We`ve Got Mail and Questions
Letters From Our Readers
"Thanks for your perceptive, provocative and prophetic article about lying [Summer 2003]. Keep thinking and talking."
Henlee Barnette, Louisville, KY
"You`re doing the Lord`s work."
Bill and Judith Moyers, New York City, NY
"I read the current issue of CET (Summer, 2003)-it was outstanding, especially the editorial. . . . this journal was especially good, even though I was depressed after reading it. Thank goodness for Hal Haralson, Foy Valentine, and the cartoons (though they sometimes are depressing too!).
Mary Rickenbaker, Belton, SC
"C.E.T. is an irritating Journal. I get irritated because I can`t read it all at one setting!"
Dr. Grady C. Cothen, FL
"My yearly subscription cost-free! My financial support-not much! The information and inspiration I receive-PRICELESS! . . . a prophetic voice that speaks to my head and heart."
Charles Hal Shipley, Murray, KY
"I consider CET the best journal of its kind . . . Keep up the good work in the kingdom of God."
Fred V. Richards, M.D., FBC, San Antonio, TX
"I have just finished `How Baptists Got Into This Debate Over Women" [April, 2003]. "BRAVO!!!" What a well-crafted document, indeed! At the same time, I feel an inexorable sadness as I relive the history in your text and read the names of friends with whom I served in the trenches."
Dr. Gladys S. Lewis, Edmond, OK
"Thanks for an absolutely great job with CET!"
Dwight and Emma Baker, Emeritus Missionaries Israel & India, Duncanville, TX
"It is my privilege to send along a check so that the more than 3100 persons who read and enjoy our Journal may continue."
Martha C. Herod, Navasota, TX
"Thank you for Putting Women in Their Place: The Baptist Debate Over Female Equality. Before I could read the preface it was commandeered by my wife, her sister declared seconds, then my daughter-in-law; I do not know when I will get to read it. . . . how very much we depend on C.E.T. . . for our information and encouragement."
John S. Casey, Heflin AL
"I [disagreed with] the review of Charles Kimball`s book, When Religion Becomes Evil by Douglas Groothuis (April 2003) only days after he was our speaker at the Alabama CBF. He gave the most reasoned, rational, and biblical response to the 9/11 crisis, Middle East politics, and the milieu of issues surrounding Christian-Jewish-Muslim dialogue and understanding that I have heard to date!"
Mart Gray, Coordinator Alabama CBF
"We are pleased to support your work and ministry with this special gift from our congregation."
Robbi B. Mundy, Min. Educ., FBC, Asheville, NC
"I just read Valentine`s piece on `a word fitly spoken` and remembered such . . . Years ago I was speaking for the CLC at Glorieta. It looked as though every participant had arrived in a pick-up truck with guns in the rear window. My topics: "Gun Control, The Military-Industrial Complex, etc."-you get the picture. No matter what I said, there were angry outcries and the real danger that I might get lynched. At the back of the room I saw Foy grinning from ear to ear and crying, "Stone him! Stone him! . . . I`m proud to call you all brothers."
Doug Watterson, North Stuart BC, FL
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Note: In 2002 and 2003, a few readers raised serious questions about Christian ethics and the mission of our Journal. Our reply is shared in the hope of increasing understanding.
Q. "My support of CET was based on it being [a magazine of] very good Christian articles for the family. I was shocked by the article in Summer, 2003, p. 11 ["The Morality of This President"]. Does this article indicate that the magazine is moving into politics? . . . This article should not be in a Christian Ethics magazine. I recommend you leave [political] judgments to history."
G. S., Dallas, TX
A. Thanks for your honest response and comments. Al Staggs brief article speaks to several key Christian ethics issues. Contrasting ethical failures of the Clinton era with those of the present administration, he addresses Just War and Economic Policies, both serious concerns of the OT prophets and of Jesus. Since Jesus did not leave his "political judgements" about the Jewish and Roman rulers of his day to the "judgment of history," I doubt if we should either. To be prophetic is dangerous and controversial-yet, that is the role with God`s help we will try to follow. (By the way, as noted at the bottom of page 2, every article "expresses the views of the author and not necessarily the views of the Journal or the Editor." Sometimes [as on pp. 13-15 of the same issue] we give contradictory viewpoints to elicit thought and discussion.
