More freedom-hating Republicans

[BamaGrad03 0]

Well Texas, to take your intentions at face value...I'll assume that you view this church's actions as such an abberation and exception to the norm, that you felt the need to post it...you know...to show us how the other .01% of churches do it.

[TitanTiger 20,499]

I think now might be an appropriate time to share this quote from a book I'm reading right now:

If you ask me, the way to tell if a person knows God for real, I mean knows the real God, is that they will fear Him.  They wouldn't go around making absurd political assertions and drop God's name like an ace card, and they wouldn't be making absurd statements about how God wants you to be rich and how if you send in some money to the ministry God will bless you...It seems like, if you knew the God who understands the physics of our existence, you would operate a little more cautiously, a little more compassionately, a little less like you were the center of the universe.

--Donald Miller, from Searching For God Knows What

The more I hear people making vapid political proclamations like this minister did, the more I realize how on the mark Mr. Miller is in his statement above. There is no fear of God when you go around doing and saying things like that.

[Tiger Al 0]

I think now might be an appropriate time to share this quote from a book I'm reading right now:

If you ask me, the way to tell if a person knows God for real, I mean knows the real God, is that they will fear Him.  They wouldn't go around making absurd political assertions and drop God's name like an ace card, and they wouldn't be making absurd statements about how God wants you to be rich and how if you send in some money to the ministry God will bless you...It seems like, if you knew the God who understands the physics of our existence, you would operate a little more cautiously, a little more compassionately, a little less like you were the center of the universe.

--Donald Miller, from Searching For God Knows What

The more I hear people making vapid political proclamations like this minister did, the more I realize how on the mark Mr. Miller is in his statement above. There is no fear of God when you go around doing and saying things like that.

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I don't know who Donald Miller is, but, from that little snippet you posted, I might tend to agree with him. I agree with what you posted. It almost sounds like he's talking about Rod Parsley.

[Tiger Al 0]

Wasn't he (Ratzinger -sp-) at that time Pope Paul's, right hand man, specifically in matters of Church Doctrine?  Would it not be correct for the Catholic Church to point out to it's members (in this case Kerry) where they are wrong?  Personally I see a huge difference with what the Catholic Church said and did to Kerry and what this preacher did in North Carolina.

159039[/snapback]

Yes, you're correct about Ratzinger's prior role. His statement leads me to wonder why he doesn't single out other Catholic politicians as not worthy of Communion? Those who support the death penalty, embryonic stem cell research or the war in Iraq are equally in "discommunion" with the Church's doctrines.

[BamaGrad03 0]

I know a number of people who have been kicked out of their catholic church for their stance on birth control. But they arent newsworthy because they werent running for office.

Id be mad too if Bush got up there and said "I'm a baptist" and "I think there is nothing wrong with homosexuality". In this case Kerry got up and said "I'm a catholic, but abortion is okay". There's nothing wrong with him getting called out on his double speak.

[Tiger Al 0]

I know a number of people who have been kicked out of their catholic church for their stance on birth control. But they arent newsworthy because they werent running for office.

Id be mad too if Bush got up there and said "I'm a baptist" and "I think there is nothing wrong with homosexuality". In this case Kerry got up and said "I'm a catholic, but abortion is okay". There's nothing wrong with him getting called out on his double speak.

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Kerry has never said that and you know it.

[DKW 86 7,428]

Pastor backing down...

Pastor calls ousting members over Bush "misunderstanding"

By PAUL NOWELL : Associated Press Writer

May 8, 2005 : 6:26 pm ET

WAYNESVILLE, N.C. -- Calling it a "great misunderstanding," the pastor of a small church who led the charge to remove nine members for their political beliefs tried to welcome them back Sunday, but some insisted he must leave for the wounds to heal. I say the guy has to go. Voting out members and Deacons that have been there 35 years is just too much. Who does he think he is? The Democratic Party? Remember Zell Miller was basically thrown out because he did not agree with Kerry.

The Rev. Chan Chandler didn't directly address the controversy during the service at East Waynesville Baptist Church, but issued a statement afterward through his attorney saying the church does not care about its members' political affiliations.

"No one has ever been voted from the membership of this church due to an individual's support or lack of support for a political party or candidate," he said.

Nine members said they were ousted during a church gathering last week by about 40 others because they refused to support President Bush. They attended Sunday's service with their lawyer and many supporters.

Chandler noted their presence in his welcome to the congregation, saying, "I'm glad to see you all here. ... We are here today to worship the Lord. I hope this is what you are here for."

But Chandler's statement and his welcome didn't convince those members who were voted out that things would soon change, and some called for him to resign.

"This all started over politics and our right to vote for whoever we wanted to," said Thelma Lowe, who has been attending the church for 42 years. She and her husband Frank, a deacon at the church for 35 years, were among those voted out.

"Things will never be the same here until he leaves," she said.

The ousted members have said Chandler told them during last year's presidential campaign that anyone who planned to vote for Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry needed to leave the church in the mountain town about 125 miles northwest of Charlotte.

Chandler, 33, has been at the church for less than three years.

"He needs to leave," said Marlene Casey, 42, a lifelong member. "A lot of blood, sweat and tears have been shed by the people he told to leave."

Added Lewis Inman, a deacon at the church who said he was voted out Monday: "He could have apologized and made everything right. He's not man enough."

Chandler invited all church members to attend a business meeting on Tuesday. "This should all be cleared up by the end of the week," he said in an interview after the service.

Chandler said he and his wife have received calls from around the nation -- some of them threatening -- since his politics in the pulpit made national news.

His actions also drew criticism from other Baptist clergymen in the town.

"This is very disturbing," the Rev. Robert Prince III, who leads the congregation at the nearby First Baptist Church, said Saturday. "I've been a pastor for more than 25 years, and I have never seen church members voted out for something like this."

Some members of his congregation, however, voiced their support for Chandler on Sunday.

"He's a wonderful, good old country boy," Pam Serafin said as she walked into the church. "There are always two sides to every story."

Too harsh on the detection meter scale? When this turkey started lawyering up, he lost all credibility with me. This guy does not deserve a second chance. If he acted on what he felt was the leading of the Holy Spirit, if he was Spirit lead, then he should have been able to give a direct to the point answer to the questions. What verse of scripture did he use as a basis for the decision?

" At the direction of my attorney, I cannot comment..." What

[TexasTiger 12,952]

Well Texas, to take your intentions at face value...I'll assume that you view this church's actions as such an abberation and exception to the norm, that you felt the need to post it...you know...to show us how the other .01% of churches do it.

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Unfortunately, I know of people who are made to feel uncomfortable in their churches because of whom they support politically, but I suspect action this overt and extreme is rare, indeed. I certainly hope so.

[Auburn85 432]

If I was a preacher and I knew ACLU people were in it..... man, I better get better at being PC.