A Circus in Search of a Big Top
In a very Christian move, the First Baptist Church of Helena and the First Baptist Church of Pelham Aladamnbama have tossed the Boy Scouts to the streets.
Rev Mike Shaw
The Rev. Mike Shaw, pastor of First Baptist Church of Pelham and former president of the state’s largest denomination, the Alabama Baptist Convention, that the church will no longer be able to sponsor Troop 404 as of Jan. 1 when the new policy takes effect.
“We don’t hate anybody,” Shaw said. “We’re not doing it out of hatred. The teachings of the scripture are very clear on this. We’re doing it because it violates the clear teaching of scripture.”
And Jesus hung out with prostitutes because ….
Rev. Shaw, Jesus didn’t have anything to say about homosexuality but he had a mess of things to say about being judgmental. I suspect that you’re gonna have some ‘splain’ to do at the Pearly Gates.
I’ll be the one over on the side waiting and giggling.
JJ – people like Shaw will NEVER even get a glimpse of the pearly gates….
1The man is a political showboat which ought to cost him a defrocking! For years any number of churches declined to host both Boy and Girl Scout pack meetings for any number of reasons, but this guy’s “reasoning” is nauseating! I’m doing this cuz I am such a good kris-tee-ann? Yuck!
2Rev. Shaw should read up on what the Bible has to say about “gluttony” as well. A few kids in his church have probably gone without a few meals just so this guy could have his unfair share of the grub!! Snarf, snarf, snarf, God bless ya boy, sling me another one of those fried chicken legs! Snarf, snarf, snarf!
Yes, I’m being judgmental myself …
3Please allow me to quote “Reverend” Shaw’s favorite book as my response:
“Jesus wept”.
What a pathetic little man.
4Thing is…. for every foot-washin’ Baptist Church that chunks them out…..there will be another church, of another denomination, which will take them in.
This man is pitiful.
The Boy Scouts……. have never been about religion.
They are about teaching life skills, comraderie, team work, and self esteem.
They are better off ……. out of this church.
5what Miemaw said……….double
6Miemaw: You are absolutely on point. These organizations should not be tainted by ANY religious affiliation. They should be community sponsored and meet on neutral ground. This guy is doing them a favor.
As for the rev, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I find it hard to believe that good ole southern boy has a lily white soul.
7News item:
“But thanks to a few devoted members of Jesús El Buen Pastor and First Baptist Church, Pelham, the congregation of about 60 now has a place to worship rent-free.”
http://www.thealabamabaptist.org/print-edition-article-detail.php?id_art=21815&pricat_art=1
Gay Latinos do not apply, please.
8“We’re doing it because it violates the clear teaching of scripture.”
9I hope the good pastor hands out a list of the 10 Commandments to his parishioners this Sunday. They can check off any of the commandments they might have violated; stealing, bearing false witness, adultery, etc., so the pastor can also ask them to leave the church.
Rumor has it that Rev. Shaw began his ministry doing tent revivals but his expanding girth now requires him to wear the tent.
10Uncle Dave: thanks for the laugh. A tent can hide all sorts of sins. I always wonder what’s going on under there. He doth protest a lot… Usualy what we hate in others is what we suspect is in us. I wonder what he preaches about the rest of Leviticus.
11Jesus said zip about homosexuals, but he sure liked to condemn being rich– a few verses about camels and needles’ eyes come to mind. How about enlightening us as to your income, Rev?
Jesus also said that divorcing and remarrying was the same as adultery, which would make it a Commandment-level shalt-not. Know any remarried people, Rev?
For that matter, Jesus also said that you should pray in private, in your own room, instead of out in public where everybody can see how “religious” you are. So how do you feel about prayers at city council meetings and football games, Rev?
Homosexuals… abortion… nope, Jesus said not a word about either of those. Funny that words that aren’t there are all people like you seem to see in the Bible.
And pretty funny that an atheist knows more about what Jesus said than you do, Rev.
12Absolutely true story: The local Scouting Council sponsored a “Character Walk” in which the troops would walk to six different churches in and near the downtown area and listen to each church’s pastor talk on one of the Character Counts six pillars of character. Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. Hardly a bunch of librul, subversive ideas, those. Every church that was invited to be a part of the event was happy to do so… except the Baptists. “We don’t encourage our young people to attend other churches that might not be up to our standards.” Oh, sure. Those nefarious Presbyterians. And Methodists. And (gasp!) Episcopalians. Can’t support *those* kind of satanic influences, y’know. So the *Boy Scouts of America*, good LORD, people! were not made welcome at First Baptist Church and no Scout who happened to attend FBC joined the walk.