Q. "I am now convinced that your interpretations of the ethical mandates of Christianity are not only wrong but pernicious. Your October issue is the climax of your `wrong-headedness.` It is obvious to me that you have no recollection of history; no appreciation of what happens when Christians standby and allow evil and Godless men to prevail; no memory of the terrible price good men have forever paid whenever they have attempted to appease the despots, the tyrants, the fratricides, the bigots, and the dictators. . . . Christianity does not equate with cowardice, . . . yet your Messrs. Hunsinger, Swomley and Stassen would suggest that prevention and deterrence are `unchristian` and unacceptable strategies. I am ashamed of all of them and if they represent Christian Ethics then Christianity is in serious trouble and is as senile and impotent as your idols, Sen. Byrd and the United Nations."
W.D.N., Arlington Hts., ILL
A. I am sorry the articles on peacemaking upset you so. It is obvious your understanding of the Scriptures and of Christian ethics is very different from mine. All I can do is to encourage you to read the Sermon on the Mount and a few books on the ethical subjects of `War and Peace,` including the histories of Christian ethics, which, by the way note that for the first 200+ years of Christianity no follower of Jesus would serve in the military or as a civil Judge. (The first Christians believed they should not take a life for any reason, probably because they took seriously the example and teachings of Jesus.) One of our CET Directors, Tony Campolo, recently said, "America is the greatest Babylon on earth, but it is still Babylon. It is not the kingdom of God." Like the early Christians, sometimes we too have to decide, "Will I obey God or government?"
Q. "I was disappointed by Joel Gregory`s `Reflections on T. B. Maston` . . .His characterization of Christian brothers as `theological dwarfs` and `Lilliputians` was mean-spirited and inflammatory. What possible purpose could be served by publishing this diatribe other than to widen the chasm between quarreling factions. I will have to admit to harboring the same thoughts . . . but what possible good was done by printing them?"
J. P., Georgetown, TX.
A. Thanks for your thoughts and the spirit in which you wrote them. After re-reading Joel`s letter, I would have to conclude the words "theological dwarfs" and "Lilliputians" are very descriptive of certain present SBC leaders-the words are not derogatory, and certainly no worse than Jesus` description of certain religious leaders in his day whom he called "hypocrites, blind fools, snakes, and vipers" (Matt. 25). About addressing factions, the Apostle Paul did not hesitate to confront Peter in a strong debate over matters crucial to the Christian mission (Acts 15). In addition, Paul`s words about Demas and Alexander the coppersmith were strong denunciations of their evil actions. When people spread falsehoods and play the role of the hypocrite, I think they should be confronted with the truth, which is exactly what Joel Gregory did in defense of T. B. Maston.
Q. "I have enjoyed and appreciated your fine publication. Unfortunately, you have now moved toward a liberal political bias. It saddens me to see you take this political agenda, because you have featured so many of my heroes-Carlyle Marney, T. B. Maston, Ken Chafin, Cecil Sherman, Tony Campolo, and others."
G.L., Lufkin, TX
A. Your letter reminds me of one of T. B. Maston`s favorite quotes: "You can be a theological conservative without being politically conservative. I am theologically conservative, but liberal in my application of the gospel to life!" It seems ironic that you and I have some of the same heroes, and without exception every one of the persons you named have been tagged as "liberals." In fact, I believe a strong case can be made that Jesus was considered a "liberal" by the religious and political leaders of his day-he was liberal in his attitude toward the religious traditions of his day, liberal in his understanding of political power and rule, and certainly liberal in his treatment of slaves, women, lepers, and other outcasts of his day. Again, our position is not derived from political views, but one derived from our understanding of the teachings of the Scriptures and from the life and teachings of Jesus. If these positions are termed "liberal," then we are guilty, but we are in good company.
