Southern Baptist Convention called to condemn Transgender Americans

[Olivia P]

By Meggan Sommerville, Saturday at 11:49 pm

This weekend may just prove to be a turning point between the Christian church and the transgender community. Denny Burk, Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College, has drafted a resolution that will be presented when the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) meets in Baltimore, MD.  This resolution calls for all churches, hospitals and members of the Southern Baptist Convention to condemn any person that identifies as transgender.

I grew up in a church that belonged to the SBC and just reading this resolution and knowing the ramifications this could produce sickens me. I seriously struggled with whether or not to even discuss this as I didn't want my emotions to get the best of me. But I felt that I can not ignore something that could do lasting damage to an already broken bridge between the trans community and the Christian Church.

...

Burk calls on the SBC not only to deny that transgender individuals exist, which is an outrageous notion, but it also calls to work to block any legislation that would provide protections to transgender community.  The resolution calls for the continued discrimination and intolerance on transgender adults and children.  Part of the resolution states, "That we commit ourselves to pray for and support legislative and legal efforts to oppose the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and other legislation like it that would give gender identity the same legal protections as sex and race. ." AND "That we call upon all judges and public officials to resist and oppose the efforts to treat gender identity as a protected class."

More: http://www.chicagonow.com/trans-girl-cross/2014/06/southern-baptist-convention-condemn-transgender-americans/

[sneakersjay]

Interesting since the Bible says nothing about trans people at all.  WTH??

Jay

[Jill F]

Because Jesus would have hated us all.

/sarc

You know you've chosen the right religion when your god hates the same people you do. *eyeroll*

[Miss_Bungle1991]

Meh...oh well. I live to be hated. 

[Lauren5]

Fine with me, never was/will be a baptist, don't need their help either.
The only issue I could see would be having a severe medical emergency and being taken to a baptist hospital if it was the closest and them not admitting me. Sounds like the Jim Crow laws all over again.

[HoneyStrums]

Wonder how these people would think if the trans community tried to draft up a declaration to remove SBC as a protected class.

they would then see just how, moronic this notion really is.

is this person having a heart attack? ok their is a two week waiting list while we dig as deep as we can get discover if their trans :/


Its true once again the more favoured by god a church sees itself, the further from his graces they fall.

[Jessica Merriman]

Funny, as a Paramedic none of the Southern Baptist's whose lives I saved kept me from doing so. Hmmm 

[PoeticHeart]

I wonder against what they will fight against when they no longer have us to target.

Haircuts? That's in there, you know.

[Sydney_NYC]

Fine with me, never was/will be a baptist, don't need their help either.
The only issue I could see would be having a severe medical emergency and being taken to a baptist hospital if it was the closest and them not admitting me. Sounds like the Jim Crow laws all over again.

This makes me wonder it that would be even legal under federal law since nearly every hospital gets some type of federal funding. (I know in NJ, any hospital can't refuse treatment even if you can't pay. They can transfer you to another hospital after you are stable, but they have to treat any threatening condition.)

I was raised Southern Baptist until I was 15 when my mother remarried my step father and moved to NJ from NC. My mother left the SBC and switched to Methodist and Presbyterian even though my step father is Catholic. My father still belongs to church of the SBC in GA. (Needless to say he doesn't agree with my transitioning even though he claims he accepts gays and lesbians.) My experience with the SBC is that many of them are a bunch of hypocrites with the mentality of "do as I say, not as I do!" and we can do all the wrong we want as long as we ask Jesus for forgiveness of our sins.

What disturbs me about Burk's Resolution, it that he is trying to use the bible as a science source. That's pretty messed up when you consider that the Bible doesn't say anything about transgender. It really doesn't say much about sex in general. If you read the comments on his resolution there are followers that oppose his view, so that does give me hope. My prediction is that if the SBC doesn't start to open up to the LGBT community and accept LGBT rights, then they are going to start loosing even more members than they are now.

Personally I find the evangelist thing a bit disheartening which is big in the SBC. I remember as a kid living in Charlotte, NC in the 80's with the infamous Jim and Tammy Baker of the PTL club that was a 20 min drive from where I lived. I witnessed that place being built with all that money they went into building it. It was lavish, overdone and such a waste of donated, tax free money from a lavish hotel that hardly anyone could use, to a water part and even an air conditioned doghouse for Tammy Fe's dog that it wouldn't even use it.

[Jessica Merriman]

Kind of funny this resolution appearing right after the Medicare trans care exemption was lifted. Coincidence? Why do I see Medicare being challenged very soon with a lot of cash and bible thumping to cause an outcry amongst the populace? 

[sneakersjay]

Some days I just want to round up a couple of busloads of us and stage church sit ins.  We don't exist?  Um, sure we do, and we're filling up your pews.   

And show them that we are beautiful, real, and above all, 'normal' people.  Not some imaginary freak show.


Jay

[ErinWDK]

I am NOT Southern Baptist.  I am another, hopefully more tolerant, form of Baptist.  Reading Burk's proposed resolution just makes me sick.  Society at large has progressed past the point where this sort of - well, let's call a spade a spade - HATE is going to be generally accepted.  The SBC is the most recognised Baptist denomination, and it's position (if this abomination is adopted) is going to make the term Baptist fall into deeper disfavor.  My church has toyed with taking the word Baptist out of their name, and this proposed resolution may bring the topic back to consideration.

It is disheartening that here in 2014 a large Christian denomination would even consider such a resolution.


Erin

[sneakersjay]

My feeling is that trans people are going to be the next targets, because their war on marriage equality is failing. Time to find some new people to hate publicly.