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by Edwin Kagin |
Fundamentally
Aware Bringing
America’s Own Religious Extremism to the Forefront |
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Volume 1, Number 5 |
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blockbuster exposé
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have just read this brilliant book from start to finish, almost
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From
the publisher
Welcome to issue 5 of Fundamentally Aware. If you’re not yet a subscriber to my complimentary newsletter, be sure to sign up. You’ll find details in the lower left column. The
Southern Baptist Convention, among other conservative and
fundamentalist Christian groups, is gearing up to Christianize the new
Speaking
of the SBC, it seems fitting to include a discussion of the
differences between denominations and sects and just where the SBC
fits. As always, please feel free to share your comments with me. Kimberly Blaker Contents 1. Religious Denominations Versus Sects 2. Politically Incorrect 3. Religious Opportunists Paving a Path to Christianize the
4. Christian Evangelizing Religious
Denominations Versus Sects The
following excerpt is written by Kimberly Blaker from The
Fundamentals of Extremism: the Christian Right in When extremist viewpoints are given validity by society at-large, it becomes difficult to determine what is taking things “too far.” This may have the affect of making people think their beliefs can justify any number of antisocial actions, such as those stemming from prejudices. It may also make some people more susceptible to forming or recruitment into a more extreme sect or cult. To appreciate this likelihood and the effects, a basic understanding of the differences between churches, sects, and cults, and how religious groups change, is necessary. Denominations, or churches, are to what mainstream Christians belong. Denominations are generally accepting of other religious beliefs and comfortable with society.[i] They generally favor an intellectual approach to religious teachings, while avoiding emotionalism in their services. Churches are attended more by the middle and upper classes, and members tend to participate from the sidelines by acting mainly as an audience.[ii] In contrast, sects are often to what Christian fundamentalists belong. Sects are deviant religious groups holding traditional beliefs. They claim to be the only true believers,[iii] or true Christians, and satisfy the masses, or those who are low in the stratification system.[iv] Sects stress “emotionalism and individual mystical experiences.” Members actively participate in the religious experience, which offers them “a strong sense of community and solidarity.”[v] It must be pointed, however, that there is overlap, just as with many other issues pertaining to fundamentalism. So, whether fundamentalists are part of a sect or denomination is not always cut and dry. Many fundamentalists are also Southern Baptists, which is considered a conservative denomination rather than a sect. But the reason for this situation can be more readily understood by looking at the church-sect theory. In an increasingly secular world, it is difficult to understand how and why there is, at the same time, a rapid growth in sects. The church-sect theory, derived from Ernst Troeltsch and developed by H. Richard Niebuhr, helps to explain this phenomenon.[vi] As has been historically the case, sects and churches change over time. In his book The Social Sources of Denominations (1929), Niebhur said the growth of religious organizations leads to increased memberships in the middle and upper classes. Over time, these classes influence the organization to take a more worldly approach in which material success is no longer considered a punishable offense to God. In turn, the religious needs of the lower classes are no longer met. As discontent grows, the masses break off from the less-spiritual church to form a sect to satisfy their needs, as did the former organization, originally. The cycle then repeats itself.[vii] Similar
discontent was observed in recent years in the Southern Baptist
Convention, resulting in a major division. In this instance, a sect
was not formed because the massive ultra-conservative membership of
the SBC was able to maintain control over the denomination, forcing
out the more liberal of its membership. Therefore, the needs of its
conservative and fundamentalist adherents were able to be maintained
by the denomination. Read
more on this and legitimizing extremism in Kimberly Blaker’s chapter
The Social Implications of Armageddon in The
Fundamentals of Extremism: the Christian Right in America |
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Politically
Incorrect “Unique
among the nations,
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image Fundamentally
Aware Published
by Kimberly
Blaker Editor/coauthor The
Fundamentals of Extremism: the Christian Right in To
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Religious
Opportunists Paving a Path to Christianize the
The
Baptist Press News reported
on April 4, that the SBC is encouraging its members to make donations
to feed Iraqi families, warning its members not to include tracts or
other literature inside the packages that might cause authorities to
reject them. But
not to be silenced in their mission, each box will contain the
following scripture from John
1:17, in Arabic: “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and
truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” The
packages will be signed, "A gift with love from the Southern
Baptist churches in Furthermore,
Christian missionaries, of various organizations, not just the SBC,
are already prepared to cross over the Jordanian border and begin
their efforts. It’s
telling to read Article XI of the Baptist Faith & Message, which
says “It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and
of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples
of all nations. . . . It
is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost
to Christ . . .” Add
to this the fact that evangelicals, fundamentalists, and religious
conservatives in general, are typically associated with opposing
welfare and favoring a more restrictive welfare reform that leaves
many families, especially children, to suffer in poverty.
In contrast these groups do
favor faith-based charities, in which the poor can be served with
strings attached. All these factors combined make pretty clear that
the main purpose of the SBC humanitarian aid is for Christianizing the
Despite
President Bush repeatedly professing that Islam is a peaceful religion
(surely intended mainly to diffuse accusations that this is a
religious war), White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said, on April
3, that it isn’t the responsibility of the administration to filter
the groups desiring to give aid to Also
telling, in the SBC’s court is Khalil Jaloub of the Southwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary, who’s become an Iraqi spokesperson for
the Christian evangelical movement in its effort to Christianize the
Muslim world. Jaloub has
argued that it’s the goal of Muslims to convert Western society to
Islam. According to the Baptist
Press News reporting on Jaloub’s views,
“To fight that, churches and Christians need to be trained to
witness to Muslims and to demonstrate through their lives the love of
Christ.” He and other
evangelicals fail to see the paradox in their own goal to convert the
world to Christianity. What
it all boils down to is a big race to the finish line to see which
religion will prevail and rule the world. Those
opportunists seeking to assist the Iraqis with ulterior motives,
rather than a simple desire to do goodwill, should not be allowed to
forge their way into Kimberly
Blaker is editor and coauthor of The
Fundamentals of Extremism: the Christian Right in Christian
Evangelizing Discover
how the SBC plans to Christianize the world as they narrowly interpret
it. As you’ll see here,
converting Jews is a primary goal. And
here’s a special workshop on how to reach the Jews. http://www.sbc.net/redirect.asp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enamb%2Enet%2Fevangelism%2Fiev%2FJudaism%5FWrkshp%5FBrochure%2Epdf&key=evangelizing+AND+2002&title=020032+jewish+brochure&ndx=SBC%2C+IMB%2C+NAMB%2C+ANNUITY%2C+LIFEWAY%2C+WMU%2C+ERLC%2C+SEMINARIES Read
about the urgent need to convert teens. How
will 5,154 Baptist missionaries convert the world?
Find out here. http://www.sbc.net/redirect.asp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eonmission%2Ecom%2FWebzine%2Fmar%5Fapr02%2Freccord%2Ehtm&key=evangelizing+AND+2003&title=Off+the+Reccord&ndx=SBC%2C+IMB%2C+NAMB%2C+ANNUITY%2C+LIFEWAY%2C+WMU%2C+ERLC%2C+SEMINARIES |
At
what point does it become evident that an opportunity to Christianize
the
[i]
Richard J. Gelles and Ann Levine, Sociology: An Introduction 5th.
Ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1995), 453.
[ii]
Rodney Stark, Sociology, 7th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Publishing Company, 1998), 391.
[iii]
Gelles, Sociology, 453
[iv]
Stark, Sociology, 391.
[v]
Stark, Sociology, 391.
[vi] Stark, Sociology, 394.
[vii] Stark, Sociology, 392.