He said this on his FIRST DAY IN OFFICE. And he looks like Montgomery Burns to boot… all I can say is
SUCK IT ARIZONA AND SOUTH CAROLINA!!! Our HOME OF THE NATION’S CRAZIEST AND MOST EMBARRASSING ELECTED OFFICIALS Belt is right now singing Sweeeeeet Home Alabama…Lord I’m comin’ home to you!!
To the extent that I’ll defend him for saying this (and trust me, as a Bama born and resident fagnostic Democrat I’m not a fan of the man or his remark) Bentley’s a doctor whose only previous political experience has been as a state legislator of no particular renown so I don’t think he’s quite clocked the “Anything you say can and will be used against you” aspect of his upgrade in office and profile. I’m also eternally amazed how often the doctors who get elected to political office seem to number among the stupidest and most acritical ideologues; you’d think it would require some great intelligence to complete that much education.
Well, at least he’s making me feel pretty darn good about having Haley Barbour as a governor. Hmm, maybe Jesus does cause miracles…
It certainly struck me as being a pretty strong suggestion. YMMV.
Well, that’s just too fucking bad. He’s the Governor, and everything he says in public - and an open church service is public - is a valid target of scrutiny.
Nothing, just like the OP.
Arguably that’s not exactly what he said. But leaving parsings aside, it was clearly not an appropriate thing to say. Regardless of what he meant, some of his constituents took it to mean that they were lesser citizens in his eyes. Of course that’s unacceptable. It seems he’s recognized that.
I’ll defer to somebody better read in Christian doctrine than I am, but is this even valid from a scriptural viewpoint? While I know Jesus said those who did his Father’s will were his brothers (though whether doing his father’s will necessitated accepting Jesus as Messiah I’m not sure), he never explicitly said that others weren’t, besides which God referred to all people as His children.
Definitely. And I wish the moderate Christians would do something to rein in the extremists.
Nah, all the southerners with musical ability would still have moved to Chicago.
Matter of interpretation- God is our Creator & we’re siblings as children of Adam/Eve. Because of the Fall, we are estranged from God as our Father, thus we are His Creations but not fully His Children & Heirs. His Eternal Life is not in us. Thus, we must be reborn thru Christ into God’s Eternal Life & thus, we are reinstated as His full children & heirs of His Kingdom, and also restored as full brothers & sisters to each other. (As noted many places on the SDMB, I believe this rebirth can occur in the Afterlife.)
I’d be inclined to give Bennett the benefit of the doubt, but I understand where he’s coming from. But it was a stupid thing to say publically because it’s so easily misunderstood.
So basically what he is saying is that we can not be full brothers and sisters of his unless we accept his particular interpretation of his particular religion.
This is pretty much what makes him a dick, makes his impartiality suspect, and excludes Jews, Hindus Buddhists, Atheists, and I bet Roman Catholics and those liberal Episcopalians as well.
The only thing this politician did was not act like a politician, and instead taylored his speech to his audience, without thinking about the fact that other people would hear about it, and inevitably take it out of context. It’s the type of gaffe I expect from a new politician, and nothing worth getting upset about.
As for whether his remark is theologically sound: why is that even relevant? That he means “brothers in Christ” is obvious by the context, and, of course, a non-Christian is not a brother in Christ. It’s like a fraternity saying that the people not in their fraternity aren’t brothers. And, apparently, it’s a pretty inclusive fraternity, since he wants people to join.
I see no reason to take the offensive interpretation over the less offensive one.
Do you just not realize how far away the first paragraph and the second are? And how far either of them is to what the guy said?
The stuff you are angry about is your own interpretation of what the guy said, not what he actually said. I’d be upset, too, if the guy said something about only serving his brothers in Christ. But he didn’t say that: you inferred it. You bought the intent of those who gave the out-of-context quote hook, line, and sinker.
You know what: I believe you aren’t my brother in Christ. You aren’t a Christian, therefore you’re not my brother. You are my neighbor, my fellow man, and I believe are loved by God, just as much as anyone else. And I am obligated not to treat you any differently than anyone else. But you just don’t get the brother classification. It’s no more offensive than a black person telling me that I’m not his brother.
Why don’t you just make him happy and convert to black?
So if Obama said “All you black folks are my bothers but not you white folk”, you don’t think he would get castigated for it?
He sorta *was *castigated for it, despite never having actually said it…
How about if Keith Ellison. Muslim Congressman from Minnesota, had said, “if you are not a Muslim, you are not my brother.”
It represented the classic kind of passive-aggressive, smug superiority that is so common and off-putting among certain kinds of Christians. That whole, disingenuous, “I’m not better, just saved,” kind of back-handed sanctimony. It’s obnoxious in anyone, and totally inappropriate for a Governor of a state to say. He basically said that he does not regard all of his constituents as his equals. If Obama said anything close to that, it would cause a media storm that would make the Jeremiah Wright flap look like nothing. O’Reilly and Hannity would lead with it every day for a month.
You are putting words into his mouth. That would have changed the meaning and impact of what he said. He didn’t say “brother in Christ”, he stated who was and was not his brother and sister.
And I do not believe for one minute that if it had been said by a Muslim, Jew, Atheist, or Catholic it wouldn’t have created a shitstorm.
We ain’t his brothers? That’s heavy.
It’s is no secret that he is an Evangelical Christian. It is no secret that Evangelical Christians, as an element of their faith, believe that it is their job to convert everyone who is not an Evangelical Christian. He was simply stating his faith in a religious ceremony in his own church. It seems like you folks are all knicker twisted not for what he believes, but that he has the audacity to assert his beliefs, said beliefs being no secret to any fucking person who has a fucking clue what the fucking Governor is all about. Why all this outrage now? Would you rather he lie about it?
The OP suggested that the South had all the crazy politicians, and that the North should have just let us go. I was merely pointing out that the North is well supplied with loony politicos as well.
Are we sure he’s not upset about a lack of inbreeding?