Wha happened?
Probably the most flamboyant Fundamentalist of the 20th century was J. Frank Norris. If you don't believe me, ask yourself this question: what other pastor was charged with burning his own church down, acquitted of murder after shooting someone to death in a dual, pastored two churches at the same time in Michigan and Texas, and burned Nazi flags at revivals? (and legend has it, that he is the only person to have been literally thrown out of the Southern Baptist Convention)
You get the point.
Anyway, I found it to be interesting that Norris was very opposed to the US going to war in Europe in the 1930s. He thought it to be a Communistic plot in which Roosevelt would usher in a "Red" United States. Somewhere during an elaborate 6 week (or so) vacation in England, Italy, Israel and Iraq, summer 1939 Norris changed his mind about war. When he came back he published something in his paper, The Fundamentalist, in the fall of 1939 where he specifically endorsed the idea of the US going to war against Nazi Germany. He did not elaborate on his change of position, he just stated something to the effect of "we must go to war against Germany".
I wonder what he saw during that time that changed his mind?
I know he's an inconsequential figure today, but in his time, he was the mack daddy of all things Fundamentalist, so his opinion carried a lot of weight. I just wonder...wha happened?
You get the point.
Anyway, I found it to be interesting that Norris was very opposed to the US going to war in Europe in the 1930s. He thought it to be a Communistic plot in which Roosevelt would usher in a "Red" United States. Somewhere during an elaborate 6 week (or so) vacation in England, Italy, Israel and Iraq, summer 1939 Norris changed his mind about war. When he came back he published something in his paper, The Fundamentalist, in the fall of 1939 where he specifically endorsed the idea of the US going to war against Nazi Germany. He did not elaborate on his change of position, he just stated something to the effect of "we must go to war against Germany".
I wonder what he saw during that time that changed his mind?
I know he's an inconsequential figure today, but in his time, he was the mack daddy of all things Fundamentalist, so his opinion carried a lot of weight. I just wonder...wha happened?
posted by Bobby's blog at 3:36 PM
3 Comments:
My understanding is the J. Frank Norris was tossed out of the Convention TWICE in the 1920's (maybe even the 1910's), after charging the stage and calling the denominational leadership "Communists."
I doubt he's the only person to have ever been tossed out- I would think that drunks, atheists or homosexual demonstrators, or people like have been tossed out before.
By tossed out, I meant a member. You should read the story about him killing that guy. Crazy...also, I'll scan a picture of him burning a Nazi flag at a revival. The clincher about the revival..it was also setting the stage for his times to pray for peace and not go to war.
Ahem.
The Southern Baptist Convention is only formally in existence for a couple days, once a year. It convenes as a church composed of messengers from churches. The messengers do not represent the churches, but rather are to vote their conscience.
Individuals cannot be members of the Cooperative Program. Only state Baptist conventions can be members. State conventions are composed of local associations. Thus, "booting" almost always happens at the local association level.
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