN” that, and indirectly, Mr. Cole’s assertions.
July 18th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Yes, elizajane, I know what I stand for. That site is a celebration of being freed from the hypocrisy of legalism. But just because a person recognizes the lies of legalism doesn’t mean they have a lock on the truth themselves. And from what I have read in the posts and like-minded comments on this blog over the lamentable months since Rev. Duren vacated the premises, if Patterson and his ilk were to suddenly die off, there would be plenty of arrogant know-it-alls waiting to take their place.
The spirit of the posts and comments in this space are as unChristian as anything I have ever heard from the political fundamentalists. That Ben Cole could confess what he did above and be cheered by this crowd speaks volumes about their spiritual condition.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
adios, sbcoutpost.
i’ve enjoyed the thought-provoking posts the last 12-18 months but i think it’s time for me to say goodbye. not that i’ll be missed!
auf Wiedersehen.
byron.
July 19th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Yawn…
July 19th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Eileen Carroll,
You might thinnk about what you write as criticism after you make a comment unless you believe it okay to call the men making comment as “boys,”
“’tsk tsk”? Perhaps the suspension of the ethical is par for the course you boys play on.”
If you can call us boys, can we not call you “gal” or would “girls” be better?
Of far greater weight to me is the attitude you seem to have of just throwing anyone away who happens to disagree with you and with those you seem to support. I think those on the social progressive venue are just as important as those on the political right venue. If we only want to retain those in the SBC who never question anything the hierarchy does or only those with whom we always agree, I am afraid we will only have a very narrow and ungodly small SBC. The Roman Catholic tried to do away with all you disagreed with them. You may have heard of the Inquisition.
Phil
July 19th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
The last line should read, “The Roman Catholic Church…”
Phil
July 20th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Important ministry-related side note:
160 Texas teenagers and 30 adult sponsors are flying from DFW Airport to Tokyo, Japan tomorrow (July 21) with iWitness Ministries’ staff for 10 days of evangelism in that city. The team is attending orientation this weekend in preparation for culturally-relevant gospel-sharing among the Japanese of Tokyo.
Your prayers for the Tokyo 2008 Mission team’s safe travels and success in planting/watering/harvesting are much appreciated by their parents and churches!
More about iWitness Ministries here: http://www.igoglobal.org/.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:18 am
The “boys” reference was sarcasm, Mr. Ratliff. That’s the coin of the realm on SBC Outpost, isn’t it?
I don’t know who you think I support. I’ve made it clear how low my opinion is of the legalists and political fundamentalists.
And I’m not posting criticisms because anyone here disagrees with me. I’m posting because Ben Cole publicly confessed that for the past four years he has been living under a “suspension of the ethical” and that he believes all pastors are by definition liars - and the groupies on this blog praise him for it.
We don’t just disagree about some secondary point of theology. Your idol has admitted he’s no better than the hypocrite he’s been fighting, and the most severe comment he has gotten from his cheerleading squad was a tongue in cheek “tsk tsk.”
That’s appalling, especially from a group of people who have been presenting themselves as wanting something higher and better for the SBC.
Truth is, no one here had to suspend ethics to get down and dirty with Paige Patterson. You were already at his level.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 am
Ben,
I made my exit almost 2 years ago. In the words of that great Scottish Christian William Wallace “FREEEEEEEEEEDOM”!!!!!!!!
Peace……..
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Eileen,
Where have you been all these months? You just articulated what I, and my guess is many others, feel.
I am no Patterson apologist and believe there is need for great reform in our convention, but I also don’t believe that the way to get there is through the arrogant tone Cole and his followers display at times. Granted, it is a needed thing to expose sin; and our convention leadership should be held to the highest standard. But that “exposing” should still be done with the humilty and meekness in Christ.
I once replied to Cole about this tone after he turned personal in response to an interview posted on the Outpost. He told me to “relax”, and that the web is a great place for all of us to express our opinions. I totally agree. Blogs are a wonderful forum for the spirited exchange of ideas. However, these spirited exchanges must be done in love, or they are just worthless, clanging cymbels. No amount of insight, wittiness, or education gives any of us the right to demean and talk down to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Yes, Paige needs to make some serious changes. But maybe some of us have some changing to do as well.
The Vanhalenator
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:28 pm
The tone of the posts is a serious matter, Vanhalenator. Rick Warren is right about the need for a restoration of civility in public discourse. But as I’ve said, I’m far more troubled by the spiritual condition the tone reveals.
I’ve not posted comments here because I figured it wouldn’t make any difference. This group, like the political fundamentalist crowd, is not famous for being able to entertain thoughts unless they fit neatly with their preconceptions. Witness how they assumed I was a Paige Patterson groupie just because I disagreed with them. Two-value logic in a black and white world.
And the way these folks have responded, I believe that’s true.
Over on my site, I’m asking whether anyone is interested in organizing a pool for how long it takes Mr. Cole to start posting again. My guess is, it’ll just be you and me.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:36 am
Eileen, .. You are reminding me of schoolteachers who could only turn in time to see a child fighting back against the school bully. And some of them, I believe, even sided with the school bullies because of their parents.
You say you are against the Fundamentalistic oppression that has ensued, yet you do not chastise them. Are you a bit like the school teachers I referred to?
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:59 am
Is this the end of Outpost?
