The DPG Will Have Some Competition on JJ Night

While Georgia Democrats are welcoming our presidential candidates to the annual JJ Dinner, an estimated 20,000 Baptists will also descend on the World Congress Center for the opening session of the New Baptist Covenant Celebration. (Southern Baptists are not part of this group.) According to Robert Parham, at Ethics Daily, President Jimmy Carter is on the program-not for the DPG, but instead for the Baptists. I noticed on their website that there's an "Al Gore" luncheon the next day. Does that mean Gore will be in town, too? And here's the kicker, Mike Huckabee was initially also confirmed for the evening of the 3oth, but withdrew after Carter said that Bush would go down as one of the worst presidents in history. Now, Parham is advocating re-inviting Huckabee. Wouldn't that be a kick? 20,000 Baptists, a whole bunch of democrats, Carter, Huckabee, most of the democratic presidential candidates, Cleland and Lewis-all at the World Congress Center on Jan. 30th.

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Will CNN Have the Guts to Ask This One?

Robert Parham, executive director of The Baptist Center for Ethics has submitted this question for the Republican YouTube Debate tonight. I hope they have the guts to ask the candidates this one!

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Endorsements, Court Rulings, and The Golden Rule

This had been a busy day. Here are a few of the high spots:

1) I began my day with a committee meeting for Community Partnership, the Family Connection Project for Macon and Bibb County, and I am very pleased to report that in the coming year the collaborative will narrow our focus and address the needs of "The Peach Orchard" area of Bibb County.

2) Dana Blankenhorn has jumped on the Edwards bandwagon, citing his "fearlessness," especially since Elizabeth was diagnosed with caner and saying, "John Edwards is, for me, the clearest path to where we need to go. So I'm with him. I'm just sad it took me so long to admit it." Welcome, Dana.

3) Sen. Edwards scored another huge labor endorsement today. The New York City-based Transport Workers Union, representing 200,000 active and retired members, gave him the nod, calling him the one who can win.

4) Golden Rule Politics, the powerful DVD produced by The Baptist Center for Ethics is now available. This DVD and the study guide that comes along with it helps address the fact that the GOP does not have an exclusive contract with God, i.e., God is neither a Republican or a Democrat. Video clips are available for viewing on the site, and the DVD, study guide and the right to show it to large groups, only cost $20.00.

5) The Federal Court has upheld Georgia's Voter ID Law, and this is what Jane Kidd had to say:

Kidd responds to Voter ID ruling

ATLANTA – Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Jane Kidd released the following statement in response to a federal court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Georgia’s Voter ID Law.“We disagree in the strongest possible terms with the Court’s decision, and maintain that Georgia’s Voter ID Law continues to represent a burden to the public and to the right to vote. The law especially places an additional burden on elderly and low-income voters. “Over the next few months, we will be ramping up our voter education programs, to ensure that every voter is prepared to vote with one of the proper forms of identification. To that end, we’ll be working closely with our county parties to help them educate voters at the grassroots level. We’ll also be focusing closely on our election protection program to prevent inaccuracies and inequalities at the voting booths.”

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Baptist Leader: Women Hardwired for Housework

Works out well for men, don't you think? According to Gary Ledbetter of the Southern Baptist Texan, women are just "temperamentally better equipped than men to manage the home and nurture children." And, those who suggest otherwise? They're just sexist.

This is a continuation of the "Sex in the Seminary" debate about the "homemaking" classes offered at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary in Louisville chimed in with a progressive position. He said that he did not believe that it is actually wrong for women to work outside the home, but that "a woman that does work outside the home is likely to miss something that is happening inside the home." Apparently there is nothing at home for men to miss.

There is something talibanesque about the basis of the SBC argument that there is an "appropriate" role for women. We can begin with the fact that there is little if any respect among this sect for the separation of church and state. They have no issue with legislating morality-on their terms. They do, as we have seen with Craig, Vitter and Foley, have trouble with hypocrisy. On the website of Southwestern Seminary, there is actually a statement that it is good for women to learn biblical exposition because that way they can teach other women. That's right. The seminary does not support women teaching men no matter the woman's level of expertise. They fired a female professor because of the rule. "Women-to-women" teaching, they say, is the biblical way. And, the president's wife has prepared a guide for how women should dress. There are no burqas involved but what is clearly implied is that it's up to women to make sure men control their sexual impulses. Wow.

Look, in all seriousness, the problem with this, and the reason that it's on a political blog, is because the issue is not whether or not a women should be able to make the choice to be a stay at home mom. The issue is that for centuries men have used religion to exert control over women by fostering economic dependency and limiting choice. They use their religion as a basis for discrimination and oppression, and then they make rules limiting women's roles in denominational decision making. What a trap. These are the SAME evangelical fundamentalists who propelled George Bush to power. Ordering society so that (frankly) rich white men are on top is the agenda, and they have crafted a theological position to support it. It really is that simple.

Conversely, Jesus, as described in the gospels, was revolutionary in his approach to women. He provided them rights, status, and most of all: access. Where's WWJD when you need it?

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Sex and the Seminary

"I think everybody should own at least one." In 1997, that's what Paige Patterson, President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary had to say about women. He thought it was a joke, but the fact that he thought it was funny tells you all you need to know about the man. Little wonder that Patterson is now offering a women-only course of undergraduate study with a concentration in homemaking. Apparently, there's a gender-specific way to bake a pie.

Patterson, who is perfectly comfortable with women in the bedroom, kitchen and nursery, gets a little queasy when women appear in at the classroom lectern, let alone the pulpit. For Patterson, the world would be a better place if women stayed at home, submissive to their husbands' role as moral "policemen." Unbelievable.

Not all Baptists subscribe to Patterson's warped world view. Below, listen to Patterson's exchange with Baptist Center for Ethic's Executive Director, Robert Parham, and read more about it here.

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The Denial Machine

Newsweek has dubbed the axis of corporate interests, conservative religious groups and radio talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh who work together to deny that global warming is a problem "The Denial Machine." Robert Parham, over at Ethics Daily, correctly points out that the leadership of The Southern Baptist Convention are also guilty of preferring science fiction to science and using the power of the pulpit to peddle the resulting fiction. Read Parham here.

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Good Lord: Transplant Tourism?

Prisoners receiving shortened sentences for organ donation? Impoverished Turkish donors traveling to London for to have kidneys harvested for wealthy patients? Robert Parham, over at Ethics Daily, has an editorial about the "systemic corruption in the procurement and trade of human organs."

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Golden Rule Politics

For the last several months, I have been corresponding with Dr. Robert Parham who is with The Baptist Center for Ethics in Tennessee. They are working on a DVD that challenges the idea that is you're a Christian, then you must also be a Republican. Democrats, with the help of people like Jim Wallis, are beginning to talk about the rightful role of faith in politics. For instance, the group Faithful Democrats was founded by Roy Herron, a Tennessee state senator. The Baptist Center for Ethics DVD features both ministers and politicians discussing the topic. I've seen a rough cut, and it is very well done. Here's a tease:




When I had the opportunity to visit with David Westen the other night, he made the point that it is not important that our elected leaders be of a particular faith, but it is important that they be people of good faith. I think that's right.

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