Baptists for Bush

Speaking of Southern Baptist leaders, I was somewhat surprised when I recently came across this article: The Army of God marching for Bush by Tim Reid Times of London 10/21/04.  The article, as one might expect from the title, is about the Christian Right and their support for Bush in the presidential election.

IF JESUS were voting in next month’s presidential election, Pastor Jim Henry frequently tells his congregation of 11,000 evangelicals, the Son of God would back the candidate most supportive of family values and the Bible.

“And George Bush cares about those issues and that’s why he’s energised the evangelical base,” Pastor Henry told The Times yesterday inside his sleek, modern office at Orlando’s vast First Baptist Church. ...

Pastor Henry has been registering voters at his services since June. He does not tell them who to vote for, but it is clear that Mr Kerry, a practising Roman Catholic who backs abortion rights, is not the evangelicals’ favourite. ...

“George Bush is a man of principle,” Pastor Henry said. “Senator Kerry has taken the opposite stance on the values issues, right down the line. His wife says that she wants to push the gay rights agenda. To push a wrong lifestyle contradicts the Bible’s standards. I’ll think you’ll find that after this election, the evangelical vote has picked up a lot.”

What surprised me about it was that Jim Henry is the father of one of my very favorite singers, Kate Campbell.  Some of her songs recall the experiences of the South during the transition from segregation to integration.  While she's been careful to steer clear of explicitly political stances in public, so far as I'm aware, her songs are evidence of a sensibility that would be extremely hard for most people to associate with the Christian Right.  It's a reminder that a particular religious heritage can take very different turns, from person to person and from one generation to the next.  You can see a report here on a modern dance program that the Memphis Ballet did based on Kate's music, with her playing live: Break out the hankies for 'As the Spirit Moves You' by Christopher Blank Memphis Commerical-Appeal 01/14/05.

Kate is coming to my area in a couple of weeks for two concerts.  She normally likes to chat with fans after her concerts.  So I have to be sure to ask her about that article.

Jim Henry was elected in 1994 to be president of the Southern Baptist Convention, where he served two terms. 

He has apparently been publicly active recently in antigay efforts: Orlando Closer to Enacting "sexual orientation" Amendment by Janice Backer, Lifeway.com, (undated but apparently from October 2004; accessed 01/01/05).

The Orlando city commission voted October 21 to pursue a proposed amendment that would add the words "sexual orientation" to a human rights ordinance already written into the city's code. ...

Jim Henry, pastor of First Baptist Church in Orlando and former Southern Baptist Convention president, attended the meeting and said he was disappointed the issue was not dropped. He was positive, however, that citizens could still make a difference. "We were encouraged by the very strong response of the community who were present to urge a 'no' vote," Henry said. "We believe the larger community is being alerted to this important issue and continue to pray for its defeat."

This is another article about Rev. Henry, which mentions his former church in Sledge, MS, which Kate sings about in her song "Mississippi and Me": 'This is for you,' Jim Henry says, recounting Cooperative Program heroes by Joni B. Hannigan 06/15/2000.