Not so hard-and-fast as I thought, apparently.

I’ve gotta say, it’s kind of wild reading about the church in which i grew up on a blog that i’ve been reading for close to four years…

Precisely. That’s why I don’t go anywhere near Southern Baptist churches, and can’t comprehend why a gay person would want to. I mean, sure, “because they’re Southern Baptists” or whatever, but come on. Being Southern Baptist is a choice, not a race or a, well, sexual orientation. It’s a deliberate concurrence with their worldview, it would seem to me.

One factoid and I’ll shut up: Until 10 or 15 years ago, the Southern Baptist Church prohibited dancing, fercryinoutloud. Says it all.

I’m still waiting for evidence such “Truth” exists.

I have to say, at risk of telling a they joke, I just don’t get why LGBT folks would want to go to a Southern Baptist church.

Usually the answer to this is “because they’re Southern Baptists.”

I happen to disagree with this thinking, not because the fears of discomfort and racial conflict aren’t real, but because we need to all be able to point out bigotry where it exists, regardless of the color of the people hurling the charges. The real problem is not pointing out homophobia, but feeling so disconnected from people who are different socially or culturally to feel able to bridge the gap and make the connection without being hurt. There’s no doubt that this is hard work and requires thick skin, but I believe that the end result can make a difference that will benefit us all.

Bravo!! This paragraph might seem like an obvious point if you don’t really think about the fact that so many people are incredibly uncomfortable with challenging bigotry. The way you put it is so spot on, and so needs to be said to a lot of people, that I felt like standing up and cheering.

I’m not a regular reader, nor do we see eye to eye on many a political issue, but this post - particularly the bit about Obama’s political highwire work re: religious black voters and LGBT issues and the cowardice of white politicians on the subject - is sensibly put and important.

I understand that this is about Southern Baptists in Forth Worth. However, any group of which I was a member that refused to recognize my family as a family is quite simply not worthy of my membership. Baby steps and whatever, but life’s to short to spend it surrounded by bigots.

That said, I think “baby steps” need to be put in context. These are Southern Baptists in Fort Worth, Texas. They appear to be going through a crisis of conscience, and to be struggling with the issue sincerely, although clearly many of them remain misguided. A couple of the parishioners quoted sounded decent and compassionate. Not all of them are, evidently.

The notion of firing the pastor was never officially entertained, merely voiced by a few church members. They reached the sort of bogus, watery compromise that resolves nothing, but they are Southern Baptists in Fort Worth.

It’s a baby step, no more but also no less. You’d never see auch an article 25 years ago — dateline Fort Worth. People, it’s a conservative, traditionally blue-collar town.

The church seems to offer the same deal proponents of civil unions do: we’ll make things easier on LGBT folk so long as they don’t demand recognition as equals. The invidious opinions of inequality are preserved (the church is “inclusive” but they won’t publish the directory?), but by offering the baby step, the proponent feels less like a homophobe.

Gratuitous plug for atheism: No god, no church, no problem!