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Baptists

The Southern Baptist Convention Hates Women

09/24/2008 12:37 AM Filed in: Christian Culture | Postmodernism | Church

sbc

Okay, not really. But they certainly seem to have a problem with people thinking for themselves.

Fox News (yes, that Fox News) reported earlier this week that that all of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Lifeway Christian Bookstores were pulling the latest issue of Gospel Today magazine from their shelves. And what scandalous article did they find offensive enough to merit this drastic move? What naughty photos did the find reprehensible enough to warrant such a draconian measure?

Gospel Today had the never to print an article about (-gasp!-) the existence of female pastors in American churches.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling! Armageddon approaches; it’s blood-curdling cries are nigh! Women! Women! They teachith from our pulpits!!! NoOoOoOoOoOoO!!!!

But seriously, folks, what is the deal here? I grew up in a Baptist church that had a very conservative view of women in leadership positions within the corporate body. Fair enough. I don’t agree with that view, but I understand their position biblically and I respect anyone who’s willing to give a lot of thought to the matter regardless of which side of the issue they land.

That being said, is it really necessary for the SBC to pull this issue of Gospel Today, a well-respected magazine with a 20 year history? Can the SBC not even allow their members to read about the reality of alternate viewpoints without fearing that they’ll be whisked away by these “liberal” notions?

This is exactly the kind of stuff that lead to me leaving the SBC. As much respect as I have for the work and the mission that God has allowed the SBC to accomplish and to participate in, their ever-narrowing worldview and protectionist mindset will eventually be their undoing if they don’t right this ship.

Ever since the ludicrous “conservative takeover” of the SBC that began in earnest in the late 1970s (see this article), the convention has become more and more strict about what it considers to be “orthodox.” I became quite disillusioned with them after the release of the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, an update to a document that had stood unchanged since 1963. In the revised edition the SBC added statements that would disqualify open theists from participation in the convention, disqualify churches from autonomously calling female pastors to serve, and set down exact guidelines for how women were to submit to the authority of their husbands. Soon after its seminaries began forcing faculty and staff to be in complete agreement with this new creed before allowing them to teach.

Then in November of 2005 trustees of the International Mission Board, the missions arm of the SBC, voted to bar future missionaries from using a "private prayer language," or speaking in tongues in private. Previously, missionaries were discouraged from speaking in tongues publicly, but their private prayers were not monitored.

Now the same convention that decided it had the right to monitor the private prayers of its missionaries is removing Gospel Today from its shelves for reporting that there are actually women pastors in the world today.

“They basically treated it like pornography and put it behind the counter," said Teresa Hairston, the author of the evil article. "Unless a person goes into the store and asks for it, they won't see it displayed."

SBC: I sincerely have a lot of love for you guys. In many ways you raised me, nurtured my faith, and showed me the way of Jesus. But you’re shooting yourselves in the foot over and over, and it’s painful to watch. Stop trying to control the private thoughts and prayers of your members; it’s very “Chinese government” of you, and if you’ll notice, China’s not getting a lot of positive press lately. You’re stifling thought, development of theology, and discussion of important 21st century issues. You’re coming off as drastically out-of-touch and controlling to a new generation of Postmoderns who are desperate to see genuine authenticity over bludgeoning coercion.

In closing, I’d like to say how odd I find it that so many of the people who don’t believe a woman should speak from behind a pulpit have no problem with a woman leading an entire nation.

Tags: Southern Baptist Convention, Baptists, female pastors, Conservative Takeover