(Richard) Land: Majority of Baptists support Bush

[Barrett808]

Land: Majority of Baptists support Bush
By ROSE FRENCH, Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The head of public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention says an overwhelming majority of Baptists still support President Bush and his handling of the Iraq war.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Richard Land said that exit polls showed about 84 percent of Southern Baptists voted for Bush in 2004. The Iraq war hasn't significantly eroded that support, he said, despite recent polls that show Republicans losing ground with moderate evangelicals.

"I'm not ready to throw in the towel on Iraq yet," said Land, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy arm.

"It would be foolish to say anybody's pleased," Land said. "I don't think the president's pleased with the progress of the war. Clearly, he would have wished things would have gone better. So do I."

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060928/ap_on_re_us/southern_baptists_iraq

Even if Bush's own church doesn't. Go figure.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. All those Bible-believing Christians are loving them some torture!

I suppose that's because the central figure of their religion was tortured to death to save them all from going to Hell for torturing people.

[Stargazer99]

5. Violence seems to be quite ok with fundamentalist

They call them Calvinist....Old Testament

[InkAddict]

2. Advocates for baptism by waterboarding. n/t

[Stargazer99]

3. There needs to be a phone number or internet site

where we can complain to the IRS about politicing via conservative churchs.

[bullimiami]

4. "Majority of Baptists either stupid or evil".

[cboy4]

6. Land: "I still think Iraq is one of the more noble things we've done."

A so-called religious leader saying killing thousands of innocent civilians in a country that was never a threat to us is a noble thing. :wtf:

What a slime ball.

[MisterP]

7. Reverend Harry Powell!!!

[bluestateguy]

8. Southern Baptist: The "Religion of Peace"

Every other Christain denomination, save the Mormons, have weighed in against this war.

[Ignacio Upton]

9. The Southern Baptists only exist because they broke away

From the northern branch because they supported slavery. I could care less what they think.

[LonelyLRLiberal]

10. This makes me proud to be an atheist -

My parents forced me to attend a Southern Baptist church when I was a kid, but they couldn't force me to join. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for showing me why religion is evil.

[Art_from_Ark]

14. I went to a Baptist Church in Arkansas for a few weeks one summer

The recruiter (or whatever you'd want to call him) saw me playing in my yard one day and said "How'd you like to ride the Joy Bus and join us for some fun at our church?" Against my better judgment, I agreed to go. But after two or three weeks, I started running in another direction whenever I saw the "Joy Bus" coming.

[VegasWolf]

11. What can you say about the thinking abilities of those who worship

SKY PEOPLE!!!!!

[Tanuki]

12. Richard Land=mouthpiece for Rove et al.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7235393/the_crusaders/

"The Rev. Richard Land, top lobbyist for the 16-million-member Southern Baptist Convention, enjoys a weekly conference call with top Bush advisers including Karl Rove."

[MikeNearMcChord]

13. Perhaps God with a sense of humor

may have an American dictator who will declare the SB's an unapproved and outlaw religion, and have them sent to the Haliburton Happy Camp, construting the George W. Bush Memorial Canal from the Great Lakes to Texas.
Just like Stalin did when he sent the Kulaks to construct the Baltic-White Sea Canal.

[Joe Bacon]

15. Stupid is as Stupid Does.

Are they in for a shock when Jesus pulls a no-show for Armageddon!

[flaminbats]

16. Mormons and southern Baptists make strange allies..

especially since most southern Baptists believe Mormons burn in hell and most Mormons believe Baptists go to hell! Neither group welcomes liberals or even moderates into their religion, and both are hostile to minorities interested in joining.

Both denominations think Bush is their spokesperson for God, and both view liberalism as a sinful counterculture. In the eyes of most members, MLK and the SCLC were only evil forces threatening to destroy Christianity. But never fear, Bush is an excellent model for all young Christians to follow! Never mind how Jesus would had been treated by the Bush administration, after all just being immersed in water makes up for every sin they've committed!

[martymar64]

17. The problem with Baptists

is that they don't hold them under long enough.

[CatFelyne]

18. "Should we pray for the liberals?"

Unfortunately, this article doesn't tell me something I didn't already know. These are some scary people, IMO. I found this out first hand in August of '05 when I traveled through Tennessee on route to LA for grad school. Bit of relevant background: my entire family comes from CT, we were born and raised there.

My brother and I stopped by my father's house in Memphis for a few days while en route, and my father, having converted within the past few years to a Baptist, wanted to take us to a church dinner. This "church" was more like a small college campus, and that quaint sounding dinner was actually a huge hall with 100+ people. The table we joined already had a couple there, and their conversation still stands out in my mind today.

Starts off with God bless George Bush and rapidly progressed to the million dollar question

"Do you think we should pray for the liberals?"

This was not asked in jest, this woman was dead serious. She didn't think that they should, and the rest of the table didn't disagree with her. A pastor? came up and joined the table briefly, and I though perhaps he would be the voice of reason. Nope...he was asked what he thought...just got a "Mmmm" bit of shrug and made himself busy with his food. Conversation continued with God bless Bush, and how thrilled they were that there was a God fearing man in charge of this country

I was floored, as a former Catholic, I've never heard this talk or seen this attitude before towards people of any differing political persuasion. There should never be any doubt to that question

"Dad, aren't we supposed to pray for everybody?"

"Yeah, that's what I always thought."

And this is the wonderful faith he just had to convert to after spending almost 50 years as a Catholic? Nice people you associate with Dad...real compassionate, caring God-loving people

And what did I do about this? At the time, I was really concerned about what they'd do to me if they found out I was a Pagan liberal, so I said nothing. Part of me really wished I did but I figured they'd string me up and hang me from one of their manicured trees in their landscaped courtyard out back

[and-justice-for-all]

19. Fools.

[Cobalt Violet]

20. They love the Fuhrer. No surprise here.

[Bridget Burke]

21. He doesn't speak for all Baptists...

From "The personal blog of Dr. Bruce Prescott, Executive Director of Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists, President of the Oklahoma Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State."

...Our seminaries ceased to be temples of learning long ago. It has always been painful to watch once fine institutions of higher learning gradually become indoctrination centers, but the chapel service at Southwestern Seminary yesterday made it clear that their desolation is utterly complete.

Baptist Press reports that, after the chair of the county Republican Party Chair spoke, Jerry Falwell endorsed a candidate for President during a chapel service at Southwestern Seminary. He is quoted as saying, "The press is here today expecting me to get into politics, which I'm not going to do, except to tell you to vote for the Bush of your choice." After Falwell spoke, Seminary President Paige Patterson advised students that voter registration tables would be set up at the door of the chapel all week.

B.H Carroll, L.R. Scarborough and all the other deceased presidents of the Seminary must be spinning in their graves. If ever there was a Baptist equivalent to the tables of money changers at the Jerusalem temple, voter registration tables at the door of a chapel service preaching partisan politics must be it. Nothing could make it clearer that our Baptist birthright as champions for separation of church and state is being exchanged for a bowl of pottage.

Baptists are advised to flee the Southern Baptist Convention. It's name should be changed to "Ichabod" ("the glory has departed," 1 Samuel 4:21).

http://mainstreambaptist.blogspot.com/2004/08/abomination-that-causes-desolations-8.html

More about Mainstream Baptists here:

www.mainstreambaptists.org/

Many of these folks probably do vote Republican--but not because they were told to do so in Church.