REGARDING YOUR REFERENCE TO CLEWISTON AND SOUTHERN BAPTISTS ABOVE: 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 |
Darth Birdyz comments:
The above reply from the Alabama Baptist Convention State Board of Missions was in response to the following comment made on my blog:
| – that Hurricane victims who wanted water had some difficultly finding it at a relief station in Clewiston. The volunteer group running a supply center doesn’t like the company that donated the water, so they decided not to give it to those in line for help. Twenty-two pallets of the canned water, distributed free by beer company Anheuser-Busch, bears the company’s label – and members of the Southern Baptist Convention refused to hand it out to those in need. (Water is water. Damn you Pharisees. It is not for you to question the holiness and righteousness of the donor, but if you really want to help then help to meet the needs of the needy people.) |
To the selfless volunteers giving their all to the relief effort and the Southern Baptist Churches of the United States of America:
Please accept my apology and forgive me for my completely under-informed and unkind comments about this matter on my blog.
Thanks for allowing me to post my comments. Thanks also for your own integrity and kindness in what you said in the last post.
Keith