In the interest of fairness

A person who works for an SBC state convention has been hitting all the blogs which have been talking about the decision to not pass out donated water to hurricane victims because it was from Budweiser. I will post his comments below as a blog entry so people can see them, and posts thoughts from myself and others below the quote.


Volunteers working with the Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief Unit honored the request of the host pastor to set aside canned water with an Anheuser-Busch logo. At no time was anyone deprived of water. In fact, there was a huge surplus of bottled and canned water available at the Clewiston relief site. There was never any disruption in the supply of water being given out to members of the public who continued to receive food, water and other types of assistance from Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief workers.It is an absolute falsehood to suggest -- as many irresponsible bloggers have -- that the Baptist volunteers withheld the basic needs of life from Floridians impacted by the hurricane. Contrary to misinterpretations of news reports, no one was denied access to water. One may disagree with the strong stand that many Southern Baptists take against the consumption of alcohol. One may even regard such opposition to alcohol as offensive. But it's impossible to say truthfully that this conviction caused any inconvenience or shortage for victims of Hurricane Wilma. The facts are exactly the opposite.The fact is that virtually all of the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers serve selflessly -- taking time away from employment and family to minister in the name of Jesus Christ. Churches such as First Baptist Church, Clewiston, graciously serve as host sites -- providing a place where food, water and other necessities of life may be obtained by anyone in need -- without regard to religion or any other demographic consideration.--
Keith Hinson, public relations associate
Alabama Baptist Convention State Board of Missions
Montgomery, Alabama


Several questions -
*If* you had no other water, would you have used Busch's?
Why should the host pastor's request have been honored in the first place?
The availability of other water is not the issue. The good work done by the rest of the SBC relief effort is not the issue. The legalism of the host pastor *is* the issue. I still have no sympathy for his attitude and I still will criticize it at every opportunity.
Posted by: Doug 11/02/2005 at 09:11 AM


This blog has more insight to the controversy.


My personal thoughts on this: it puts a black eye on Christianity in general. I'm not SBC, I'm a Presbyterian (PCA), but I have much love and respect for the SBC and I want to see them spread the Gospel. I do not think this type of action speaks well. The cans clearly did not resemble beer (if you think beer is sinful), so you cannot apply a slippery slope argument, or an argument of "separation". We Christians need to do a better job at ministering to our culture and if you have a problem with free water from a beer company, it's not the company's problem, it's yours. Here's why, if you own a business and you sell goods, would you refuse to sell your goods to August Bush IV, (or whatever his name is) because you're worried that the CEO of A-B is buying from you, meaning you condone his company?
What if he came to your church and sat on the front row and put money in the offering plate?
I could go on and on, but I think this quote sums my feelings best:
Theological liberalism begins with a desertion of the testimony - the faith once and for all delivered. But conservative theology can be equally misguided when, in its attempts to uphold the testimony, it deserts the reality of our testimonies - the faith that has been personally applied to us. The power to offer grace to sinners in the world comes from the presence of this living memory -the memory that God has offered grace upon grace to us.
Dr. Zack Eswine - Covenant Theological Seminary

We need to be a people of grace.