# Religious charity refuses to hand out water to hurricane victims **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 30, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552 "2005-10-30T03:37:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/21 "2005-10-30T15:42:21Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > If things like this–one small religious charity doing something stupid… Just how tiny is the “Southern Baptist Convention”? ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/22 "2005-10-30T15:44:08Z")
Of course, there is always the possibility that the said incident never happened, or didn’t happen the way it was depicted. I’d like some other confirmation before I take that story at face value. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/23 "2005-10-30T15:52:38Z")
> [@Siege](#): > > To the non-Christians out there, once again, I apologize. For what. What did you do that deserves an apology to non-Christians only? > [@](#): > > I realize some folks can cite obscure verses to justify the Rapture, homosexuals being more sinful than heterosexuals and (literally) God alone knows what other nonsense! I’m just amazed by how they can overlook Christ’s clear and unambiguous teachings as recorded in the Gospels. There is nothing obscure about your clear and unambiguous scorn for a good segment of the American Christian population. Would you characterize them as lukewarm Christians? The OP can certainly be forgiven for having a low opinion of religion. “I’m right and you are wrong, I’m a better Christian than you are etc” Every religious person is subject to judge the faith of another. I’ve never heard an atheist describe himself as a better atheist than another atheist. -formerly grienspace ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/24 "2005-10-30T15:55:47Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Just how tiny is the “Southern Baptist Convention”? Tiny? The SBC is pretty huge. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/25 "2005-10-30T16:04:46Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Tiny? The SBC is pretty huge. Which I’m kinda guessing was **Squink’s** point. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/26 "2005-10-30T16:05:49Z")
> [@Lucretia](#): > > Of course, there is always the possibility that the said incident never happened, or didn’t happen the way it was depicted. I’d like some other confirmation before I take that story at face value. So far, I can’t find any other report of this to cofirm it. Is it possible that there was other water to hand out? Can you imagine a bunch of people lining up and/or milling about for relief supplies, seeing the water that was being refused to them? That could start a riot ! ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/27 "2005-10-30T16:18:03Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > “Things like this” implies that there are _other_ reasons, this being just one of them. Actually, it implies there are other reasons _similiar to the one he gave_. Presumably, that means he has other examples of religious charities doing things he doesn’t like. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Are you saying that he(and others) should list all of the reasons that they despise religion? If so, this could be interesting. No, because it’s likely that not all of the reasons he dislikes religion are similiar to the reason he gave in his OP. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/28 "2005-10-30T16:24:06Z")
> [@Lucretia](#): > > Of course, there is always the possibility that the said incident never happened, or didn’t happen the way it was depicted. I’d like some other confirmation before I take that story at face value. [Link.](http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=86981) I can third the “no fool can mistake this for beer” cans it was packed in. A-B has, for decades, been on the spot with disaster-relief supplies whenever needed. I may bad-mouth their beer on occasion, but their corporate responsibility in times like these has been beyond reproach. I hope the religious nut-jobs who denied people water get a taste of their own medicine someday. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/29 "2005-10-30T16:25:01Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Just how tiny is the “Southern Baptist Convention”? There is nothing in that article that seems to indicate that anyone with the authority to represent the SBC as a whole said “don’t distribute the canned water.” The only people discussed and quoted were a specific group of volunteers, led by a Pastor who made the decision not to hand it out. Unless that Pastor and those volunteers had the authority to speak for the SBC as a whole, the size of the SBC doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/30 "2005-10-30T16:32:47Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > There is nothing in that article that seems to indicate that anyone with the authority to represent the SBC as a whole said “don’t distribute the canned water.” The only people discussed and quoted were a specific group of volunteers… That “specific group of people” were identified as SBC. You’ve no evidence that it was a large or a small group, or whether it represented just that group’s policy, or SBC policy. The article doesn’t say. Why did you? ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/31 "2005-10-30T16:42:49Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > That “specific group of people” were identified as SBC. You’ve no evidence that it was a large or a small group, or whether it represented just that group’s policy, or SBC policy. The article doesn’t say. Why did you? Actually, the article did say: “The pastor didn’t want to hand out the Budweiser cans to people and that’s his prerogative and I back him 100-percent,” said SBC volunteer John Cook. The individual Pastor made the decision, which would indicate that it was that group’s policy. The article does refer to “the SBC” a couple times, but it’s fairly clear to that it’s just sloppy writing and they meant “the SBC [volunteers]”. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/32 "2005-10-30T16:54:29Z")
Whatever. The guy is still a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/33 "2005-10-30T17:01:18Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > **Der Trihs** , do not post entire copyrighted articles on this board. It is acceptable to post a small quotation and link to the copyrighted article. > > Do not do this again. > > **fluiddruid** > Pit Moderator My apologies. > [@Metacom](#): > > If things like this–one small religious charity doing something stupid, when there are many, many others that do a lot of good in the world–are why you despise religion, then the reason you despise religion is because you’re an idiot. Like **Czarcasm** said, it’s only one of many, many reasons. I brought this one up because it’s recent news, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/34 "2005-10-30T17:04:16Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Whatever. The guy is still a jerk. Perhaps, but he’s certainly done more to help the hurricane victims then I. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/35 "2005-10-30T17:28:11Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Of course it’s an Alabama based group. > > Why the Hell wouldn’t it be? > > Shit. (And Roy Moore is running for governor here and these same people will be out campaigning for him- sorry Mama, but if he wins I am out of here as a matter of self protection.) If you find somewhere decent, let **nocturne** and I know. We’ll go with you ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/36 "2005-10-30T17:39:02Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > The individual Pastor made the decision, which would indicate that it was that group’s policy. > > The article does refer to “the SBC” a couple times, but it’s fairly clear to that it’s just sloppy writing and they meant “the SBC [volunteers]”. Which group? the only group mentioned is the SBC. Accusations of “Sloppy writing” do not confer upon you the miraculous ability to divine the size of the organization that “really” involved. You’ve made a pleasant speculation, but that’s all it is. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/37 "2005-10-30T17:45:09Z")
I suspect the SBC will/would claim that because of the ‘independent’ nature of those affiliated with the umbrella organisation, that this was simply one pastor making a decision. Except it really ain’t so. Guidleines and edicts issued by this particular quasi-fascist group are indeed seen as orders. There is also a prevailing belief within the SBC that ‘once saved, always saved’. Basically they can get away with anything provided they have been baptised. Hence they get to ignore the teachings of their saviour whenever the mood strikes. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/38 "2005-10-30T17:48:55Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Accusations of “Sloppy writing” do not confer upon you the miraculous ability to divine the size of the organization that “really” involved. No, “reading comprehension” is what confers that “miraculous ability.” ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/39 "2005-10-30T17:50:15Z")
> [@UnwrittenNocturne](#): > > There is also a prevailing belief within the SBC that ‘once saved, always saved’. Basically they can get away with anything provided they have been baptised. Hence they get to ignore the teachings of their saviour whenever the mood strikes. As an outsider, I have to say that sounds pretty damn convenient. We poor Catholics don’t get that guarantee, we are still expected to behave. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552/40 "2005-10-30T18:54:59Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [Link.](http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=86981) > > . The same story on two local news stations does not equal confirmation. Plenty of false stories get passed around various news organizations with no independent investigation being done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-charity-refuses-to-hand-out-water-to-hurricane-victims/328552.md?page=3)