Corruption in America's largest Evangelical denomination mirrors the horrors of Trump and GOP corruption.

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/02/americas-largest-evangelical.html

I can certainly see why this denomination has a credibility problem. This is what happens, when far right wing politics blends with fundamentalist religion. So What Happens?

Ultimately, mixing conservative and fundamentalist religion with far right wing politics produces dangerous extremism. People elevate their passion and feelings above the rule of law, considering it an illegitimate barrier to their freedom which permits them to fight against the freedom and personal rights of others who don't share similar convictions. This skews any conviction of what is right and wrong, and it undermines the value of human life which becomes subject to someone's personal determination of "righteousness." It turns people into crusaders for God's vengeance against his enemies, while he holds their coattails and cheers them on. That's a perspective that is both oppositional to American values of freedom and democracy, and Christian values of the sanctity of every human life.

The Southern Baptist Convention is on the verge of losing its title as "The largest Protestant denomination in the United States." Since it's membership peaked in 2006, it has lost 2.8 million members, almost a fourth of its total, and it has lost 1.8 million in its weekly worship attendance which is over a fourth of the total. The vast majority of these losses, which have climbed into the 400,000 range per year, have occurred since 2015. And the public message that gets put out, after all of the debates, is not concern for the hundreds of women who have been abused because they trusted someone in their church, but is a whine over the money this is costing the executive committee.

This is the Achilles heel of this largest of Evangelical denominations. The lack of sincerity of leadership that appears to be more interested in power and authority than in restoring the cooperative missions and ministry aims of the denomination is visible, and people are leaving because of it. Baptisms, representing the number of people who profess to be converted to Christianity, and which have always been a measure of the relative health of the denomination as a whole, are experiencing all time lows. The denomination is at risk of fragmenting even further, splintering, splitting or completely dissolving, and that's a fact that is quite visible.

[Lemonwurst]

1. Good

The sooner the better. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of hypocrites.

[keithbvadu2]

2. Religion and politics use each other to gain power and wealth.