My fellow SBCers are aware of this week's religious outrage-du-jour was about the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee's website, SBCNet being blocked on some military bases by official U. S. government software.
Southern Baptists who believe that the Obama administration is persecuting those who hold to traditional Biblical values on homosexuality and gay marriage were quick to condemn this outrage. Objections were fueled by the military's blocking software which
said the site was blocked because of "hostile" and "malicious" content.
The Executive Committee's initial response was measured,
Malware on SBCNet. Hostile content. Put that gun back in the holster, blogger.
SBCNet says the offending stuff has been removed.
It is once again safe to be a Southern Baptist.
And God does indeed have a sense of humor, no matter what the Calvinists say.
Southern Baptists who believe that the Obama administration is persecuting those who hold to traditional Biblical values on homosexuality and gay marriage were quick to condemn this outrage. Objections were fueled by the military's blocking software which
said the site was blocked because of "hostile" and "malicious" content.
The Associated Press wrote a story summarizing what had happened, and that story was carried on websites around the world. Some Christians focused on the phrase "hostile content" and wondered whether the denomination's traditional positions on abortion, gay marriage and the Bible were the reason the military was blocking the site."To the barricades, brethren, the gummit is out to punish us!" was the cry of a few fast-draw Baptist jawflappers.
The Executive Committee's initial response was measured,
"Though there have been several instances recently in which evangelical Christians have been marginalized by the broader culture, we think that a rush to judgment that the United States Military has targeted the Southern Baptist Convention as a hostile religious group would be premature," [vice president for convention communications and relations for the SBC's Executive Committee Sing]Oldham said at the time.The problem has been found:
Lt. Col. Damien Pickart, a Defense Department spokesman, said the military's software filters detected malware at SBC.net and blocked the website. The malware since has been removed off the website, and the denomination's website unblocked, he said.
Malware on SBCNet. Hostile content. Put that gun back in the holster, blogger.
SBCNet says the offending stuff has been removed.
It is once again safe to be a Southern Baptist.
And God does indeed have a sense of humor, no matter what the Calvinists say.
3 comments:
Ah, but it wasn't a blogger who got this mess stirred up.
It was the always snarky Todd Starnes, formerly of Baptist Press, BL.com (I believe?) and now at Fox News.
I have on good authority that high-level leadership there in Nashville don't think very highly of Starnes, before this event and certainly after!
I'm somewhat sympathetic to Big Daddy Weave, here....I've found that I always need to take Starnes columns with a grain of salt. He seems to want to stir the pot and has a knee-jerk reaction to such issues.
Seems to me he also cranked up the "outrage" over that "pastor" in Phoenix that was having issues with local leaders over the "workshop" that he turned into a church/Bible-study gathering.
I assess this example and the earlier one in Phoenix (about witch I had an incisive and witty article) to be a bit of FoxNewsSpeak. I get a little weary of such, frankly.
Post a Comment