curiouser and curiouser

The SBC Executive Committee has rejected endorsing the creation of a sex offender database for SBC churches. The reason for their decision is based partly on practical issues (it would be really hard to do) and largely on the autonomy of the local church.

Now, look, obviously the SBC and its members don't support sex offenders and do believe that children and other church members should be fully protected from such individuals. I'm not here to comment on that, although I do think that Baptists are digging ourselves a hole from which it will be increasingly difficult to escape if we don't effectively deal with the issue of clergy sex abuse soon.

But I find it terribly interesting that a convention and leadership that is and has been so overly concerned with the activities and orthodoxies of local churches suddenly has such strong respect for the historic Baptist principle of local church autonomy. Ve-ery interesting.