This week, we at FrederickClarkson.com have conducted a diligent and thorough national search to find the most qualified nominee for Theocrat of the Week. We are proud to announce that we have found that person: Karen Stewart, the Mississippi state director of Bethany Christian Services.
Stewart captured the attention of Our Judges by making national news with her dramatic micro-demostration project to show Catholics what sectarian protestant theocracy looks like.
Bethany, an evangelical protestant adoption agency receives funds from the State of Mississippi through a “Choose Life” vanity license plate program advocated by antiabortion groups, many of them Catholic. Unbeknownst to the advocates of this program, using choose life program funds would be limited to those who choose a life that is evangelical and protestant and, umm, not Catholic.
Bethany routinely declines to allow Catholics to adopt children, because, as Stewart put it in a letter to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger newspaper, “It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our Statement of Faith,” Bethany’s state director Karen Stewart wrote. “Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant’s time, money and emotional energy.”
One Catholic couple that Stewart turned away asked their priest about the Bethany Statement of Faith. The Clarion Ledger reports that the priest told them “it did not conflict with Catholic teaching.”
But wait a minute! Should a Catholic priest get to determine for a state-funded evangelical Protestant agency whether the evangelical Protestant Statement of Faith is consistent with Catholic teaching?
Our question is moot, of course, because Stewart did what a good theocrat does: She interpreted the state funded statement of faith and made a decision. That’s why Stewart is our Theocrat of the Week.
We here at FrederickClarkson.com feel that this micro-demonstration project is particularly notable because there are those who think that all Christians, and all creedal statements are the same. Karen Stewart has made clear that there are important distinctions — and that state funded religious agencies will act on them. We are glad that this matter is now clarified. (Jews, Muslims and heaven forbid, Unitarians would have known better than to seek to adopt from a state funded evangelical Christian agency. No doctrinal interpretation to be done there!)
Of course, if Dr. Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Seminary was making these decisions, things might have gotten complicated. The Wikipedia listing for Mohler states that even tho he told talk show host Larry King, “I believe that the Roman church is a false church and it teaches a false gospel…and indeed, I believe that the pope himself holds a false and unbiblical office,” Mohler maintains that much of Catholic doctrine is compatible with his views. Hmm. So if one parent was a Catholic and one a Southern Baptist, maybe that would pass the Mohler test for adoption.
But we digress.
We also admit we find this whole area rather confusing.
Its a good thing there are people like Karen Stewart who know how to make theocratic decisions.
One matter that in no way affects our selection of Karen Stewart as Theocrat of the Week, nevertheless warrants attention. Our Judges think that Bethany Christian Services should update the About Us section of its national web site. It states in part: “Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bethany is a not-for-profit, pro-life, Christian adoption and family services agency. Bethany’s support comes through reimbursement for services, and from gifts received from individuals, churches, corporations, and foundations…”
In the interests of transparency and full disclosure, please add: “the State of Mississippi.”
Thank you.
How about getting Karen Stewart a job in the White House Office of Faith Based Initiatives, umm, while you still can!
the fundamentalists are using the Catholics and Mormons for their votes, but plan on dropping them like hot potatoes once they grab the power since those two groups aren’t Christian, according to them.
On a slightly different subject, I heard Jay Seculo of the anti-ACLU praising John Roberts as a SCOTUS nominee and it made me frightened. Do you know of any good sources of info on him or his organization?
Bruce Prescott has a good analysis here: http://talk2action.blogspot.com/2005/07/john-roberts-champion-of-majoritarian_20.html
His post is based in part on a report from People for the American Way.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has come out against Roberts. AU is an independent voice that generally does not play the party “echo-chamber” game.
The Alliance for Justice did a report on him when he was nominated for the court of appeals
Sounds like we need a public interest group to challenge the legality of the “Faith-based discrimination” practiced by Ms. Stewart’s taxpayer funded Bethany Christian Services.
And of course, once the Bush regime finally departs the White House, maybe we can undo all the recent rulings that permit religious groups to discriminate in this way.
As a baptized-but-never-confirmed (thanks mom and dad)lifelong-nonpracticing-Roman Catholic, I must say that I agree with Mohler’s comments about the church and the pope. However, any implication that HIS is the correct teaching is as laughable and ridiculous as the fairy tales we call gospel.
The thing is, see, uh, all teaching of the gospel is pretty much false(at least in this observer’s humble opinion)…and lets not even talk about its uses and misuses by all of the subsequent con men who have come falsely (at least in this observers humble opinion)in Jesus name, which includes just about everybody (at least in this observers humble opinion) who have come in His name asking us for even just one penny or its equivalent.
Recall that Jesus warned his followers against those who would come falsely in his name. I dont recall him saying “the few” or “some”…He meant ALL of them (at least in this observers humble opinion).
The Pope happens to be the wealthiest, but the Southern Baps arent too far behind, are they?
Keep up the good work….