The North Carolina State Baptist Convention has not only shed itself of Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte (for being nice to gays). It's also severing its ties to its last five Baptist colleges, its Baptist retirement homes, and the Women's Missionary Union. Has something to do with power politics and "Bible literalism." (Apparently, there might be some Baptists who find a good deal of metaphor in the Bible. Metaphor WILL NOT be tolerated.)Anyway, here's a nugget buried in Yonat Shimron's article in today's N&O:
Many of the changes happened as the leadership of the [state Southern Baptist] organization became increasingly dominated by biblical literalists. The ideological divisions were exacerbated two years ago when several Baptists were denied positions as trustees at two of the convention's institutions. The nominees were rejected because the churches to which they belonged contributed money to a liberal Baptist group that supports same-sex marriages.
We've seen some of this strong-arming OUT of dissidents in local churches, and of course, we've always felt that 100 percent unanimity of opinion in any public group is always a sign of good emotional and intellectual health.
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