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:43 am
I second Aaron’s question (#90), because if it is, I can make better use of the space on my blog where the link to Outpost presently sits.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:56 am
elizajane, why would you say I don’t chastise the fundamentalists? I’ve made it very plain in what I’ve posted here that I have a low opinion of political fundamentalists.
I don’t criticize that group here because I’m interacting with you all. If I wanted to speak to them, I’d go where they are. Or is the point of this blog just to create a space where one group of people can get together and criticize other people behind their backs? Seems to me the New Testament has lots to say about factions.
Agreeing with you about the political fundamentalists doesn’t automatically mean I think you guys are right about everything else. Disagreeing with the Pharisees doesn’t make one a Sadducee.
The truth is that both factions are wrong. You are more alike than you are different, as far as I can tell. Neither group shows any grace toward those it sees as its opponents. And neither group seems able to be critical of its own thinking and values.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:39 am
Aaron, Mike
I actually asked that question in Comment #66. This forum did indeed start off well but then guys like Darren Casper and Micah left and things started to go south a bit. And I’m afraid our unanswered questions don’t help much either.
I too have a link to Outpost which I’m thinking about removing. Obviously it’s nothing personal but I do hope the editors decide to make some sort of decision very soon because there hasn’t been any direction here for some time now.
If they choose to continue then may they do it well to bring honor to our Lord…if they don’t have the time, energy or desire then it might be time to move on to other areas of service.
John in St. Louis
July 24th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Ben may be gone from SBC, but some of us who have the insight to see what has really happened
during and since the CR need to stay. To quote from “It Doesn’t Take a Hero”, if all of us leave, they win!
(And that is all they really care about in the first place.) “They” took over a good thing and changed it. They changed the seminaries.
They changed the BFM. They changed the name of two of the most efficient missionary organizations in the world. They changed the thrust of mission efforts. They changed how many organizations and entities of the SBC went about spreading the gospel message. They even tried to change the name of the convention. They told many “our way or the highway”. Some of us are going to wait and watch. So, Ben, go in peace, we’ll keep watch.
Charlie Mac
July 25th, 2008 at 8:09 am
The name changes mean nothing in relation to the kingdom but if what they did changed our heart making it focused more on the SBC than on our Lord, this is our fault, no one else’s.
July 25th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Jon,
Are you saying that names mean nothing? Hussain Obama means nothing? Taking “Baptist” out of the names of our organizations mean nothing? If so why go to the added expense when that money was given to further the gospel.
Charlie Mac
July 25th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Eileen, I guess I am too old and ignorant to know that ‘gals’ is considered chauvinist. My apologies.
Rick Warren always calls for ‘civility’ when his shallow doctrine is being questioned. Or when he refers to Syria as a ‘Christian friendly’ country. :o)
As to tone, I suspect you would be outraged that Paul wrote this about some professing ‘Christian’ legalists:
I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
Galatians 5:12
July 25th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Mac,
The names of our organizations did not need to be changed. The name change did not change their mission or ability. These things depend upon the people operating them.
No where did I say names don’t mean anything. Names mean much, but the changing of the names meant nothing in relation to the kingdom.
I don’t know how you got the idea that the names “Hussain or Obama” have anything to do with the name changes of the entities in the SBC (part of the subject of your 9:59 entry).
My entry begins with: “The name changes mean nothing in relation to the kingdom”. The term “changes” identifies what I was speaking to, not names in general or specifically.
If you care to speak to what I wrote maybe we can discuss the subject. If not, that’s OK.
leaving at 5:00 AM tomorrow for a week in VT for a church mission trip with 42 other church members. Pray for us.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Mc McFatter,
No names do not mean much; As the residential poet at Sratford on Avon said through sweet Juliet:
“Tis but thy name (Hussein) is my enemy,
“Thou art thyself,…
“What is in a name? That which we call a rose
“By any other name would smell as sweet.”
(”Romeo and Juliet,” Act II, Scene 2, lines 1-2).
When I was born in Pike County, KY, I was called “Paul Johnson” by everyone when they did not call me “The Little Bastard?” My report cards in Primary though second grade can attest to the fact; however, when my mysteriously seven year missing mother showed up out of the abyss to take me suddenly to live in a beautiful home on the water sixteen miles from Baltimore, my name was no longer my tag of “Paul Johnson” in Speight, KY, but the moniker of Phillip Paul Ratliff at High Point Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
I was the same person, Paul Johnson or “Auk’s little Bastard” as Phillip Paul Ratliff. I still cursed worse than a sailor, never went to church or ever saw a member of my family in church, snuck a few beers to secretly try to drink in the woods, and hated girls. I had no control over what other’s named me just as Barack Obama has no control over the fact that his mother married a Muslim as a young college student and they named him after the younger son of Ali the fourth Caliph whose name was Hussein, and like my mother, his father disappeared when he was eighteen months old for the rest of his life. Barack Obama was raised Christian, not Muslim.
The name, Hussein, is as common in the Muslim world as William, James and Joseph or if you prefer last names, Jones or Smith. To castigate an American Senator running for President with the insinuation that he is a Muslim, anti-American and most likely connected to Islamic terrorist is sorta like the reason we bought into President George Bush’s bill of goods as to why we are in Iraq to the tune of six thousand dead Americans, over one million dead Iraqis and at a cost that will run to three trillion dollars … well you know what you meant when you called him “Hussein Obama” and you know what you intended for people to think.
Phil.
July 26th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
100 posts…Not sure, but I would have thought there would be more than that, considering how long this post has been online.
Will this site be updated any time soon?