Carter Dumps Southern Baptist Church Over Treatment Of Women!

[BlooInBloo]

What a dear, dear man.

I learned of it thru this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x213323


http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/losing-my-religion-for-equality-20090714-dk0v.html

"I HAVE been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women's equal rights across the world for centuries.

At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities."

[supernova]

1. I love you Jimmy Carter!

:loveya:

[Strong Atheist]

17. Happy b-day:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=8931983&mesg_id=8931983

[iconocrastic]

24. It took him six decades to figure it out, and he's supposed to be a genius?

[nightrain]

30. yeah, and at least he DID figure it out, many never do.

[pnwmom]

31. The Church had taken a big swing to the right around the time he did this.

It isn't the same Church that he grew up in. It used to be a bigger umbrella, but the absolutists have taken over.

[AlbertCat]

56. It isn't the same Church that he grew up in.

Oh yes it is!

Hey, god's word is eternal and unchanging....right?

[demwing]

37. Must be nice to be perfect. Please teach the rest of us...

Somewhere in your upcoming perfection lectures I expect you'll have a few words to say about graciousness.

Should be a hoot!

[AlbertCat]

60. Must be nice to be perfect.

Oh get the smug chip off your shoulder. No one said they knew everything.

But, Jesus H. Christ on a cracker, how smart do you have to be to reject all that crap?

[demwing]

67. How smart do you have to be? Why, only as smart as you!

You should run for president!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

41. I Was Baptized In A Southern Baptist Church When I Was Fourteen

I am becoming a member of the United Church Of Christ where I live next Sunday.


It didn't take him six decades to find out he had disagreements with the church he was raised in. It took a long time for him to decide those disagreements were worth leaving your church for. As a man of faith I am sure he did take that decision lightly.

[Hansel]

44. I don't give a flying fig how long it took.

He did figure it out and he's speaking out. This will give courage to many who have sat silent for far to long to speak out as well.

[crikkett]

49. You must think you're funny. n/t

[snake in the grass]

50. That step is very hard to take...

...for someone who grew up in an intensely religious atmosphere. I'm 44 and wasted almost 75% of my life searching for or believing in something that is as likely and logical as a pink unicorn. Then, one day, it dawned on me. I've never felt so free. Yes, it took him 6 decades to figure out the insipid mechanisms of organized religion, but, at least he figured it out. In my opinion, that's a personal victory for him and I'm happy for him.

[zonkers]

65. Life's a journey.

[Forkboy]

70. When do you start to show improvement?

[WI_DEM]

2. He is a great man.

[Enthusiast]

36. But first and foremost,

he is a good man.

[hlthe2b]

3. I thought he did that years ago.... n/t

[Tanuki]

6. Yes, and he still worships at a Baptist church, affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

instead of the Southern Baptists

http://www.baptiststandard.com/2000/10_23/pages/carter.html

[pnwmom]

32. Which makes a big difference. The American Baptists, for example,

are pro-gay rights and are more liberal in every way.

[Tansy_Gold]

4. He did this in 2000 n/t

[FreedomTrain]

7. That's what I recalled, too

So why is this article dated July 15, 2009? Is it because news travel extremely slow to Australia, or has he been bringing up this subject again? In any case, good for him. He's a Christian in the truest sense of the word.

[Strong Atheist]

10. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[Christa]

46. News still has not reached America about this yet

It may be dated July 15 - but why didn't any American newspaper or website report it?

Don't they have the balls to do it??

Why do we so often read controversial news through Australian or British websites and newspapers?

[sarge43]

5. Thank you, sir.

You're a good man.

[Buzz Clik]

8. Love me some Jimmy. But why now?

This is not a new concept from the Southern Baptists.

Better late than never. :shrug:

[Cha]

9. "Loosing my religion for Equality"! Prez Jimmy Carter

The Man!

That list could go on and on..but, "Loosing my religion to get rid of hypocricy" covers it all.

Gawd I hate dogma and those ugly interpretations of The Bible.

[Strong Atheist]

11. Recommended...

:rofl:

[BlooInBloo]

12. hahaha! Hey - I'm only a decade behind! :)

[Strong Atheist]

13. ...but it has yesterday's date...

:shrug:

[BlooInBloo]

14. The essay was yesterday, but he referred to what he did a decade ago...

All good.

[Tanuki]

18. The essay was a much broader treatment of the subordination of women in the world's religions

It has been discussed on DU already:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6052395&mesg_id=6052395

The headline writer at The Age either didn't make it very far into the essay or wanted to go with a "clever" play on "Losing my Religion."

[Captain Hilts]

15. We've got a lot of religions to go. Religion is a great vehicle for oppressing women. nt

[invictus]

16. .

[mzmolly]

19. Bravo!

:toast:

[TexasObserver]

20. Good. The SBC has become a joke, a bunch of knuckle dragging wingers.

[blossomstar]

21. There is not a more open minded man alive

than Jimmy Carter. He is genuine in his love for others and his beliefs/actions confirm it. I didn't think I could think any higher of him, but now I do. What a great, great man.

[AlbertCat]

57. There is not a more open minded man alive

Baloney!

If he were really open minded, he'd nix the ancient superstitions altogether.... like others have.

[Stinky The Clown]

22. How many times must I say it?

I love you, Jimmy Carter.

[Douglas Carpenter]

23. KICK AND RECOMMEND!!!

[femrap]

25. It's been a while since

we've heard some sanity from anyone in this country. Fresh air from a man of integrity.

