Dogs, elephants and Southern Baptist intolerance

Oklahoma Baptist bloggers aren't all about metaphoric animal-friends stories. Or once upon a time when the denomination was still larger, they weren't. Though by then he had left the ranks of Southern Baptists, pastor David Flick met it all head-on with a sweeping historic summation in a Nov. 7, 2007 which included:

This week, Southern Baptist intolerance has raised its ugly head yet again. The International Mission Board could not tolerate trustee, Wade Burleson's, principled dissent on several issues of little consequence. In the scheme of things, Burleson's dissent amounts to little more than a hill of beans. Yet the IMB, led by chairman John Floyd and former chairman, Jerry Corbaley, censured him. In a wildly slanderous and lengthy report, Cobaley accused Burleson of slander and sin. Burleson's censure says a lot about the credibility of the IMB. on a scale of 1-10, the IMB's credibility is minus-6. It says a lot about Burleson's credibility as well. On the same scale, Burleson's credibility is a strong-9.

More than intolerance is involved, Flick argues in a document here which deserves to be revisited while others attempt to arrest the well-foreseen inquisitorial process which has been grinding down the SBC.

Now Burleson is late to the game, John Pierce of Baptists Today observed in reviewing Burleson's new book, Hardball Religion.

Hardball indeed and played for decades now -- not zoo animal stories.