From Moral Majority to 'Prophetic Minority'

[billhilly]

Interesting.  Are the Baptists retreating?

'The Bible Belt is collapsing," says Russell Moore. Oddly, the incoming president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission doesn't seem upset. In a recent visit to The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Moore explains that he thinks the Bible Belt's decline may be "bad for America, but it's good for the church."

Why? Because "we are no longer the moral majority. We are a prophetic minority."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... on_LEADTop

[stromboli]

Lol. Does not surprise me in the least. If anything is a constant with these churches, it is their adaptive nature to fit the circumstances. The Big Bang caused a great deal of opposition, until it was adopted as "proof" God made the universe. 2nd law of thermodynamics? Proof! Horseshit on a stick with a new paint job.

[billhilly]

Trying to make lemonade I guess...

[Hydra009]

[Solitary]

Prophetic Minority

:rollin:     Does he even understand how funny that is?    Solitary

[billhilly]

I read it as 'pathetic minority' the first time I looked at it.

[Solitary]

I read it as 'pathetic minority' the first time I looked at it.

I did too!    Solitary

[Colanth]

"the idea that to be a good person, to be a good American, you have to go to church" has largely disappeared.

Really?  The majority of Americans consider atheists to be immoral and not "good person".

Contrast this

Mr. Moore is deeply knowledgeable about religion, American history and politics.

with this

"There is no Christian position on the balanced-budget amendment."

If the budget isn't balanced, you're borrowing money.  Jesus said nothing about money-lenders?

The people in the pews "understand we're not going to deport 11 million people without a big government police state"—something his coreligionists do not want.

We're not going to do anything about 11 million criminals?  Didn't Jesus say to obey Caesar (meaning "man's law")?

"The Scriptures call us, in imitation of God Himself, to show compassion and justice for the sojourner and alien among us."

Is he saying what I think he's saying here?  Ignore crime?

"We don't hate our gay and lesbian neighbors," he says, but redefining marriage on their behalf is another matter.

How is "you can marry the consenting adult of your choice" "redefining"?  (And remember, the same thing was said about allowing blacks and whites to marry.)

there was a time when a couple's marriage decision was thought to be of church concern. He would like it to be again.

And sane people are glad that churches are losing the ability to influence the law.

"The separation of church and state," Mr. Moore says, "is not a liberal issue."

The government can make no law regarding religion.  Making a law that exempts companies from parts of the ACA based solely on religion (which is what he's asking for) would violate that.  He's not for separation of church and state, he's for church running the government.  Isn't that one of the main reasons people came to the new world?

"God himself is the only one to whom man is accountable for his religious sentiments simply, nor has he erected any tribunal on earth qualified to judge whether the man worships in an acceptable manner or not."

Not providing birth control for your employees has nothing to do with how you worship.  (No part of the Bill of Rights says "even if it violates the law".)

He doesn't seem to know too much about either Christianity of American history.  But I'd like to know about this "prophetic" thing.  What have they prophesied that has come true?  (Other than the fact that, as the species grows up, it's going to ignore religion more and more.)