From: "Leigh Johnson" <quickleigh-AT-hotmail.com> Subject: Fall-far, Fall-hard, Fal-well Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 14:17:24 CDT Hello all. Another lurker decides to speak...First, a friendly caveat regarding this email: Don't shoot the messenger. Now to the uglier business. I know (hope!) I'm not the only one with my dander up over the recent redefinitions of the Southern Baptist Convention (although, being from Memphis, I should note that I'm relieved by the ending of Adrian Rogers' reign as President, and somewhat amused to find that Memphis has been replaced as the SBC seat of power in favor of the new President's home in , get this, Snellville, GA). Really, at this point, the only thing that I can think of that is more disturbing than the SBC is the "Left Behind" series of evangelical novels (if you haven't heard of "dispensationalist premillenialism" yet, find out what it is... the enemy you know is better than the enemy you don't know!). Anyway, you should all read the "feature article" rather sneakily entitled "The Bible as Controversy" on Jerry Falwell's website (at www.falwell.com). Among its other defenses of the SBC's decision to be officially misogynist and homophobic (but not racist!)is a peculiarly drawn out explanation of Divinely-inspired and distinctive roles for men and women. Falwell argues that the old separate but equal line... just because God doesn't want women to lead the church doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other significant things for women to do as defined in Scripture (most of which, I might add, involve some version of women witnessing men doing something important). My favorite part is where Falwell equates men playing in the NFL with women's childbearing responsibilities. Fair is fair, right! In a rather sloppy attempt to relate this to the group, however, I would like to point out that regardless of how much I loathe the methods and motivations of the SBC, I am repeatedly astonished by their political brilliance. Or more specifically, the SBC's ability to so totally conflate the political and the personal as to enable them to simultaneously embrace and exile their constituents. Also, the rather ho-hum reception that the recent convention has been given by national media suggests that there is a certain national perception of the Southern Baptist political arena as little more than a particularly annoying fly on the back of the... uh...elephant.:) Some might hastily write off the Southern Baptists as resent(iment)ers, weak decadents, "mob thinkers," but I think this is a gross underestimation of the subtlety of what is happening here. After all, and even by their own admission, the SB's are *not* a mirror of mainstream thought. It is frightening how much some of their methodology reflects what could be interpreted as Nietzschean principles and methods of strength. (Even down to the evangelical eschatology... the non-Baptists will not return???) I know there are the obvious objections to this interpretation, but humor me. It's a scary thought, right? I'm not alone here, am I? Sorry for the rant, but if you are at all interested and want to get a discussion going, please respond. To quote Johnny Cash: "It was some of the worst pain I've ever experienced. But there were two of us, so it was only half painful." leigh ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com --- from list nietzsche-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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