Here’s a good reason why I will never in a million years be a Baptist (link via Atrios):

The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has expelled a Cabarrus County church for accepting two gay men as members and later baptizing them.

The action by the state’s largest religious group represents the first time the convention has gone after a church for having openly gay members.

The 3,969-church convention previously kicked out three churches that ordained gays or blessed their relationships, based on a 1992 policy that forbids churches from showing “public approval, promotion or blessing of homosexuality.”

Now they kicked these churches out, not for performing gay marriages or having a gay minister, but for simply having gay members. Not only is that completely retarded, but it’s completely un-Christian.

For the sake of argument, let’s pretend that homosexuality is a sinful lifestyle. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it make more sense for Baptists to welcome sinners into their churches? After all, isn’t one of the basic tenets of most Christian faiths the spreading of the word about Jesus’s techings? If I were a Christian, I’d be embarrased to be part of a church that’s only interested in preaching to the choir.

In the end though, this is probably for the best. Just as the KKK shouldn’t have to admit black members, if the Baptists really hate gay people this much, then they should feel free to let the world know how intolerant their faith is. There are plenty of Christian churches that wouldn’t pull this kind of crap and actually live up to the (seemingly controversial) notion that Jesus would have loved everyone.