Republican versus Democrat. OSU versus OU. Tulsa versus Oklahoma City. High Wayne Coyne groupies versus drunk Blake Shelton fan girls. Through associating with one group or another, it seems like everyone in Oklahoma has a rival. But no feud has ever been as volatile as this one. Prepare yourselves for our state’s newest rivalry: the Baptists versus the stoners.
Via NewsOK…
EDMOND — Oklahoma’s Southern Baptists, “alarmed” about the trafficking and abuse of illegal drugs, want Oklahomans to resist efforts to legalize recreational use of marijuana in the state.
Delegates gathered Tuesday for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma’s annual meeting approved a resolution expressing concern about the “rapid advance of acceptance of recreational marijuana and the trafficking and abuse” of other addictive and illegal drugs.
Hold up one second. If Oklahomans want to be able to buy regulated, legally grown and distributed marijuana instead of a Ziploc baggie full of ditch weed sold by some guy in an Adventure Time hoodie, shouldn’t that cut down on the need for, and thus presence of, illegal drug trafficking and abuse? If that’s the case, you would think that the Baptist General Convention would totally support the recreational marijuana initiative. But it seems like the Notorious BGC is really wanting Okies to get high on something else… the power of Jesus.
“We believe that every state and authority should protect its people from the trafficking of illicit drugs, and we know that the abuse of drugs leaves neighborhoods and schools vulnerable for exploitation,” Baptists said in the resolution approved Tuesday at First Baptist Church of Edmond, 1300 E 33rd Street.
“We pray that the citizens of Oklahoma will oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana and that the church will be proactive through Christ-centered ministries to reach people who are addicted to substances.”
They seem to be making the argument that smokin a doobie and thinking Jesus is just alright are mutually exclusive. And I kind of get it. I mean, nowhere in the Bible does Jesus give us the thumbs up to use marijuana. So I guess if the Baptist ministers really want us to be like Jesus, we should start drinking wine with every meal.
Hayley is a licensed minister in Oklahoma. Follow her on twitter @squirrellygeek
39 Responses
Oh those Oklahoma Baptists have found something to rally the forces and hopefully build up the bank accounts again.
Hayley, you are on a roll lately! Keep it coming!
As for baptists, do you know how to keep a baptist from drinking all your beer when you go fishing? Take two baptists with you.
Are the still against women wearing pants too?
I hereby volunteer to remove women’s pants. You know for the church..
Women of God wear nylons.
First off Tulsa is absolutely trash compared to OKC. They don’t even have a pro sports team. #thirdworld On the subject of the Marajuanas if you smoke it you are 420% more likely to have a terrible defense against the devil. If you partake in doing the marijuana you will immediately turn into OUs defense. Aka worthless. Spending money on drugs is the second worst thing someone in Oklahoma can spend money on. (The first is a Heratage Hall education)
what if you spend money on drugs while getting a heritage hall education?
Then you go to OU after graduation.
The bible said god gave us all seed bearing plant and herb for our benefit genesis 1 : 29 sounds to me like cannabis falls into that catagory
Your absolutely right… That verse also ends in “you shall have them for food”…
As the son of a southern baptist preacher, i can tell you that baptists are of course against weed, as an organization… You wpuld be suprised to see how many baptists drink recreationally, have kids out of wedlock, have abortions, cheat on thier spouse and so on…
The baptists in this state are NOT the be all end all of interpretation for the bible… There is also a verse in the bible that says “remove the plank from your own eye before you worry about the speck of dust in your brothers eye”… These guys have enough to handle with sexual harassment and money management… Trust me, I know first hand… And now they wanna come out and give the “captain obvious” stance on weed? Maybe they should focus on themselves…
I religiously justify my personal use of canabis with two lines of rational thinking… The verse you quoted, about all things being for the benefit of man, and another verse that says “if you right hand causes you to sin, then cut it off… If it causes your brother to sin do the same” (paraphrased) my use of canabis doesnt take me further from god, doesnt cause me to sin (maybe overeat a little) and doesnt cause any of my friends harm…
Ill leave everybody with this… Does god count it as sin when we drink caffine? Does he count it as sin when Bolivians chew on a dozen coca leaves every day? I didnt think so…
Im ashamed to be even loosely affiliated with a religious organization that does this kind of stuff… Instead of positioning an arguement from a theological standpoint, instead of conveying love and understanding, they posted a big sign that reads “pot smokers not welcome here”… Christ is about love and acceptance, NOT division… The buerecrats that claim to be religious leaders might do well to remember that.
Fat Dan, your “two lines of rational thinking” includes believing that all things are for the benefit of man. I cannot think of a more irrational, and – I’m sorry – even stupid, line of thought. But then, it stems from a pastiche of Neolithic Near Eastern mythologies that fairly brims over with outdated, world destroying justifications of self-serving behaviors.
As for me, I voted for the medical cannabis referendum, but I am actually opposed to the government having any say in what anybody grows. The charade of having to visit a doctor to get your high on is just so fundamentally dishonest as to be nauseating.
You’ve never been laid have you?
s/b “You’ve never been laid, have you?”
Yeah, for some folks, intelligence and education are a real turn-off.
They should have a Dance to promote it!
Oh wait….
I’m a pot smoking southern baptist. Get off my lawn.
“Adventure Time hoodie”….hey, how do you know my dealer??
If Trump decided to support recreational marijuana them there Christians would change their tune.
I just wanted to say, these comments just revived my hope that this state isn’t just hillbillies and cattle…there might be some people with brains out there.
seem like in the bible GOD gave dominion and stewardship of all the beast and flowers fruit and all things to man. its the Baptist that kept Oklahoma back with out of date liquor laws and other matters of personal choice
You can find scripture to endorse just about any action you want to take. Southern Baptists split off to become a denomination because of their support of slavery, and they, just like you folks saying that you find support for smoking weed in that book, found passages to support their interests. In that book God encourages people to kill all the people in an enemy city, to enslave and rape women. Elisha calls on God when a bunch of kids that are teasing him about being bald-headed, and God sends two bears to rip 42 of them apart. Etc. Etc.
