Christian people -- who use "the Word" to teach and preach -- must refrain from using harsh "word weapons" against others, least those weapons be turned against them.
It is more imperative than ever that those in Christian leadership develop means and methods to nurture, discipline and police their own, rather than cover-up corruption, which turns others away from Christ.
Russian Baptists Denounce Bogus Newspaper as Political Smear
By Bob Allen
Monday, 23 February 2009
By Bob Allen
Monday, 23 February 2009
MOSCOW (ABP) -- Russian Baptists denounced the injection of religion into politics after a bogus newspaper circulated in a mayoral race falsely identified a candidate as a Baptist in an effort to besmirch his character.
According to Internet reports, a counterfeit newspaper stuffed into mailboxes in the western Russian city of Smolensk claimed Baptists were supporting a mayoral candidate in hopes that his election would cause Baptists to rival the Russian Orthodox Church for influence.
"Russian Baptists are for Maslakov!" appeared as a banner headline in the supposed special edition of The Protestant, presumably forged as a political dirty trick.
The article claimed that Baptists all over Russia and from around the world were hoping candidate Sergy Maslakov "will become the first Baptist mayor in Russia" in the upcoming March 1 election. But Baptist leaders said Maslakov, one of 10 candidates running for mayor, is largely unknown outside the region and has no known ties to Baptists.
The article alluded to rumors of rampant sexual immorality and pedophilia among Baptists, and implied Russian Baptist churches are funded largely by Western sources, including the government of the United States.
"Political con-artists are trying to turn the respected, 140-year history of Baptists in Russia into a horror story in hopes of helping and hurting certain political parties," said Vitaly Vlasenko, the Russian Baptist union's director of external church affairs.
Vlasenko accused campaign workers of "sowing hatred between the [denominational] confessions," an act he termed "ugly and totally unacceptable."
The article reportedly included comments falsely attributed to the head of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists from an interview that did not take place. The paper carried photos of Baptist leaders with mismatched captions that identified them with incorrect names.
Viktor Ignatenkov, pastor of First Baptist Church of Smolensk, told the Slavic Legal Center the candidate has no relationship to Baptists and has never been a member of a Baptist church. He said the anonymous authors apparently intended to inflame irreligious strife with statements about Baptists that are patently false. ...
Read more of article (here).
