WATE TV 6 And An Inaccurate Report
Posted by Jim on January 10, 2007
This morning TV-6 aired a segment on the convocation of Baptists that former Presidents Carter and Clinton have announced. There was a serious error in the report which, if you saw, needs to stand corrected. In an attempt in that direction I have written the following note to the news room of Channel 6:
I’d like to take issue (mildly and in a friendly way!) with a report you aired this morning. It suggested that former Presidents Clinton and Carter were calling a conference of Baptists that “may split the Southern Baptist Convention”.
I think you have seriously misunderstood the purpose of the convocation set for 2008. It isn’t about “splitting the SBC” at all but rather about bringing together Baptists from around the country and from various theological persuasions. The purpose of the convocation is to put a better face on Baptists (which really are an amazingly diverse group) than the squabbling that the media usually presents (and that especially from Southern Baptists).
Associated Baptist Press has an accurate and fair account here:
http://www.abpnews.com/1603.articleNote this significant comment:“Baptists from across North America will convene in Atlanta early next year to emphasize their compassion rather than the racial, theological and social conflict that has divided them for decades.”
So, your characterization (based I think on a misconception that Southern Baptists are the only Baptists) that this foreshadows a “split” needs to be corrected.
