I'm on the opposite corner of the country from where southern baptists are based, but the manager of an apartment I applied to today has a cross on her desk and was able to speak knowledgeably about Alabama and other southern states, so there's a good chance I'll continue to live with this topic. I take the least confrontational approach because I have never had the option of just not getting along, but I respect and understand that some people have stronger opinions and different priorities.

I'm a little startled by the 5000 number quoted earlier. I don't think I have the emotional fortitude to google that, but I think I can safely say there are far more than 5000 southern baptists.

Official doctrine is not the same as individual belief for most churchgoers. I've mainly experienced that with catholics, but if you look at official tenets of any religion or denomination, many of them are too obscure or impractical for most practicers to concern themselves with. If a person sees you as a person, who you are may very well trump what their religion says, and as public opinion and real behavior changes, so do interpretations of doctrine.

Southern baptists will come around just like everybody else does.

Felix,I believe that was from their annual convention.

As it was, and mostly seniors in the church, the result was pretty much decided beforehand.  The baptist union being congregational in nature, any change will take a long time to occur, probably another 2 generations.

" far more than 5000 southern baptists"
-16 million members (wikipedia)

I'm with felix on this, as someone raised southern baptist myself.

When it comes to trying to deprogram deeply religious (or similar) people from trans/homophobic (or any other kind of hateful) beliefs, fighting them will only make the problem worse. You can't win. They see God as being on their side, and they see you as being influenced by the devil, living in sin. Therefore, they see any attack coming from you as being a demonic influence / satanic attack. You can't attack their beliefs without attacking them and God - it's impossible to dissuade them. Plus, if they're the type to get in your face about something like that in public, chances are they are very well prepared to combat basically anything you could think to say with scripture.

It's sick, but true - I'm a pastor's kid so I've seen my share of this.

The only thing we can do is be good examples of our best selves, and trust that 99.9% of religious people will eventually come around once they have a more personal way to relate to the gay/trans issue (neighbor, family, etc.). The other folks can go join a cult for all I care.

Maybe we can remind them that the point of religion is to be close to God, and that "God is love".

Quote from: Felix on June 14, 2014, 07:05:53 AM
Can we not turn this into bashing of southern baptists? I'm not religious, but my cultural background is southern baptist, and a lot of those people are just living with what they know and the way they've been raised. Even if you don't like them, how they deal with us is certainly relevant and worth approaching with diplomacy. They won't be so mean and small-minded if they get to know us as family members and neighbors, but they'll buckle down harder if we hate them back when they're being short-sighted.

I'm sorry, but when I read things like this it's hard for me not to think their church has been corrupted by the devil or something. If they actually bothered to read the bible they might notice God's love on every page.

I was a Southern Baptist for 50 years, up until this last year.  I was a Southern Baptist minister for 26 of those years (resigned ordination and license to preach for reasons unrelated to being TG).  As long as people like those who drafted this resolution continue to believe that sex and gender are one and the same, and continue to spread the myth that transpersons are either gay, or just get their rocks off by dressing like a woman/man, and ignore/refuse to acknowledge the medical research done over the past 20-30 years which has determined, more or less, that this is a medical condition having to do with the brain itself, rather than being a mental illness, there will be resolutions and edicts handed down and voted on by denominational leaders and delegates to annual meetings/conventions, who don't take the time to actually do the homework and study these things themselves.  Having said that, one of the nice things about the Southern Baptists is that a resolution such as this only carries as much weight as the individual congregation gives it, meaning this: it is entirely possible for even a very conservative SBC congregation to consider this resolution, and after having studied the situation, decide not to adhere to it.  A resolution is not law.  Also, the 5,000 or so who attended the 2014 meeting and approved this resolution, hardly speak for close to 16 million members of Southern Baptist churches. 

Still, I felt that I had to leave the church which I love, the church whose members loved and prayed me through three funerals (sister, mom, dad died within 8 months of each other (Jan., Feb, and August 2013)) and a divorce (unrelated to me being TG; my ex never knew, as far as I can tell), not because of anything they did or said (I did not come out to anybody at church), but because I could not, no matter how good the sermon the pastor preached (and he is awesome), or how good the Sunday School lesson was (I had a great Sunday School teacher), I could not sit there without the thought in the back of my mind that the denomination (not the local church) in which I grew up, was baptized, and one of whose seminaries I attended (I have since returned my diploma to them), had just declared that I was "confused," and "needed to turn to God and repent," (did that when I was ten (10) years old), and had pretty much thrown my under the bus and kicked me to the curb.  I still have lunch with with one of my friends from church a couple or three times a month, and I have lunch with the pastor every so often.   

I have just begun my transition, and have yet to come out to anybody other than (what's left of) my immediate family, my doctors (except for my chiropractor) and my therapy group; that in itself was easily the scariest thing I have ever done (everybody has been supportive thus far).  I'm still trying to figure out how to come out at work, where I will have spent 19 years this coming June (if they don't freak out and fire me (which will be a big mistake for them, thanks to Macy v. ATF, Macy v. Holder, and Glenn v. Brumby)), and I'm really scared about coming out to extended family and friends (some of whom I have known for close to 40 years).  I am planning on taking down my Facebook page soon, as the person who put it up will soon cease to exist (physically, anyway), and I don't want to deal with the fallout that may occur if I were to come out to everybody all at once.  It's going to be a long and interesting journey, but it's one I have been waiting literally my whole life to take.  Wish me luck.   

PS:  Sorry for the long post; this is my first time posting here (I think), and I've been saving up         

Quote from: Felix on July 26, 2014, 04:58:34 AMSouthern baptists will come around just like everybody else does.

It's less "coming around" than being dragged kicking and screaming.  Religious leaders are social followers.  They're more into pandering and panhandling than being panegyrical or seeking panacea.

When believers obey, religious leaders try to dictate morality and behaviour.  Young believers today disagree because they know and have learnt better, and they are taking their money and social power with them as they leave.  Religions are changing their tune for financial and political reasons, not moral ones.  It's all about losing the Benjamins which scares the bejesus out of them.

It was first the anglicans but now the southern baptists, the jews, the catholics, the buddhists and even the muslims in some countries.  It also happened fifty years ago, vis-a-vis the 50th anniversary of the 1965 civil rights marches in the US.  White churches started joining the black churches in the marches because a criticial mass of social change was reached.  Politicians are religious leaders are the same - they will switch sides in a heartbeat so they always appear on the winning side.