My purpose here is not to bash the local Shreveport Times. Like all nationally owned papers they have to deal with budget cuts. However this is yet another example of how religious reporting has gone to the dogs.
Please note my area is very Southern Baptist and the Southern Baptist Convention used to get big coverage.
Here is what happened on Day 1 of the SBC Convention in Phoenix:
As of Day 1 the SBC Convention has the worst attendance since the 1950's
The Southern Baptist issued a report admitting that past numbers on growth and membership were misleading.
The Southern Baptist Convention voted for a affirmative action plan for ethnic groups as to leadership positions. (NOTE a Commenter said it might be wrong to call this an Affirmative Action plan as some do. Well he has a point. I don't see this as the very huge quota system we see in other mainline Protestant bodies. Though that issue was not explored in my newspaper because well there was not news on the SBC Convention)
The Southern Baptist Convention elected a black Pastor from New Orleans as VP and who might be next year elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist President said that the Southern Baptist Church was founded on Slavery and it took Church too long to repent of that.
The Southern Baptist President even made a comment that it was time that Preachers quit preaching FOX news and talk radio like it was the Gospel.
That was just a little part of day 1. If I had not had social media reporting it as it happened I would be clueless. Sadly most Baptists and other interested folks that read the paper in my region are clueless still. How much of that was repeated across the nation
In the next round of budget cuts to newspapers I hope the few reporters that cover Faith matters do not get cut.
Christians need to understand this reality that it's likely their message and it is not getting out in some forums as it used too.
I could go into cynical mode and think if someone said something like "Submit too your Husbands" it would be all over the news.
But I will not be cynical and just assume the media hardly has anyone there.
Good synopsis. (Though I think the "affirmative action" characterization is a little misleading, we can talk about that another day.) Unfortunately, most people are realizing now that if you want the truth, a newspaper is rarely the place to look!
ReplyDeleteTHANKS
ReplyDeleteI will go edit and try to redo that sentence. I just used that because some of the Baptist Press was using that term affirmative action
Though I realize that can be misleading because we are not talk about some quota system like some Churches have and I realize there is theologcal issue here too
There's a distinction that needs to be drawn between affirmative action and quotas. The definition of AA as quotas was abandoned several decades ago when the Supreme Court banned quotas or anything that resembled a quota in federal AA programs.
ReplyDeleteSouthern Baptists don't like those two words due to their racially conservative politics but an intentiinal diversity program (check out the language of the recommendations) is in fact affirmative action. There's nothing bad about that. But SBs like Hobbs should recognize AA is what it is!
Well anonymous
ReplyDeleteI see your point too. I think it is an interesting and important conversation yall are having as well as others.
Sadly though not many people will have it unless they read Baptist publications it appears.
I do agree this newsworthy