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To: thoughtomator

What you have shown me indicates nothing of the type of targeting you speak of. The SBC always passes resolutions at their annual convention which are simple restatements of biblical truth. They are issued simply to clarify the position that Southern Baptists take on a variety of issues. They do this constantly with respect to evangelism, social issues such as abortion and homosexuality, the Biblical model for the family and on and on. To say the gospel is to be taken to the Jews or any other group is not targeting that group but a simple statement which is an affirmation of what the Southern Baptists view as doctrinally correct.

I've been attending a Southern Baptist Church since March of 96 and I can't recall any push to target Jews. Different people groups are constantly being mentioned as not being reached with the gospel during missions week but this only takes the form of information and different groups are constantly highlighted. If the SBC is specifically targeting Jews I've missed it (and so have most other Southern Baptists).


124 posted on 06/23/2004 1:49:49 PM PDT by bereanway
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To: bereanway

I think some historical context is in order. Three and four and five generations ago, the Jews who came to the United States from Eastern Europe and Russia did so in good part because of persecution under the guise of Christianity. History is littered with this, going back many centuries. For the older generation this persecution was experienced first hand. I know that personally an entire branch of my family from Hungary was completely eliminated by such persecution, save a single person.

Now, I personally know that American Christianity is innocent in the most meaningful sense of wanting to do violence to us. But this is only because I am reasonably well versed in both Christianity and Islam; for others this is not necessarily the case. While the evangelism may be innocent, the people on the receiving end often do not know this and associate it with the historical memory in Europe. This is where the hostility comes from.

I will not make their argument for them, because I do not share it. I am simply explaining what I know of the context and the way evangelism is often perceived. In reality, most evangelism is received is to ignore it. Evangelists differ in persistence, however, and some exceed the bounds of civility.

I will however make the argument that Judaism is as thoroughly woven into the fabric of this nation as is Christianity and is as American a philosophy as any other, and on both religious and patriotic grounds it should be respected.

I know where the threat is - to all of us. Heck, I was personally, or impersonally as it were, a target of the 1993 WTC attack.


126 posted on 06/23/2004 2:27:32 PM PDT by thoughtomator (Islam delenda est)
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