Posted on 05/16/2004 6:19:08 PM PDT by Cracker72
DALLAS (AP) - A Southern Baptist medical and retirement fund for pastors is being criticized within the denomination because it holds $14 million worth of stock in Carnival Cruise Lines, which is hosting a "Gay Days" voyage later this month.
"The Baptists don't believe in gambling, liquor or pornography, or gays," said Don Allmon, a deacon at First Baptist Church of Dyer, Tenn. "When I say that, we love gays, but we don't like their lifestyle."
The Southern Baptists - the nation's largest Protestant denomination, with more than 16 million members - have been boycotting the Walt Disney Co. for years, partly because gay groups hold "Gay Day" festivities at Disney's amusement parks.
The Southern Baptist Convention Annuity Board, which administers the health and retirement fund, already is restricted from investing in 300 to 400 companies because they are in industries not acceptable to the church.
The Rev. O.S. Hawkins, board president and chief executive, was not available for comment Friday, a spokeswoman said. But in a statement, the board said, "We could go through every stock in the Fortune 500 and probably find some reason why we shouldn't invest in any of them."
A Carnival spokesman said the five-day "Gay Days" cruise to the Bahamas beginning May 30 is being sold through an independent travel agent, Gay Days Inc. The cruise line caters to a broad range of people and does not discriminate, spokesman Vance Gulliksen said in a statement.
Karen Weldin, director of operations for Soulforce, a gay rights group, said she finds it amusing that the Southern Baptists own stock in Carnival while boycotting Disney.
"The whole thing just makes me smile a bit about the hypocrisy within the Southern Baptists," Weldin said.
The Baptist board said its guidelines prohibit investments in any company publicly recognized "as being in the liquor, tobacco, gambling, pornography or abortion industries." Among its current holdings are satellite and cable TV companies that provide pornographic programming.
Gay Days spokesman Chris Alexander-Manley, who was raised Southern Baptist, said: "If companies are making money by wise decisions, by having lots of bookings, the Baptists should let them do it instead of trying to threaten and cajole people into not being fair and inclusive."
Homosexual Agenda Alert - When I said it was going to be busy, I didn't even know how busy!
Why in tophet are the Southern Baptists investing in a "gay" cruise line? I guess if I read the whole article I'll find out.
People need to put their money where their convictions are, and take it away from their convictions aren't. For starters.
Let me know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.
That said, I can understand why it's hard to find clean investments.
Wheat farms, dairy farms, tractor companies, grass seed agribusiness, etc.
Just because something's hard doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.
Yet another example of twisting the rights of Baptists (or others) to make their choices according to their beliefs into "hate" and "threat." The statement positively turns logic on its head.
Well as a Southern Baptist I say get to it. Shouldn't take you long to figure out who's who and what's what should it?
Jeeze! A baptist can't buy a newspaper then because they have liquor, tobacco and ganbling ads. Had they invested before the gays took to sailing on the carnival or after?
As another Southern Baptist, I agree with you and it shouldn't matter how long the process takes. They need to get with it now. The money they are investing comes from you and me brother.
I don't see it as the SBC trying to tell them how to run their buisness either. Simply stated it would be the SBC saying run it any way you want to but if you are going to cater to gays do it without our money.
I bet they dump the stock.
This is almost as dumb as the Hollywood Boycott lists.
it is called integrity
Good reason not to be a Baptist. By their fruits ye shall know them Matt 7:16, 7:20.
I don't "cast stones" at them or anyone else. If we look deeply at any denomination we might find something the honchos are doing that we don't like. Even your denomination may not be "pure" I just want the SBC to be better stewards with the money I give them and you can believe that I will do everything in my power to make my voice heard on this matter but I won't abandon my beliefs and my faith because of it.
My wife and I are Presbyterian (PCA). We dumped our Disney stock several years ago because of their gay days festival every June. You got to draw a line in the sand and start somewhere. A good company does not have to pander to homosexuals to make money.</p>
Yeah. Well let's see the liberals start sponsoring some Southern Baptists events.
I'm one of them. As I said before though, I will do everything I can to make my voice heard. It may or may not be effective but I will have done something positive. Leaving the Church is not positive and right now is not even an option for me.
Forgive me for belaboring this issue but I would like to point out that I contribute money to the local Catholic organization that is providing alternatives to women who otherwise might seek an abortion. The Catholic beliefs are a long way from mine in many areas but they are the only ones in the area doing anything positive about the abortion abomination.
Our local Protestant churches are generally against abortion but I don't know what they are doing except "being against it"
I'd give them more credit for the sudden concern if the investment wasn't in an industry where much of the profit comes from booze and the on-board casinos.
I've attended the convention here in NC once or twice. Looks like I'll be going back and see what happens at the state level.
They may have owned the stock before the cruise lines announced its "Gay Days" cruises. The Convention may not have been able to respond to the changes or weren't keeping up with the changes of policies within the company.
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