PAGING MARGARET ATWOOD AGAIN

Well, at least he didn't say women don't have souls:

Sunday school teacher dumped for being female

WATERTOWN, New York (AP) -- The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job -- outside of the church.

The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on August 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.

The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."

The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.

"I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to" outside of the church, LaBouf wrote Saturday....

The Rev has issued a lengthy statement justifying not only the dismissal but his overall work as pastor:

...As most of you are aware when I arrived at First Baptist Church the congregation was dwindling and the church was headed for eventual closure. In a short period of time we began to see tremendous growth in the church which made me and many others feel thankful and blessed.  In a short period of time classrooms that did not have children in them for a number of years were filling up with children, other parts of the building that had not been used in years were now needing to be utilized as a result of our growth.... The majority of our membership was genuinely excited about the growth and new hope for the future of the church, however, as you recall there were some who were unhappy with new members joining the church, changes that were being made and my performance in general as pastor....
 
Why does this sound so familiar to me? Oh yeah -- it reminds me of what another preacher said last year:

After several days of avoiding media contact, Chan Chandler granted an exclusive interview to Baptist Press Tuesday afternoon, May 10.

Chandler and the church where he is pastor -- East Waynesville Baptist Church, Waynesville, N.C. -- have drawn considerable media attention in recent days as nine members publicly alleged Chandler had them ousted from church membership based on their choice of political parties and candidates....

Chandler admits citing Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's views on abortion and homosexuality in one sermon....

Chandler said the church had undergone several months of disharmony, some of which he speculates was the result of his preaching about Christians' responsibility to be reflective of the Bible in the way that they vote. And more hesitatingly, he also speculated that, since the church had baptized almost 30 people and was growing under his leadership, then those who had been in church leadership positions for years may have felt threatened....

Yeah, it's never really about the preacher going all wingnutty. The problem is always a few disgruntled backstabbers in the congregation who resent the preacher for being so darn successful. And then the press blows it all out of proportion. (Here's an AP story about the Chandler incident.)

And besides, it's none of the public's damn business anyway.

LaBouf:

I was saddened to learn via the Newswatch50 website that once again a private church matter was made public by Ms. Lambert.

Chandler:

Citing verses from 1 Corinthians 6, which he says require the church to keep its disagreements out of the public eye, Chandler is deeply grieved that the rest of the world is now privy to some of the church's behavior.

Yeah, it's all our fault. And if some preacher someday wants to turn the calendar back a couple more centuries and start burning heretics at the stake, well, that's none of our business either, and if we disagree we're just damn nosy liberals.