Baptists, Bama, and Basham

August 12, 2024
Baptists, Bama, and Basham

With the release of Megan Basham’s latest book, Shepherds for Sale, we read almost daily about leaders who have been called out by Basham defending their conservative credentials. The dynamic that emerged felt familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it until I glanced at an old “Paul Bear Bryant” commemorative Coca-Cola bottle in my office.

As an Alabama native, I understand the weight of choosing a team. It's a decision made at a young age, the age of accountability so to speak… and once you've chosen - whether it's Bama or Auburn-that’s your team for life.

There are clear expectations of fans - you wear the colors on game days, and you cheer for your team every time they take the field. You have long conversations about why your team is the best that has ever existed. You employ words like legacy and dynasty as often as you can. No one who knows you ever wonders who you will be pulling for if the two teams face off - It is abundantly clear. In Alabama, there is no spectrum of being a Bama fan; you are all in, or you pull for Auburn. It is as simple as that.

For some of us within the Southern Baptist Convention, that is how the theological conservative/liberal dynamic works. You are “all in,” or you are on the other side. Many of us who are conservatives within the SBC have believed our brothers when they tell us they are conservatives; they just differ on one or two issues. Yet, time and again, that same brother has proven to be a closet liberal.

As conservatives within the Southern Baptist Convention, we have clear expectations of our comrades:

You aren’t ashamed of being a conservative. You declare your position frequently before you are called out by a journalist.
If there is someone more conservative to your right, you move farther right to join them as quickly as possible.
You take deep and personal offense to being called anything but a conservative.
If a question is raised about your conservative convictions, it is laughable by both the left and the right.

Now, if you aren’t from Alabama, or a Baptist, or a Conservative, you may not relate to this binary approach. But battles have been fought over such things. If you aren’t clear, we don’t trust you.

Roll tide!