August 26, 2002
TEXAS BAPTIST FORUM:
Another commandment
___Those folks who like to hang the Ten Commandments up for public view should also hang Deuteronomy 21:18-21: "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.' Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death. You must purge evil from among you."
___That would take care of a lot of our delinquency problems.
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
___ A.T. Maker
___ Hope, N.M.
God & foreknowledge
___C.W. Christian wrote, "To say God foreknows free choices is to speak nonsense" (Aug. 12).
___I would like to speak some nonsense.
___Jeremiah: "Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:4-5).
___David: "Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them" (Psalm 139:16).
___John the Baptist: "Behold, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me" (Malachi 3:10).
___All of mankind: "Man's days are determined, the number of his months is with thee, and his limits thou hast set so that he cannot pass" (Job 14:5).
___Thank God, my nonsense is based on his holy word.
___ Robert Underhill
___ Corpus Christi
Childless couples
___I am ashamed we do not further the message of Jesus' love and redemption when we shoot our own. William Cutrer says couples should not be married if they do not intend to have children (Aug. 12).
___What insensitive and cruel remarks to make to couples who love each other and decide not to have children. There are minuses as well as pluses.
___I am disappointed educated people can be so stupid.
___ Richard Dorsey
___ Amarillo
'Liberal causes'
___Lyndel Thomas refers to the "Baptist General Convention of Texas and their liberal causes" (Aug. 19). I would appreciate his explanation of "liberal causes."
___The BGCT is liberally engaged in the support of higher education at Baylor University, Dallas Baptist University, East Texas Baptist University, Hardin-Simmons University, Houston Baptist University, Howard Payne University, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Wayland Baptist University.
___The BGCT is providing financial support for students at Hardin-Simmons' Logsdon School of Theology, Baylor's Truett Seminary and Hispanic Baptist Theological School.
___Six medical centers/hospitals are "liberally" supported by the BGCT.
___There are 27 child-care institutions and 17 retirement and nursing centers that are recipients of the BGCT "liberal causes."
___This is only the beginning of the list.
___Hallelujah for the "BGCT and their liberal causes"!
___ Bill Ballou
___ Abilene
To 'submit' or not
___"Vouchers battle moving back to the states" (Aug. 19) unearths a major faultline in the notion of separation of church and state--that is, a history of anti-Catholic bigotry influencing politics.
___Now, well-documented research in books by American University professor David Dreisbach and University of Chicago professor Phillip Hamburger reveals that Justice Hugo Black ruled as he did in the 1947 Everson decision because of his own anti-Catholic bigotry and influence by the KKK.
___For that reason, he utilized the words "wall of separation," which originally were crafted by Thomas Jefferson's political advisers as a political move to court the New England Federalist vote. The words backfired on him, as Danbury (Conn.) Baptists approved of disestablishment of state support for the Congregationalists but disapproved of the separation of religion from public life.
___It was, and is, dirty law.
___ Steve White
___ Dallas
___What do you think? Submit letters for Texas Baptist Forum via e-mail to marvknox@baptiststandard.com or regular mail at Box 660267, Dallas 75266-0267. Letters must be no longer than 250 words. They may be edited to accommodate space.
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