As a person of color, this really cracks me up – in a sad, ironic way of course, because the following that has been reported recently in various media is disgusting and dangerous.
From the Baptist Press, Jan. 10, 2007:
ATLANTA – Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have proposed the establishment of a broadly inclusive alternative Baptist movement to counter what they called a negative image of Baptists and to address poverty, the environment and global conflicts. Carter and Clinton kicked off their plans with a news conference Jan. 9 at the Carter Center in Atlanta. …
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"This is a historic event for the Baptists in this country and perhaps for Christianity," Carter said at the news conference.
What it really amounts to is a stealth subversion of the white Baptist church in America – which is precisely what politicians and civil-rights activists accomplished in the black church starting in the late 1960s, when they courted black church leadership with a disingenuous, counterfeit Christianity that effectively left the black church under direct control of progressive, and finally, far left politicos and activists.
It's a perfect time to do it, too, despite the incongruities evident in Bill Clinton's and Jimmy Carter's personal brand of Christianity. The recent takeover of Congress by their party gives them greater credibility as elder statesmen, and some (mostly a lot of wackadoos on the Democrat Party fringe) see results of the midterm election as a mandate for more gravitation toward secularism, of which this "New Baptist Covenant" is certainly a part.
From the Associated Press, Dec. 4, 2006:
CONCORD, N.H. – One of the city's oldest churches has a new name, reflecting a local trend of moving away from denominational titles in the evangelical movement.
The 188-year-old First Baptist Church, one of the first churches built in Concord, was renamed Centerpoint Church earlier this month. According to the Rev. David Spencer, the change was designed to distance the church from some of the negative connotations of the word "Baptist."
"People tend to think of Baptists as very narrow-minded, sometimes mean-spirited and self-righteous," he said. "That's not who we are at all."
Apparently, changing their name was the most creative, intelligent solution they could come up with. Perhaps they should have converted en masse to Unitarianism instead.
From the Christian Post Reporter, Jan. 9, 2007:
Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are part of an initiative to create a new Baptist voice and improve the negative image of Baptists in North America.
"North America desperately needs a true Baptist witness," Bill Underwood, president of Mercer University in Atlanta, told Baptist leaders at an April summit last year.
Underwood said the current image of Baptists is largely painted by conservative leaders who frequently appear on television news shows or other media. Such leaders represent some of the most conservative political views and fundamentalist theology among Baptist denominations.
Ahh, so the cat's out of the bag now, isn't it? It's conservative Christians who rub people the wrong way – not Christians per se. After all, Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are Christians, and the left doesn't seem to have a problem with that lot.
History lesson
The truth with regard to the Democrat Party's corruption of the black church is commonly known to black and white conservatives alike, and both are excoriated by the left (using different rhetoric for the respective groups) when they discuss the issue: Through an excellent public relations campaign (aided by blacks' affinity for John and Robert Kennedy as crusaders for racial equality), Democrats who fought against passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 switched gears, courted the black clergy (the black community's primary leadership at the time), and brought them on board via their insincere rhetoric of brotherhood and the carrot of self-enrichment. Blacks were sold this false religion of moral relativism and an ever-expanding pack of social entitlements (which they were certainly long-owed).
The black pastors gained political friends, political power and in some cases, a whole lot of money. They've been the overseers for their former segregationist foremen for the last 40 years.
If all goes according to plan, we can expect to see more weak, morally ambivalent white pastors, unwed teenage white mothers, and more dependency upon the State amongst poor whites. Won't it be great?
And what better a "Christian" to usher in the golden new age of moral relativism (under the guise of tolerance, brotherhood and altruism) to the white Baptist church than Bill Clinton?
I sure can't think of one.
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