Now that's some change.

[DUlover2909]

26. Good on you Jimmy.

:toast: :kick:

[ruggerson]

27. right on, Jimmy

[Vickers]

28. "quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses"

Why I NEVER!

:sarcasm:

[nightrain]

29. Bravo!

[applegrove]

33. He is such a great man.

[UrbScotty]

34. I recently read Our Endangered Values

...which is one of his many great books.

I was impressed by his understanding of real Christian values. I can hardly imagine how difficult this must be for him.

I support you, Mr. President!

[murielm99]

40. My husband gave me that book for Christmas when it

first came out.

I wish more Christians were like Jimmy Carter. I wish I was more like him myself. He is a far better Christian than I.

[DainBramaged]

42. No Christian is better than any other, we are the best we can be for the lives we lead

and for using the gifts we have been given.

[AlbertCat]

58. No Christian is better than any other

WRONG!

Betty Bowers is a better Christian than you!

http://www.bettybowers.com/

[DainBramaged]

61. Well, Betty is 'special' LOLOL

[madmom]

47. I also read this book, and I can honestly say as a non-believer, I also found it truly inspirational

[Divine Discontent]

35. God blessed us with Jimmy Carter!!! His wife is wonderful person, also.

our family has long admired them....

:applause:

[craigmatic]

38. President Jimmy Carter is the truth

[farmboxer]

39. Uta Ranka - Heinemann tells it like it is

God was a woman before God was a man.

[teachthemwell15]

53. Mary Daly is great also...

Beyond God the Father is one of her best.

[snappyturtle]

43. K&R nt

[pleah]

45. K&R

[sellitman]

48. I'm not a Carter fan but props to him on this.

Kicked & Rec'ed

[voteearlyvoteoften]

51. Pres Obama take note

I believe that Barack will follow in Carters footsteps and continue to serve in his retirement. He will not cash in and play golf.
I am proud of JC...but what took so long??

[teachthemwell15]

52. Women should, en masse, stand up and walk out

of these ecclesial institutions of bondage against them. If nothing else, that action will speak volumes, particularly in the collection plates.

[Strong Atheist]

54. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[BlancheSplanchnik]

63. I wish we would!

I'd like to see some brainstorming about why women have such a hard time organizing and taking action on our own behalf, and how that could change.......

There's so much we could do if we only used our power of numbers

[AlbertCat]

55. If more "moderate" religionists....

....would speak out and act against the foolishness of some of the many notions and superstitions of religion...


Well, if you keep doing that with logic and skepticism, you'd end up a member of the Dawkins Foundation.

Carter, by rejecting the stupid prejudices of the Southern Baptists, alas, is carefully choosing just like they are. They chose "repugnant" beliefs and he chose other less repugnant ones. But they ARE BOTH there. It's pick and choose.

I think his "strength and comfort" would be there without all that ancient superstition. It's IN him, not thrust on him by some mythology.

Still, it's an improvement.

[Leo The Cleo]

59. Stand Up Guy

Jimmy Carter might be the most "stand-up guy" of all of the Presidents. I don't mean to say that he did the most. He was pinned into a corner as President. However, I do mean that he was the most stand-up and compassionate.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

62. It will be great when women, who have been pointing this out for ages,

get taken seriously... But THANK YOU Jimmy Carter, because until a woman's words carry the same weight as a man's, we need all the support we can get.

It's the weirdest thing.... African American activists speak out for themselves, GLBT activists speak out for themselves, and meet with all the resistant bullshit of course, but when they make progress, they are creating their triumphs themselves.

But women speak up on their own behalf and it drops right into the bottomless pit, and doesn't get considered seriously or affect change unless a powerful (publicly visible) man says the same thing.... This happens on the highest levels of leadership and in everyday life--job situations, family, social, political and other organizations.....

(when women speak up in support of a non-woman-specific cause, or when she remains in her ascribed role and "speaks as a mother" :eyes: -- then it has some impact, but in defense of our own power and dignity? Not so much)

(and, great LOVE for Jimmy Carter, incidentally. He IS a great man AND a good man -- I'm not slagging him at all-- I'm slagging pernicious, embedded sexism in daily life)

[Not Me]

64. I have friends and family members who are Roman Catholic

who are working for change from within. At some point, as I think was the case with Jimmy Carter, you reach a point where you just know it isn't going to happen in your lifetime.

[InvisibleTouch]

66. He is a good guy. It's nice to see that there are Christians...

...who actually live by the principles of their religion, rather than just mouthing the words, and picking and choosing out of the Bible to promote their own prejudices. I suspect there are more "real" Christians out there than we think, but they are usually minding their own business and living their lives quietly. Sadly we mostly hear about the others, the hypocritical kind.

[Arugula Latte]

68. More people should do this.

In fact, if everyone all over the world walked away from their religion (with the possible exception of Buddhism and some of the belief sets that revere the nature and the Earth), this planet world would be a far, far better place.

[frazzled]

69. Again? He renounced his association with the SBC in October 2000

And I'm sure many of us remember that.

Had he fallen off the wagon and had to jump on again? Or is "renouncing one's association with a religion" different than "severing one's ties with it"?

Just wondering.

http://www.adherents.com/people/pc/Jimmy_Carter.html

[LittleBlue]

71. Very eloquent, agree 100%

He nailed it, there.