In fairness, I will say that another Baptist congregation across town thought it was a fine idea and wanted to be a part of the walk. Unfortunately, they were just too far away; as it was, the boys were hiking several miles. So it didn’t work out. But the pastor there called my boss (Presbytery Executive, Eagle Scout, one of the finest people I have ever known), anxious he should know that not *all* the Baptists were so…. rigid. I think he said rigid or words to that effect. My boss just called ’em (in deference to Momma) “___________s.” And so did I!
13I have a dear friend, an Eagle Scout, now in his 20s, who is dreadfully upset by the gay ruling, but not in the way that this minister is. This is the way he sees it: The Boy Scouts of America will allow boys who are gay to be a member of the Boy Scouts, but the minute they turn 18 they are not allowed to participate any more.
My friend (and his parents, all three being members of the Order of the Arrow) is very active in Scouting, attending camping, OA ceremonies, cleanup days at nearby parks where camping takes place. He’s worked summers at these camps during breaks during college as a counselor. If they understand the ruling correctly, he would have been basically kicked out of all participation the year after he got his Eagle if he were gay, not to mention losing consideration working as an employee.
So Miemaw, have you heard anything different? They’ll teach you self esteem as a kid, but the minute you are a grown-up you are anathema? Kay, how does that fit the pillars of Respect, Fairness, and Caring?
14SusanF, it doesn’t fit them *at all*, of course. I haven’t talked to my old boss about this yet, but I imagine he’s going to be in about the same place as your young friend–aghast at the cut-off age, which will dump some of America’s finest young people right out of the organization which purported to, at least in part, guide them to being as fine as they are. Shannon is a huge Scouting booster, always has been (even while disagreeing with their gay ban, I know) but I don’t yet know how he’ll deal with this. I’ll have to ask. I’m sure the answer will be agonized.
15Scripture: “Love thy neighbor as thyself” He must not like himself….
16Dang, Corrine. If YOU were him, would you like him?! Well, I should think not! Eeewwwww!
*giggle*
17Is that really his face?
18thank you Marcia, I agree, isn’t there a biblical rule against gluttony? I don’t know my bible but I’m guessing!
19Put me in mind of the scene from West Wing where Pres. Bartlett questions a “dr. Laura” clone. http://westwing.bewarne.com/second/25admonitions.html includes the bible verses he quotes, plus a link to a letter to Dr. Laura that apparently inspired the bit.
Here’s a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7jOek1KhZs
20Funny thing about Rev. Shaw – like most pastors & priests, he cherry-picks from scripture to for some form of justification without a clue how the New & Old Testaments inter-relate. He probably has no clue how or by whom the New Testament was written either. Oh, so much history, so little time to learn it.
21Thing is, the troop he is evicting is the same troop that has been meeting there all these years. If there are any gay kids in it, they were there last year, too. And why should gay kids not benefit from the Scouts? Isn’t scouting all about developing character? Do gay kids not need this? bigot!
22@Susan F: I don’t know that much about Scouting. But on the question of age, and severing ties with the Scouts, my thoughts would be simply this. After age 18, a boy, in most states is considered a “man”. I would hope that all scouts, regardless of sexuality, who achieve the rank of Eagle Scout could benefit from adding that to a resume.
I do know a little about hypocrisy. This Rev., like most fundamentalists, quotes the “scripture” that suits him.
That Love Thy Neighbor Thing…… he overlooks that one.
And, it doesn’t specify love only the straight ones, or the white ones. So he can’t be bothered with “that scripture”.
Yeah Big Time Bigot.
23Oh, Lyntilla, thank you for that video clip from the West Wing, my all-time favorite show. Aaron Sorkin has a way with words which gets right to the heart of the self-righteous religious and political hypocrites.
24He’s at it again in his new series, “The Newsroom” when he describes all the characteristics of the American Taliban.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pzqq9sxKkY
I don’t think I’ve ever seen any human head look so much like a potato.
25Why were these churches sponsoring the Scouts anyway? Back in my day, we Southern Baptists had the Royal Ambassadors, which were exactly the same thing, with 50% more Jeebus.
26