White Southern Baptists Reject Most Obama’s Policies

Early this morning I attended First Baptist Church on Second Avenue in Natchitoches, Louisiana. As a reporter/editor for one of the town newspapers, I cover both secular and non secular events. The church has put in a new gymnasium and some of the announcements and review of church activities takes place during church services. It is also the church attended by virtually all the political leaders of Natchitoches including the Mayor, members of the city council, the State Representative, State Senator as well as the President of the University, who told me once his was a very political job.

I listened to the sermon today. The pastor warned members to be cautious about other churches in the area because some were non Biblical. I heard these messages before at the church and have seen the minister at political rallies in support of Republican candidates, like Gerald Long, who is now the State Senator for the District.

South Carolina news headlines the fact that Southern Baptists have a mixed view of Obama. Whereas they praise the way he functions as a family man, they stress their concerns about certain social issues, like abortion, embryonic stem-cell research and the reduction of funding for abstinence education. Daniel Akin, president of the Southeastern Baptist Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., at the annual convention on June 24 spoke of Southern Baptists’ opposition to the President’s policies while at the same time praising the fact the nation had elected its first African American President. Obama was not asked to speak at the conference, as Bush had done before.

The history of the Southern Baptist denomination goes back to the time of the Reformation in England which occurred during the sixteenth century. These reformists called for a return to New Testament teachings and examples of purity. They taught strict obedience to God’s covenant and the message that God’s saving grace is not just for those predestined to be saved but for everyone. As the church grew, there were issues that divided the church, one of which was slavery. Baptists from the North opposed slavery, maintaining God would not condone separation of the races. The Home Mission Society agreed with this and declared missionaries could not own slaves. After this some Baptists met in the South to organize their own group within the denomination, at what was called the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Southern Baptist Convention believes men and women are equal but pastoral leadership is assigned to men. Laypersons can communicate with God and minister, but not all views are equally valid. Each person is accountable to God, and the Bible is the final word in any discussion of creed or convention. It believes in a “free church in a free state” but acknowledges the “legitimate interplay of these two spheres.” Marriage is seen as God’s plan, one man and one woman, for life, and the Bible condemns homosexuality as sin. Procreation is considered God’s gift, reserved for marrage; and life begins at the moment of conception. Protection should be given that life regardless of the circumstances of conception.

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White Southern Baptists Reject Most Obama’s Policies
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