I’m enrolled in an interdisciplinary doctoral program in “Religion, Politics & Society.”

Though I have a Poli Sci background, I consider myself more a historian (who writes religious history) than a Political Scientist or Sociologist. Although, it is an interdisciplinary degree and I took courses from the Religion and History department this semester and next semester (my last semester of coursework!) will take courses from a Political Scientist (on the Just War Tradition), Sociologist (Peter Berger) and Historian (Thomas Kidd, former student of George Marsden).

I don’t intend to limit myself just to Baptist issues. But at the moment, my handful of publications and future publications are all Baptist-related. Not a great deal of Baptist job opportunities out there. So, when my doctoral work is done and the job-hunt begins, I’ll be relying on my M.A. and doctoral work in the broader areas of American religion, public policy and church-state issues.

I do plan to continue writing (and hopefully publishing) on Baptist topics as a Baptist historian for the foreseeable future. And I agree that too much focus is put on the SBC in history texts. The SBC is not the center of the Baptist universe but historians should not ignore Southern Baptist affairs either. And to be honest, Southern Baptists (much like Republican politicians) tend to be quite interesting because of their penchant for making controversial statements. I am – for many reasons – fascinated by fundamentalism. My fascination long ago ceased being “personal” but American evangelicalism and fundamentalism is a great academic interest of mine.

I do plan though – as I’ve done on my blog and in my research papers – to publish in the future on Baptist groups that have been largely neglected especially African-American Baptists. My dissertation will hopefully cover the role of African-American Baptists in the Environmental Justice Movement which I will argue is an extension of the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s. I’ve already written a paper on this topic and will post it soon on this blog.

And of course, writing about Southern Baptists has not hurt my various academic pursuits.

About the Alliance/CBF thing, I think we’re talking about two different sets of talks, but since I am only going by memory, I could easily be wrong.

Back to the SBC: I do think that many Baptist histories still give it far too much space in relation to other Baptist groups–especially is this the case with McBeth’s huge textbook–about 50% of which is focused on the SBC. (McBeth’s Sourcebook is somewhat more balanced.) So, in your writings, could you do me and other non-SBC Baptists a favor and try to have a more global perspective on Baptist life than is usual?

For example, I’d like to see a sequel to Brackney’s Genetic History of Baptist Thought that focused on Baptist theology OUTSIDE the UK, Canada, and the U.S. Baptists have been global since the 19th C., so it’s time we pay attention to the theologians produced in these sister bodies, too, no?

Best of luck on your doctoral work, upcoming marriage, etc.

Given the title of the post, one could draw the conclusion that I was talking about Paige Patterson. But I have no idea why Dr. Patterson has not signed the GCR. I only know why I have not.

Sent from iPhone

Many Southern Baptists actually do read this blog. And I enjoy my dialogue with them here and over at other Baptist blogs. As someone who has published on Southern Baptists and is planning to write a dissertation that deals with Southern Baptists (among other types of Baptists), I think it’s rather important that I stay informed. I’d say that any Baptist historian who stays intentionally uninformed on the happenings of the largest Baptist group in the world is likely not all that committed to the study of Baptist history and current Baptist life.

As my readers know, I do cover news pertaining to other Baptist groups when there is news.

To ignore Southern Baptists in the context of my blog on all things Baptist-related would be akin to you ignoring the Republican Party in your regular analysis of contemporary political events. Or you ignoring the warmongerers in your peacemaking pursuits. That would be kinda odd to say the least, huh? However, I don’t think Democrats/progressives who offer regular crititques of the GOP and the Religious Right are “obsessed.” Far from it.

This is one reason why those of us in the Alliance of Baptists refused simply to merge with the CBF, though some of our churches are dually-aligned; we think many CBF types are obsessed with the SBC in a kind of unhealthy co-dependence.

Try ignoring them most of the time. It’s healthier.