Jimmy Carter Breaks With His Church-Good Riddance

Jimmy Carter with one of his human rights comrades-in-arms, Hugo Chavez


This week, that pest Jimmy Carter made news again, this time leaving the Southern Baptist Church because they refuse to ordain women pastors and they preach that women should be subservient to their husbands.

That's all well and good, (I am not here to defend the Southern Baptist Church.)but let's examine this statement made by the hapless former president:

"At their most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.

The impact of these religious beliefs touches every aspect of our lives. They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met..."

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First of all, Mr Carter has his churches and religions confused. It is not the Southern Baptist Church that engages in slavery, forced prostitution, genital mutilation or laws that excuse rape. It is not the Southern Baptist Church that takes away women's rights to education and employment. It is not his church he is talking about, nor is it his country.

If Mr Carter objects that his church puts men on a higher plane than women that is fine. Pity, however, that this "great champion of human rights for women" does not turn his attention to the parts of the world where women are, indeed, second-class citizens, where women are stoned to death for adultery-or merely being found in the company of men not their husbands, where women are murdered in so-called "honour killings" by their husbands or brothers-with little or no criminal punishment, where women are indeed subjected to forced genital mutilation, or where women who are condemned to death are deprived of their virginity by rape-so that it will be permissible to execute them under law.

That is where Mr Carter should direct his outrage. But he won't, and we all know the reason why he won't, don't we? Mr Carter has a lot of friends and allies in the Middle East, many of whom contribute millions to his "peace center" or whatever he calls it. No, Mr Carter cannot even mention who the real perpetrators are. Instead, he lists a couple of examples, like genital mutilation, within a context that would suggest to the totally ignorant observer that he is talking about the Southern Baptist Church.

Jimmy Carter is, as always, a fool. He was a fool in the White House, and he is a fool now. He is also a deceptive fool. Good riddance for the Southern Baptist Church.