LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

While the goal of Dark Christianity is to closely examine the darker and scarier aspects of certain Christian sects and their interaction with both our government and the world at large, I want to make sure that it doesn't become a bastion of intolerance itself. Not all conservative Christians are neocons and want to turn the US into a theonomy or destroy the world for Christ. In fact, quite a few of them are rather unhappy about being seen as such people. And in all fairness, I want to make sure that these folks get some fresh air time.

Baptists tend to be some of the loudest of the Christians, but not all of them have been assimilated by the Neoconservative Borg Collective. It is helpful to remember that before the rise of fundementalism, Baptists of various sorts - along with other Christian sects- were instrumental in making the US the paradise for religious expression that it once was, before its current decline.

That said, I want to introduce you to some Mainstream Baptists who are not your "Landover" sorts, and who have broken away from the Southern Baptist Convention because the SBC's increasing intolerance and narrow-mindedness. This refreshing view includes the treatment of women, the neoconservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention, and a Biblical innerancy test that will bring a smile to your face.

Yes, these are conservative and deeply religious people. But their faith emphasizes good works and quiet faith- much on the lines of former President Jimmy Carter, who did not use his faith as a cudgel to hammer out a war, but as a means to improve the world. People tend to forget that- but he is one of my heroes because of it.

So, go take a peek. Read, learn, understand. Get to know these quiet but faithful people. They are not the virulently intolerant foes so often maligned in the press or elsewhere. In fact, these folks might be the key to our country's salvation in more ways than one.

(Yes, I'm quoting articles that were mentioned in earlier posts, but good things are worth going back to- as you can see.)

Sunfell