If you gotta leaf through that thing to find justification for what you want to do, whether to get high or control reproduction, then I don’t want you or your god to have dominion over any damn thing.
Another reason to sign the petition when it starts again. Need 178,000 now!!
Looks like its HIGH time to revoke the tax-exempt status for these political operatives masquerading as legitimate superstitions.
Amen!
I’m old enough to remember when Oklahoma Baptists thought that demon rum and other alcoholic beverages were the most serious threat to ruination of good Christians. They have lost that battle thoroughly.
Totally dry (legally speaking) since statehood in 1907, Oklahoma first stepped on to the slippery slope when it approved the sale of low-point “non-intoxicating” 3.2 beer in 1933. After Governor Howard Edmondson actually enforced prohibition, we decided we didn’t like it so much after all, and in 1959 started allowing LIQUOR STORES to sell “strong” beer, wine, and distilled spirits.
Liquor became available “by the drink” by county option in 1985. We slid all the way to the bottom on the slippery slope this year, with real beer and wine now for sale almost anywhere. The Baptists’ battle to “save” us from the vice of alcohol has ended in their total defeat.
Baptist churches would empty if they cast out all their divorcées and congregants “living in sin” with their partners. Baptists lost their battle against same-sex marriage. But it’s in Baptist DNA to try to save us from SOMETHING. Teaching evolution? Transgender people in segregated restrooms?
Or MARIJUANA! Yeah, that’s it. Let’s feel smug and righteous by condemning MARIJUANA this year.
When Baptists lose that battle, they’ll think of something else to feel sanctimonious about and to try to save us from. You heard it here first.
Ain’t culture wars fun?
+1000
I also echo SlowingDown Eddie: Can we pretty please revoke all their tax exempt status? We could still use the money to … I dunno, further bolster up the schools and maybe save some rural hospitals? Just a thought …
It is the Devil’s lettuce I’m told.
Hey! We have horses too!
But we are kind of a starvation zone for zombies.
“Delegates gathered Tuesday for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma’s annual meeting approved a resolution expressing concern …”
Old white guys gathered Tuesday to jump start their pacemakers with a new “outrage”. Noticing many members nodding off after the election cycle, coming up with a new galvanizing (marketing) cause was essential. After a rousing review of, “Reefer Madness” along with some of anti-SQwhatevertheheckitwas commercials, delegates (sheep) shuffled off in their walkers to the strains of, “‘Because I Got High’ by Afroman (2001)”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeYsTmIzjkw
Steve, don’t forget to add, “and fearful that there are now closet Kendra Horn supporters in thier midst”, coming up with a….(continue your commentary here)
“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
– John Ehrlichman, Richard Nixon’s Domestic Policy Chief
I don’t smoke marijuana, and have no real desire to. But I recognize that it’s far less egregious than many drugs that are legal. There’s blatant hypocrisy in a society that criminalizes marijuana for being dangerous but allows alcohol. That hypocrisy has led to a lot of problems in society, and it, like many of our arbitrary policies, began as a way for politicians to capitalize on easily excitable people’s inherent fear of anything different.
+1
You can’t tell me a dude who looked and dressed like Jesus did, didn’t roll a smoke or two. After all finishing the weed is why they had that last supper.
Well, l smoked it in the summer of 1969 with a lovely girl from Colorado, and it caused me to lust in my heart…another good reason to ban it.
I really have no problem with Baptist until they try to legislate their beliefs in our schools and courthouses . But of course they always will.
Believe whatever you want. But to raise tons of money to influence legislation that effects all of us? Not too much support from me for that kind of stuff
But please Baptist PLEASE stop the funeral protests. This kind of stuff goes beyond any kind of human decency or respect.
But you are baptist and will do what god(s) tell you to do.
Were there any Baptists outside of the Westboro church doing that? And since people decided to stop paying attention to them, I don’t know if they still do that anymore.
All this trash talking about baptist’. I haven’t heard any real organized religion come out as for it. As for all the comments about Baptist being closet drinkers, divorcees and low life; I’m proud to call myself one. Just wait until you or a family member is in need, They’ll be the first in line to offer help or feed you at a disaster site. I ‘ve never heard any Baptist say were better….only forgiven.
I’m a Christian, I also recognize that a lot of of the main denominational views have changed drastically over time. Major denominations have changed stances on slavery, interracial marriage, and abortion (originally only the Catholics were vehemently opposed to it), and it wouldn’t surprise me if medical marijuana was the next main thing there was whole-sale theological change on.
After all, Baptists, and Christians as a whole, don’t have a problem with people taking modern medications, the problem is become addicted to things.
“I haven’t heard any real organized religion come out as for it. ”
You also haven’t heard other organized religions hold a conference with a press op at the end so they could loudly bloviate about the evils of the ‘Devil’s lettuce’ in order to ramp up tithing from the blue hairs.
“As for all the comments about Baptist being closet drinkers, divorcees and low life; I’m proud to call myself one.”
You’re proud you’re a divorcee and a low life, or you’re a baptist? The things YOU do don’t negate the hypocrisy of the average Southern Baptist. You’ll be the first in line to help? Whoopdee doo, so will a lot of Catholics, athetists, Muslims, and Pastafrians. Try not to hyper extend your arm patting yourself on the back.
“I ‘ve never heard any Baptist say were better….only forgiven.”
Titus 1:16 – ‘They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.’
Do the dope don’t let the dope do you….
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