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May 13, 2005
Exhibit G: An Exclusive Q & A with Dr. Robert Prince III, Senior Minister at First Baptist in Waynesville, NC
On 9 May 2005, Daily Bailout's John Bailes talked with Dr. Robert Prince III (Senior Minister of First Baptist Church in Waynesville, North Carolina) about the debacle at East Waynesville Baptist Church.
Q: I see you've been quoted in the press quite a bit.
A: Yes.
Q: How has the East Waynesville Baptist crisis affected your church?
A: We've been receiving lots of hate mail, for one. But we've never seen anything like this in our churches before.
Q: Why not?
A: It's been at least 25 years . . . and this is the first time I've seen anything like this. But it's an outgrowth of the November '04 election. It emboldened Falwell and Dobson, who encouraged partisan politics in the churches.
Q: Do you know Chandler?
A: Chandler has many good qualities, but he got caught up in this partisan political movement, and then took it steps further. However, it all started back in October 2004, before the November election.
Q: What happened recently to bring things to a head?
A: Well, there's been a lot of tension in the air, especially since the religious conference on the judiciary [in which Senator Bill Frist participated]. And the tension has been ratcheted up by court decisions in Massachusetts on gay marriage. So much of this tension has been brought on by culture wars. But for Chandler, it was not because of his explicit endorsement of George Bush for president, but because he expelled some of his longtime members.
Q: What precipitated this "partisan political" development in the Baptist churches?
A: It is an outgrowth of two movements. First, Southern Baptist life has given greater authority to pastors. Second, the Religious Right has been encouraging pastors in conservative churches to make endorsements of political candidates and to demonize those candidates with who they disagree.
Q: You are a Southern Baptist minister. How have you steered through this storm?
A: I'm old school. My rule of thumb is this: Speak out on moral issues, not on candidates or political parties. That is, I will speak out against abortion and gay marriage, but I won't endorse George Bush from the pulpit (even though I voted for him). Franklin Graham has it right here too. Like his father, Rev. Billy Graham, he understands that these two areas—church and state—are separate. His father figured this out when he was dealing with President Richard Nixon.
Q: Thank you for talking with me.
A: You're welcome. Please pray for us.
Posted by wjbailes at May 13, 2005 03:30 PM
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Comments
THIS minister understands the dangers associated with mixing religion and politics. He get it right in that you preach on issues, not politicians. This is where Falwell, Robertson, and Dobson get it all wrong. They figure they're going to bring about a Christian nation, which I don't understand. The people of Israel wanted Christ to set up his kingdom here and he told them that His kingdom was not of this world but in the hearts of people; why don't Falwell, Robertson, and Dobson understand this when they declare themselves ministers and preachers of the gospel? Where do they get their authority to try and take over a government and try to force THEIR morals and interpretation of scripture on everyone else? If however, they did what Christ called them to do, instead of running political action committees and movements, and proclaim the gospel to impact the hearts of people, Christ could use them. As it is now, they are divisive, unscriptural, and turn the hearts of those they claim they're trying to reach away from God, scripture, and the church. They are wrong and need to be told as much. Baptists in general have strayed away from the mission of proclaiming the good news and have watered down their message.
It's a sin to wrap the holy cross in any nation's flag; Jesus came to the world, he did not come to America. This whole concept of a "Christian Nation" un unbibilical. Jesus loves Muslims, right or wrong, just as much as he loves Americans; no more, no less!
Posted by: John Dixon at May 14, 2005 01:43 PM
Could you please ask Prince if he thinks people who support abortion on demand are Christians?
Posted by: m. omrade at June 22, 2005 09:52 AM
No answer. This is very disturbing.
Posted by: m.omrade at August 7, 2005 03:46 PM