Liberal Baptists Bashing Catholicism?

Francis Beckwith, writing on the Right Reason blog, posts the following:

Yesterday, June 29, the Baptist Joint Committee hosted a Baptist Unity Rally in Washington, D.C., in which "religious, political and educational leaders...celebrate[d] our Baptist heritage by reading excerpts of [George W.] Truett’s [1920] speech. Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas, Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, William Underwood, Pam Durso, Jeff Haggray, Stan Hastey, Daniel Vestal, Amy Butler, Julie Pennington-Russell, Curt Lucas and Rob Marus are among those...[who] participate[d]." (from BJC website)                             

Because I am familiar with the speech, I was curious as to whether the BJC would have the courage to ask its assigned readers--including two U. S. Congressmen and a Baptist university president--to recite the portions of the speech that are condescendingly and embarrasingly anti-Catholic (which, by the way, can still be found in its entirety on the BJC's website).

Just as I had predicted to a friend in private conservation, the BJC provided to the public a highly-edited, antiseptic, version of the speech.

Read the entire post and see what parts of Truett's speech were left out. A reader left the following comment on the Right Reason blog:

This is incredible! A US congressman celebrating the legacy of Truett, a segregationist. Bear in mind that this is all part of an effort by Bill Underwood, Daniel Vestal, Jimmy Carter, and several other Baptist leftists to gather support for Hillary Clinton. Remember, these are the same people organizing the "Baptist Covenant" next year in Atlanta, which will feature Senator Clinton as one of the main speakers.

Sure enough, the Baptist Joint Committee is part of the "New Baptist Covenant."  Visit the "New Baptist Covenant" website and learn more about how the self-described "authentic and genuine Baptist voice in North America" is working to "promote religious liberty and respect for religious diversity."

Comments

[Christian single]

I'm amazed that these "baptists" would support the likes of Hillary. Don't they know she's pro abortion, pro gay, and anti Christianity?!

[Michael Spencer]

These are the Moderate/liberals in the CBF, ABC or leftover from the pre-1979 SBC. Democrats all, and opponents of private education all. No surprise here to those of us in Baptist life. This is about 0.005% of all Baptists.

[Carl Olson]

In my book, Jimmy Carter was not only one of the worst presidents of all time, he is an embarrassment to Christianity and to civilization in general. Otherwise, he seems like a swell fella.

[Ed Peters]

I agree with Carl (except for his second sentence).

[cranky]

It's all about winning the South in '08. It's a math lesson on shaking the conservative voter tree to see who might be shaken off to become a windfall for Hillary.

A few disaffected conservatives and a few Hispanics stirred together, mixed with the political rhetoric of Southern politics, and warmed over the flames of liberal promises to make everything okay creates a powerful stew, powerful enough to make Republicans question whether they still own the South. That costs Republicans money and resources.

And besides, there probably aren't enough Catholics likely to get upset enough to do much. The giant still sleeps.

[Cliff Mathis]

How does Hillary Clinton fit into all this?

I'm one of those moderates and I don't support Hillary Clinton.

And to suggest that we're all Democrats is preposterous. Have you ever been to a CBF church? ABC church? We're quite diverse. Two of the three CBF congregations that I've belonged to have been overwhelmingly Republican.

And the participating bodies of the New Baptist Covenant represent 40 million Baptists. Not quite .0005% of all Baptists.

Let's also remember that G.W. Truett was railing against a pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic Church. Remember that. Much has changed in 87 years!

And while I do not deny anti-Catholicism from some of my Baptist fathers of yesteryear - please don't label me an anti-Catholic when I speak out for the unfettered rights of the individual conscience and when I criticize the baptizing of babies.

I'm Baptist - a proud Baptist. But that doesn't make me an anti-Catholic.

And while I consider Catholics to be my brothers and sisters in Christ (unlike many if not most conservative Baptists) - I do recognize our many theological differences....

[Jack Alda]

Bill Underwood, one of the leaders of the “Covenant” meeting in Atlanta, has been a financial supporter of Planned Parenthood in Waco. Here's the proof:
http://www.prolifewaco.org/documents/Fool04FlyerOnePage.pdf

If you doubt the veracity of this, please contact Baylor professor, Dr. John Pisciotta, the director of Prolife Waco. His email is John_Pisciotta@Baylor.edu