Another one of Campi’s hobbyhorses is the Christian boycott. Now, there are two very odd things about his objection:
To begin with, he himself has chosen to boycott the CCM industry. Although a gospel singer himself, he felt that the industry had become to worldly, and he needed to disassociate himself from its corrupting influence.
Secondly, he loves to quote 2 Cor 6 with all the relish of an Anabaptist. Yet, for him, it only applies to political yokefellows, not economic yokefellows. For he belittles the efforts of Dobson and the SBC to boycott Disney for its Gay Pride Days and other suchlike. He opposes political yokefellowship, but he also opposes those who oppose economic yokefellowship. Go figure?
Mr. Camp’s heart is in the right place, but his moral compass staggers back and forth like a drunken sailor. He needs to slow down, think more, write less. If he’s going to be so very judgmental of others, it would profit him to cultivate a semblance of moral consistency.
Perhaps we could combine Green Week with Pink Week (a la pink triangles) as part of Gay-Green Week.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you so often use "anabaptist" as something akin to an ignorant insult?
ReplyDeleteI certainly don't recognise myself in your descriptions of it.
Steve --
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Anabaptists used relish. I thought they were kraut-and-mustard types. I could be wrong; Schaff doesn't say much about that.
And I also didn't think you'd get a live Anabaptist to tell you that your use of the word sounds insulting. I'll be watching this with interest. FWIW, I have a young man (20-ish) who shops my bookstore who's an Anabaptist, and he is astounded that anyone believes anything else. Go figure.
One must be clear about the SBC boycott. I and many others opposed the SBC boycott of Disney for its Gay Pride Days for a reason different than Steve, but no less valid: The SBC's double standard. I personally will not boycott what my denomination asks me to boycott if I learn that they can't get their own act together.
ReplyDeleteAt the time the SBC boycott of Disney was in effect, the Annuity Board was investing $14 million in Carnival Cruise lines, which was sponsoring Gay Days cruises. They excused their actions by saying, "If Carnival had promoted or advertised a gay days cruise, we would have taken action as we did with Disney and other companies in the past." That's a nice sentiment, but when one looks through the gay press and the ads in gay themed etertainment magazines where these cruises are/were advertised, one looks in vain for anything that would lead a gay man not to believe that Carnival Cruise lines has not endorsed the cruises. A Carnival spokesman said the five-day "Gay Days" cruise to the Bahamas beginning May 30 is being sold through an independent travel agent, Gay Days Inc."
Here's the rub: (a) Carnival Cruise Lines has a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation; (b) Gay Days at Disney is sponsored by the same group. If the SBC was remotely consistent, it would boycott neither or both. This issue rose to the level of the 2004 Convention calling the Annuity Board to account. To my knowledge, it has not ceased investing in Carnival despite many messengers to the Convention calling for consistency in doing so, and they still use them as a floating Bible study for their Christian cruises. Meanwhile, the issue of the regeneracy of our denominations membership is being discussed, yet President Welch is trying to "baptize a million," and the Good Ol' Boy Network has decided to prepare for the next great controversy, "Calvinism," by throwing warning shots across the bows of the Founders Conference and its friends. That's where the SBC is these days, folks. It's not a pretty place.
Howdy there, Gene:
ReplyDelete1.Since we can’t boycott everyone, it isn’t necessarily hypocritical to pick and choose.
2.It's also possible that the Annuity Board didn’t know at the time that Carnival Cruise lines had an equivalent policy.
3.Even so, I grant you that once it was drawn to their attention, they lose that excuse. Based on what you say, I agree that it would make better sense to boycott both.
4.I also agree with you that there’s a certain amount of dry rot in the SBC.
5.But on the larger issue, your position strikes me as morally blind. There’s something even worse than a double-standard, and that’s having no standard at all. At least an individual or an organization with a double-standard is doing the right thing about half the time, which is twice as good as doing the wrong thing all the time.
Why should I not support someone or some institution when he/it is doing the right thing just because, on another occasion, he/it fails to do the right thing? This isn’t morality: this is legalism. This prizes immoral consistency above moral inconsistency.
Suppose the local fire station is selective about what fires it chooses to put out. Suppose the fire chief is a Presbyterian who only puts out the fire when a Presbyterian church is on fire, but not when a Baptist church is on fire. Suppose I’m a Presbyterian pastor and my church catches on fire. Should I not dial 911 because the fire chief is guilty of a double-standard?
Gene --
ReplyDeleteas a member of an SBC church, I'm with you. Calvinism is going to see some hard days ahead in the SBC, but all perscution leads to growth if we are preaching the Gospel. God willing His truth is going to be advocated and will win the day.
As for consistency, I'm with Steve. maybe the Annuity board needs to drop Carnival, but just becuase they take a long time to work it out doesn't mean they have fallen asleep at the wheel.
Last of all, it always makes me happy when I realise I'm not alone in the SBC. I know my pastor is with me; I'm glad to know you're with me. It took 10 years to get the inerrancy of Scripture re-positioned in the SBC after it fell into disrepute in the 70's. If it takes us 10 years to get the Gospel's message of Grace alone back into the center of the SBC's faith & message, that's not a very long slog.
OK: maybe not all perscution leads to growth. Nobody tell Tim Challies I said that or else he'll sic Richard Abanes on my blog site.
ReplyDelete