Whenever I find myself in a theological discussion with a right-wing evangelical the first thing they want to know is what religion or denomination I am, as though that makes a difference about my opinions or the validity of my beliefs. It does change their perception of me because most of them want to judge me based on that. I have always been rebellious toward any religion or denomination that employees dogma and requires adherence to uniformity of beliefs in creeds as a requirement to be a part of the Church. That is why I am a Baptist. We used to believe in “the Priesthood of the Believer” and “Autonomy of the individual” but most SBC Churches today don’t claim these historical Baptist traditions. They have become a very top-down authoritarian organization unlike the original Baptist Denomination which was very democratic and a Bottom-Up fiercely Independent group of self-governing Churches. That has all changed since the Southern Baptists have gone the way of an extreme conservative neo-political action committee which forces the beliefs of its leadership at the national level onto all its members at the bottom. They must adhere to the religious and political views of the present leadership or risk being excluded from the Church. The case of the pastor in North Carolina kicking out members based on their politics is typical of most Southern Baptist Churches today but most of these SBC Churches are more discreet and low-key than the one in N.C. This is the result of mixing religion and politics. It is ugly.

This has brought about my conversion to being catholic, with a small “c”. Oh, yes I now attend an independent traditional Baptist Church but ours are few and far between in this area of the country. By being catholic I make the claim of being inclusive, tolerant and accepting of all other Christians. I don’t insist on everyone else believing just like me. I believe in universal catholic Christianity without all the organizational and hierarchical strings that serve to exclude and separate people rather than bringing them together. Am I wrong? Is this not the way it’s supposed to be? Maybe I should call myself a baptist with a little “b” but I can’t find that word in the dictionary.