7.27.2006

Baptists and the Religious Right

Scot McKnight is blogging through Randall Balmer's book, Thy Kingdom Come, and most recently discussed chapter 2. This particular chapter deals with baptists and their denial of their heritage. Historically, baptists have embraced independence from the State, but Balmer maintains (apparently) that insofar as many baptists have joined (or comprise) the religious right, they have become entangled in politics.

More interesting than McKnight's post is the interaction found in the comments section, especially that b/w McKnight and Denny Burk. I'm certainly sympathetic to McKnight's point of view, if only because I tend to be a contrarian and reject my background, but I can also sympathize with Burk. It's too easy to suggest that those on the religious right (am I one of these?) want to establish some sort of Constantinian state because they try to legislate laws consistent with their moral beliefs. I personally feel that such attempts are often misguided and based on positions that lack nuance, but, nevertheless, they represent a desire to effect change using the political mechanics at hand. Any thoughts?

2 comments:

jason said...

Thanks for the heads up. I read the post but not the comments.

jason said...

That was a pretty interesting conversation. Thanks again for pointing it out.